This is the second of a two-part Q&A with 360 Promotions matchmaker Charles Boesecker, who will be matching up various fight cards in California and is one of the industry’s rising young matchmakers heading into boxing’s next era.
BS: The best regional fighter fans have never seen?
Bossecker: Pedro Moreno from Sacramento. Yeah, I was his manager. We had high hopes and expectations. I signed him with Alex Camponovo at Thompson Boxing, who was literally going to put him on ShoBox and make him the main event. We set the stage for him to be a star out of Sacramento. Everything was going great, but then he just couldn't make weight. He'd missed weight all his last three fights. That was one of the biggest disappointments for me. I thought very highly of him, but I felt at the regional level he was going to be the next big thing. The next big thing that I started off with.
BS: Could Cain Sandoval, who is signed with 360 Promotions, fill the void left by Moreno, given that he has the same coach, Marcus Caballero, and is an action-packed fighter from Sacramento?
Bossecker: Well, Cain not only lived up to expectations but in my opinion exceeded them. I had high hopes for Pedro Moreno and I have high hopes for him working with Cain Sandoval.
BS: Who do you think are the potential breakout fighters for 360 Promotions?
Bossecker: Gore Yeritsian. You remember Gore's last fight, right? It was against Quinton Randall. You and I know that Quinton Randall is a high-level boxer. He was a very tough opponent. Quinton Randall's last fight before Gore was against Brian Norman. He's the champion now. If you compare the fights between these two fighters, in my opinion, Gore fought Quinton Randall better than Norman. This is just my opinion. I mean, the last fight was very tough. I don't mean that he can throw a big punch or anything like that, but his boxing is tough, he's hard to hit. He has a great jab, he has a great defense. So it was all of that combined.
For me, I got to see a lot from Gore. It's not just that Gore will come forward and be a monster. I got to see a lot of technical aspects of his fight that I didn't see in any other fights until his last fight. I say that because when you're looking at fighters that have a lot of different tools in their bag, so to speak, Gore, for me personally, ticks those boxes. So, I personally rate Gore as having pretty big potential from what he has right now. We had some very tough fights with him over the next month as well. We also had some very tough fights with him. In my opinion, I think Gore can fight at a level where he can compete at a world title level.
BS: What is your philosophy when it comes to match fights?
Bossecker: Having good fights is the basis of everything. I don't have a book, you know? There's no why. The path that I take… Why? Because I take different paths based on the fighter and who I'm working with. There are a lot of variables and there's no clear cut path, but one thing that comes from the way that I matchmake my fights is to do my homework and research on each fighter and make sure it's a great match on paper, on TV and for everyone in between… At the same time, I develop my fighters. My philosophy is to develop these fighters right, depending on their level.
BS: Tell us a fun story from the gym.
Bossecker: A great story from the gym is when I started boxing. At first, nobody knew who I was, so they told me to get out of the gym. I was handing out business cards, trying to match fighters up, and quickly looking for opponents. And I was in downtown Los Angeles, I won't say the name of the gym, but I was handing out business cards, trying to make contacts, letting people know I was booking fights. I was trying to be a matchmaker, and then they looked at me and were like, “Get out of the gym.” You know what?
Fast forward to today. I go to the gym and things are a little bit different. This is one of the most memorable parts of my beginning story. It's also why it was so hard at first. It was hard at first. To be honest, a lot of doors were closed on me early on. Thankfully, I have a little bit more of a reputation now and a little bit of respect, but it wasn't easy at the beginning.
B.S.When you look back, do you ever feel like you've grown so much?
Bossecker: It's always been that way. I've been reflecting a lot lately. I feel like I have a job to do, not just for myself and my career, but for the fighters and boxing. To me, this sport, this promotion, is really important. Again, not just for myself, but for the sport and the fans. I feel like I have an obligation to do the right thing for the fans.
BS: Is the Hall of Fame important to you?
Bossecker: Yes, I want to be in the Hall of Fame, but not just in the Hall of Fame, I want to be someone that people talk about.
As I said earlier, I've said this to Tom to every fighter that I've had on the show. [Loeffler] If the B-side guys don't have people wanting to win the fight or have the possibility of becoming world champion, I don't want to have anything to do with them, because I want people to reach for the stars. Once you step in the ring, you have to have some ambition, not just to win the fight today, but to win the fight tomorrow.
I say that because my mindset is to want to be a winner. Plain and simple. I'm not here to put on a show today. I want to be here to make history tomorrow. I want to put on the best fights. I want to be in the biggest fights. That's my goal. That's why I'm here today and I think you all know I've stood the test of time. All the horrible things I've been through in boxing, I can't even tell you. I've been through a lot and it's a blessing to have endured it and be where I am today. So I have very high hopes and expectations for myself.
BS: You started out as a UFC fan and now you're booking fights on UFC Fight Pass, what are your thoughts on that?
Bossecker: What's even crazier is that about 10 years ago I reached out to Dana White on social media. I told him I wrote all of this. I ended up deleting it a few years later. I wrote, “Hey, I know you come from boxing. I do boxing matchmaking and if you ever get interested in boxing or any other sport, I can be your matchmaker, your boxing matchmaker.”
It gives me goosebumps, because it's amazing that everything's come full circle and here I am today, 10 years later, fighting on UFC Fight Pass. It's such an honor and sometimes I can't believe where I am, where I'm going, where this is taking us. It's real. Persistence is key. I've been persevering with this for years, and that's why we're here today.
