Former manager Ivan Edwards Speaks Out on Pawel Wolak!
By Ken Hissner, Doghouse Boxing (Aug 3, 2011) Doghouse Boxing
-  
Pawel Wolak

By Ken Hissner, Doghouse Boxing. - The fight game can be as close to prostitution as one can get! Fighters get screwed, as well as trainers and cut-men. Managers and even promoters get screwed. As Francis Walker, then executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Boxing Commission once told me “it’s the type of business everyone wants to see the other guy fail!”

When this writer read of the signing of Pawel Wolak by Cameron Dunkin I was not surprised. I was told by someone who is close to the situation that Wolak was in Las Vegas seeking a manager. Dunkin’s name was the first one to pop up into my mind. When Wolak’s manager Ivan Edwards signed Wolak with Top Rank the handwriting was on the wall. When the manager’s contract was up he was gone! Granted if it wasn’t Dunkin it would be someone else.

“I put my heart and soul into this fighter from his first fight 7 years ago. I pushed for this ESPN fight. I hand-picked Delvin Rodriguez, 25-5-2, and went to his matchmaker Ron Katz and his promoter Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing. I knew they had a fight scheduled on ESPN and he had Rodriguez and it would be a good fight for both. Wolak was very happy with my choice and about being on the network. He was smiling ear to ear. He used the exposure to screw me. I was given no indication he was dissatisfied. He gave me a verbal agreement he would re-sign with me,” said Edwards. Wolak had put him off several times with excuses.

This writer first saw Wolak in his seventeenth fight defeating Jonathan Reid, 34-7, at Wildwood, NJ. Reid was on the decline having lost 6 of his last 7 fights starting with a loss to Jesse Brinkley in 2004 on “The Contender”. To me Wolak was nothing special at the time except a hard working club fighter. In 2 of his next 3 fights he was put in with fighters with built-up records. First, 39 year-old Dupre Strickland, 18-2-1, who had just been shut-out by John Duddy. Wolak took him out in 2 rounds and Strickland retired from boxing. The other was Troy Browning, 20-1-1, who lost his previous fight to one Delvin Rodriguez losing all 10 rounds on 2 score cards.

This set the stage to fight yet another “Contender” participant in Ishe Smith, 19-3, who had lost 2 of his last 3 fights. Wolak would lose for the first and only time so far in his career. Edwards had him right back the following month with a club fighter and then 2 more “Contender” boxers in Norberto Bravo, 27-16-3 and Vinroy Barrett, 22-7. Then his “second” test against Brazil’s Carlos Nascimento, 24-1, whose only loss was a world title challenge. This was another fighter with a built-up record. This win was followed by Ishmail Arvin, 15-1-4, James Moore, 17-2 and Jose Pinzon19-1-1. All fighters with good records whose competition was not shall we say against the best.

In March of this year Wolak defeated former WBA champion Yuri Foreman, 28-1, who was coming off a devastating loss to Miguel Cotto. This win put Wolak high into the world ratings at No. 3 in the WBA/WBO, No. 8 in the IBF and No. 12 in the WBC. There still was no title fight. They needed some TV exposure. That is when Edwards sealed the deal with DeGuardia for the ESPN2 show. Rodriguez was stepping up in weight after being off a year and losing 3 of his last 4 fights.

With a damaged right eye Wolak showed the heart of a lion battling it out with Rodriguez whose accuracy paid off with one of the judges while the other 2 called it a draw. Fight of the year? Both fighters stock shot sky high. Who wouldn’t want to see a re-match? Talk was Top Rank would have them under Cotto-Margarito with the winners facing each other next. In talking with Rodriguez recently that is what he was expecting next in his career.

“Wolak had no interest in fighting Rodriguez again prior to our separation when we discussed a rematch. He expressed that he was annoyed that I would bring up a re-match. He felt that Rodriguez exposed him and why would I do that to him again? I was puzzled and in disbelief. I said to myself this is a fighter that claims to be such a warrior? He just fought the fight of the year and is refusing a rematch”, said Edwards.

Seems Wolak may be looking at a Cornelius “K9” Bundrage IBF title bout. The champion won his title in August of 2010 and defended it against top contender Sechew Powell June 25th. “He is desperate to fight Bundrage. He spoke of that fight in detail. I guess because the champ is older (38) and has been in some tough fights he is viewed as vulnerable,” said Edwards.

Wolak is 29-1-1, and will be 30 next month. He’s a Polish immigrant who could be on the threshold of a world title fight and the biggest purse of his career. He has stated publicly he had intentions prior to his last fight of re-signing with Edwards. What happened? All but 3 of his fights were either in New Jersey or New York providing a hometown crowd advantage. Everyone knew Edwards was an aggressive hard working manager that pushed for Wolak and had him in the right fights and with the biggest promoter in the business now. Did the lights of Las Vegas blind him or was it a suit case full of bonus money?

This writer tries to make it a policy if I don’t get a return call from someone I hope to write on, there won’t be a return call. Wolak never returned my call last year when I planned a story on him at Edward’s request. He’s gotten enough exposure with his feelings and to me it’s the same old story. Once the “little guy” get’s you to the top he just doesn’t fit in with the “big guys” anymore. Will the people still be interested in seeing Wolak if he doesn’t fight Rodriguez next? Only time will tell but in this business usually what comes around goes around!





NEW: Follow Doghouse Boxing on FaceBook!
For more Boxing News 24/7 and so much more... 
visit our homepage now!


© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing Inc. 1998-2011