I can't remember the first time I met Fred Sternberg, because it feels like I've known him forever. Every big game in El Paso, whether it was a Jose Luis Castillo mismatch or Oscar De La Hoya eating French pastries at the Sun Bowl, Fred's big smile greeted us before the red carpet rolled out, like we were the New York Times of the border.
But it didn't have to be El Paso. It could be Las Vegas, Chicago, anywhere. He always helped promote us, and we're all, and will always be, better off for it.
Fred was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this past weekend in Canastota, New York. Truly, it is years too late. It should have happened years ago, because there has never been a better spokesman in the history of boxing.
Always smiling
The first thing you notice about Fred is his smile. It's the smile in the photograph that accompanies this article. It's always there. A big, strong smile, but also vivacious and welcoming. As my former El Paso Times colleague Bill Knight said, he's always smiling, even when he's not.
“Fred is a special guy who clearly loves what he does,” Knight said. “Not only is he knowledgeable, he's also very good with the media, and that's largely down to his upbeat attitude.”
A native of the Washington, DC area, Sternberg graduated from Syracuse University and landed a job in sports public relations at the right time: He began working for legendary publicist Charlie Brotman, who covered the career of Sugar Ray Leonard during arguably the greatest era in boxing history.
Sternberg captivated Leonard when he orchestrated his upset victory over the Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1987.
Since then, he has worked for America Presents, Top Rank Boxing, started his own PR firm, Sternberg Communications, and has represented some of the biggest names in boxing, including Winky Wright, Deigo Corrales, Shane Mosley, Gennady Golovkin and Manny Pacquiao. He currently represents PPV.com, Jim Lampley and Freddie Roach.
But Pacquiao was a home run for him, and Fred brought to the table everything he had learned over his illustrious career, applying Brotman's fascinating stories and years of experience and honing it into a work of art, all of which he channeled into building Pacquiao's image, expressed in gripping leads and colorful, engaging writing.
Sure, “Pac-Man” can fight a few things, but if someone would have told you that a blonde Filipino who fought on the undercard of Oscar De La Hoya in 2001 would go on to become one of the most famous, beloved and wealthy fighters on the planet, you'd have been called crazy.
Finally inducted into the Hall of Fame
Pacquiao's rise is one of the most amazing success stories in the history of the sport, from an unknown and flawed flyweight to a powerful boxing superstar. Of course, no one could achieve this rise alone — it took a team like Top Rank to make it happen — but it was Sternberg's cleverness and ingenuity in selling this fun-loving, raw, humble gunslinger to the media that made him a global phenomenon.
Consider that in 2005, when Pacquiao lost to Erik Morales, many (including me!) predicted the end of his incredible career was near. Four years later, Pacquiao became one of only 10 boxers to ever appear on the cover of Time magazine.
It was a truly amazing fight.
That's better advertising.
He always, and always will, talk about his clients, not about himself, whether it be Pacquiao or anyone else. Whether they were interesting or not, Fred made them interesting.
He could make the turnbuckles look attractive.
Boxing reporter George Willis worked with Sternberg throughout his career at The New York Times and The New York Post.
“Don King and Bob Arum are Hall of Fame promoters, and now we have Fred, a pro's pro who cares about his clients, his events and the fans of the sport,” he said. “He took Winky Wright from unknown to Hall of Famer and Manny Pacquiao from 'Who is this guy?' to global superstar. He's the best in the business.”
Sternberg happened to be fighting in El Paso when Knight was inducted into the El Paso Boxing Hall of Fame in 1999. Since then, he has only referred to Knight as a “Hall of Famer.”
Now you can return the compliment.
Congratulations, Hall of Famer.
Contact Matthew Aguilar at maguilarnew@yahoo.com or @MatthewAguilar5 on X
