Sean Reed (l) and Dallas’ own Charles Hatley.

For the first time in the three-year history of Black Gloves Promotions, the Hatley's were forced into postponing a show. Lesser men and promoters would've simply thrown in their licenses and called it a day, not the Hatleys. They pushed the scheduled December 17th, "A Christmas Knockout" show out, re-named it "New Year's Knockout" and looked to reap the fruits of their labor and persistence on Saturday, January 7th, from the Palladium at Gilley's, in downtown Dallas. 

Things Fall Apart
Along with being the name of the classic, Grammy award winning hip hop album by The Roots, "Things Fall Apart" aptly described the proceedings, leading up to the "New Year's Knockout" weigh-in. Jorge Suarez, who was slated to face Larry "Slomoshun" Smith, took an unexpected pilgrimage to Mecca, or Mexico, as the case may be. Then, in perhaps the most unprofessional act ever witnessed, Khalik Memminger flat out no showed at the weigh-in. Just the night before, I had communicated with Memminger's “manager”, gave her directions to the weigh-in, and was left to assume that everything was fine. 

The next day and an hour or so after the Texas Combative Sports commission arrived at the Hard Rock Café and began the proceedings; I called Memminger's manager and learned that he had a "bladder infection". What sucks is that Memminger's opponent was none other than the "Dallas Kidd" Jesse Lara, who was looking to make his long awaited comeback. As only the "Dallas Kidd" can, Lara went on to openly question Memminger's manhood saying, “My opponent couldn't figure out whether he stands up or sits down to take a piss! That's why he didn't show up.

Smith and Lara sold boatloads of pre-fight tickets to "New Year's Knockout" and it was a crippling blow to the overall promotion, when they didn't end up fighting. Being the man most responsible for the boxing portion of the card, I was heartbroken. Matchmaking ain’t no joke, boys and girls. When done properly, there’s no better feeling in the world, but when mishap after mishap gets stacked onto yet another mishap, it’s enough to make a grown man cry. For me, boxing is like the girlfriend that cheated on you, but you’re still in love with her anyway.

Charles Hatley
The coolest part of my job is being involved in the early career path of Charles "The Future" Hatley (17-0-1, 12 KO's). Thus far, the highlight of my matchmaking life was securing Emanuel Augustus as an opponent for Hatley, September 25, 2010. I've also lined Charlie up with other credible combatants: Eloy Suarez, Johnny Suarez, Marcos Primera, Dewey Welliver, Calvin Odom and his most recent foe, Lester Gonzalez. Without a doubt, being ringside for the bouts of a fighter of Hatley's caliber makes all the other bullshit seem meaningless. The pain and angst of a crumbling show goes away when Charlie Hatley steps threw the ropes to bring the pain to the unfortunate guy standing in the opposite corner. 

Most fighters and trainers bitch and moan over every detail of a potential opponent (height, stance, amateur background, race, favorite food, mother's maiden name, blood type, etc.) but Hatley couldn't care less. All he ever asks is how much he needs to weigh, when I'm matchmaking for him. No more, no less. Others in the area, who call themselves “fighters”, should be as easy to work with.

To his credit, Lester Gonzalez came to Dallas expecting to win. He brought a record of 12-5-3, 6 KO's with him from San Diego, California and was coming off a draw with Top Rank's highly regarded prospect, Omar Henry. Including Hatley, Gonzalez has now faced ten undefeated fighters and four more who had just one loss at the time. Gonzalez was tough, tested, proven, legitimate and one very serious dude. He was cordial, yet extremely focused in my dealings with him. 

Gonzalez was game throughout the contest, but was on the wrong end of perhaps the best performance Hatley's had. Charles is a great offensive fighter and at times a good defensive fighter; the problem is when he has to blend the two simultaneously. Often, Hatley would be in "kill" mode, remain in the pocket a bit too long, and find himself on the canvas, courtesy of well-placed counters. But against Gonzalez, Hatley maintained distance better than ever, behind a stiff left jab. Off the jab, he'd throw overhand rights or right crosses and left hooks to the body. Gonzalez was crafty enough to try to counter Hatley's jabs with lead right hands of his own, but I can think of maybe one time where he landed solidly. Hatley staggered Gonzalez a handful of times, most notably in the 4th round, via straight right hand. This seemed to tame Gonzalez's aggression for the remainder of the 6-rounder and all three judges gave Hatley every stanza with scores of 60-54.

Despite his pedigree, Gonzalez and his handlers became believers, after catching a glimpse of "The Future". "I've never seen anyone hurt Lester like that.” said Gonzalez's trainer. "We thought Hatley would be small since he's fought at lower weights, but he was strong at 160", Gonzalez's manager chimed in. 

Other Bouts
The two-fight undercard went along swimmingly (considering) and were both competitive. In the opener, Kiun Evans (1-0, 1 KO) got his career of on the right foot with a 4th round TKO over Noe Bravo (0-2), but he had to work for it. Evans dropped Bravo very early in the first round, but by the second, Bravo was the one pushing the pace. Evans had to bite down a bit and showed some fortitude in his first professional fight. Bravo's camp took the loss with no excuses, but they also told me they'd gladly accept a rematch whenever Evans wanted it.

In the co-feature, Greg "The Technician" Hatley, Jr. raised his record to 6-1, 5 KO's with a 4-round unanimous decision over the seasoned Tyrone Jackson (8-38-3, 5 KO's).

Special thanks to Greg Hatley Sr., Peggy Harris, Ozell Nelson, Tony Ayala, Sr. and "Uncle" Dickie Cole for making and/or contributing to the show going forward, despite a multitude of unfortunate circumstances that permeated the proceedings, leading up to fight night.