The Big Interview: Ron Katz on his career as one of boxing's great matchmakers and the heavyweight boxing scene

Reel off the list of boxing’s great names in the last 40 years and there are not many Ron Katz hasn’t worked with.

Katz is one of the sport’s truly great matchmakers, with now more than four decades at the very top of the sport working with the likes of Mike Tyson, James Toney, ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and many more.

Ron, a former mainstay of Bob Arum’s Top Rank behemoth, is still making great fights and beating the odds as a key part of Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, with notable successes including Chris Algieri becoming WBO world Junior Welterweight champion.

Furyjoshua.com sat down with Ron to talk about the past, the present and the future of boxing. His take - just like his career - was fascinating. Here are the best bits:

From Tyson to Toney: A life in matchmaking

Q: First of all Ron, please tell us how you first became involved in boxing, and then in matchmaking?

I worked for Lou Falcigno, who was one of the pioneers in Closed Circuit back in the 70s, Lou decided to promote shows at our home arena, the Westchester County Center. At first I did a little bit of everything except for matchmaking, eventually I started matchmaking and the rest is history.

Q: You have worked with some of the all-time greats of the art of matchmaking including Teddy Brenner, Johnny Bos and Bruce Trampler. What did you take from each of them in terms of your learning process?

Johnny Bos took me under his wing first, he taught me about fighters, their styles, and the sport in general, Bruce taught me how to make fights based on the style of fighters and the history of the sport. Teddy was the ultimate teacher, the best matchmaker of all time and I was fortunate to have served under him. Teddy took what I had learned from the others to a completely different level and to this day I’m proud to be known as ‘Little Teddy’.

Q: Bob Arum needs no introduction and you worked successfully with him for a number of years at Top Rank. What was he like to work with and why has he been so successful?

Bob was terrific to work with the 15 years I was there. Bob is the greatest promoter there ever was and a genius. I will always cherish my time at Top Rank and it enabled me to become recognised as one of the best ever to do what I did.

Q: I suspect plenty of people believe that “matchmaker” literally means finding Boxer B to fight Boxer A. Just give an insight into how much goes into the job and how much you are responsible for?

There is a lot more than just matching fighters, though obviously that is the most important aspect of the job. It’s like being at school, you really have to do your homework in order to try and make the match you think will be appealing to everybody. Teddy emphasised this to me and I really worked hard at it. Then you have the incidentals to making fights like ensuring each boxer has the proper medicals, is on weight, travel, rooms, etc. Then you sweat that no-one pulls out of the match so it’s really an ongoing venture until they step into the ring.

Q: When you are putting a fight together, what is the Ron Katz formula? How do you go about the whole process?

Like Coca Cola, Kentucky Fried Chicken, etc, that’s a secret...

Q: Just give us an insight into the differences now between matchmaking when you first started and now. Is it easier or harder now, and why?

It’s much harder now, not taking the pandemic into account but before we were hit with it, because the availability of quality fighter and fighters who are willing to risk being in a hard fight is immeasurably less than from the 90s and back.

Q: You worked for a while for flamboyant promoter and manager Butch Lewis - he of tuxedo, bow tie and no shirt. What was that like?

I worked for Butch in the 70s for about three years with the Spinks brothers, Greg Page, and others. I will always say this about my time with Butch, I never made a dime but boy did I have the time of my life!!.

Q: You were the man responsible for a number of Mike Tyson’s early fights in the 1980s. Just give us an impression of what it was like working with him at close quarters, and just how good was he?

I did close to 20 of Mike’s fights, the last being the Marvis Frazier fight. Working with Team Tyson was a real honour. I learned so much about the history of the sport from Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton and was able to watch videos of many of the all-time great fighters because of their library. I really stepped up my game because of this and also learned valuable technical aspects of the boxers from the short time I spent with Cus D’ Amato and Kevin Rooney. I also learned a lot about that aspect from being around Teddy Atlas. As far as Mike’s ability, if, and that’s a huge if, he stayed the course with the people that got him there, he may have gone undefeated. He was that good.

Q: How did you and Mike’s wider team go about building him through that period. What did you look for in opponents?

It was a true team effort and Johnny Bos was also an integral part of it early on. Jim Jacobs followed the path Cus had laid out for Mike and there was no deviation from it, and I’d have to say it turned out to be a pretty fair plan!!!

Q: Where do you rank Mike now in terms of the all-time heavyweight list?

You have to take his whole body of work into account - possibly top 10 and certainly top 15.

Q: At the other end of the spectrum perhaps was Butterbean. Tell us a little about how you went about that challenge.

I made only a couple of ‘Bean’s matches, Bruce did all of his fights. The one I still dread is the Mitch Rose fight (in 1995) at the Garden. That put me in very bad favour with Bob and started the beginning of the end of my time at Top Rank. Bean and his people, Art Dore and Murray Sutherland, were always great to me - even after the Rose fight they came up to me and said it wasn’t my fault, Bean should have won.

Q: Which fighter was the most fun to work with down the years, and why?

James Toney was both the most fun and worst to work with. The times we had were memorable, he was a real practical joker and we had some classic moments together. On the other end of the spectrum he became a real pain in the ass!!

Q: Which major fight are you proudest of from a matchmaking perspective?

There are a few, Toney-Nunn, Duran-Barkley and Algieri-Provodnikov to mention a few.

Q: Which fight that you wanted to make and weren’t able to, leaves you with the biggest regret?

Toney-Hopkins.

Q: Looking at your life in boxing as a whole, what is your biggest disappointment?

I can’t say I really have any. I’ve had a wonderful career and worked with some of the greatest people, both boxers and non-participants, in the history of the sport.

Q: You have been with Joe DeGuardia and Star Boxing for a number of years now and have had some major successes, notably with Chris Algieri. How different is what you do now to compared to the Top Rank years?

The major difference is not having the financial capabilities of a company like Top Rank, yet be able to achieve what we did with what we have.

Q: You backed your judgement with Star after putting Joe Smith Jr in with Andrzej Fonfara a few years ago when many were questioning the wisdom of that particular match up. Your post-fight comments on social media were refreshingly candid! How special was that win?

Not unexpected. I was more happy for Smith and his team.

Q: Who is the next big thing to come out of Star Boxing?

I like two of our Junior Middleweight prospects, Tyrone James and Wendy Toussaint.

Q: The biggest story in the UK from a boxing perspective right now is that potential Fury vs Joshua unification match. Looking at it from outside, how do you think their styles match up and can it deliver on the hype?

It’s a very good matchup style wise and I think if the match happens sooner than later it will certainly live up to the hype. It will certainly rival Benn-Eubank and Lewis-Bruno.

Q: Looking at the heavyweight division as a whole now, it appears to be stronger than for a while. If we assume Fury, Joshua and Wilder are the present, which fighter could be the future and why?

I still think Deontay Wilder will have a huge say in this division, it’s a very deep division with some good-looking youngsters like Daniel Dubois in it.

Q: Many people said boxing was heading for a financial reset before the pandemic. How do you think it changes the game, for Star Boxing and for bigger players?

This all depends when we come out of the pandemic, which God willing will be sooner than later. Once we do, I think the sport will thrive mightily.

Q: Ron Katz is handed a magic lamp, he rubs it and a genie appears. The genie says he will get three wishes to improve boxing for the better. What does he ask for?

Wow, that’s one I’d have to give some serious thought to. I would love to see one champion per division, I would love to see the best fight the best regardless of affiliation, and I would love to see all the major networks carry the sport once again.