BS: How did your adventure with matchmaking begin?
Bosecker: I started matchmaking in 2006. One of my best friends, Paul Velarde, had turned pro. At the time, I was competing in MMA and jiu-jitsu tournaments myself, so I was all for MMA at the time. Honestly, I wasn’t even interested in boxing, although I watched the fights. He asked me to work his corner and hold a bucket for the spit, and that’s what I did.
I come from a sales background, I have people skills, and he asked me if I would reach out to different promoters to assist him get fights. So I did.
From there I met Whitfield Haydon who was doing matchmaking for Roy Englebrecht Promotions’ “Fight Club OC”. He asked me to assist him with some local opponents. So that was a pliable start at that point.
I became his manager, booked fights for him on a couple of large shows at Top Rank and Golden Boy, and then finally in 2012 I got the chance to become the head matchmaker at Roy Englebrecht Promotions.
I also advised many different fighters including Sebastian Fundora, helped Ryan Garcia get started with his manager, and fitted many different world champions like Dmitry Bivol who were on their way to becoming champions.
I’ve already had over 1000 fights and I’m 41 years senior. I feel like I still have a lot to do.
BS: What is the hardest thing about matchmaking?
Bosecker: Fans don’t know that it’s an incredibly stressful, high-pressure position and job. It’s really challenging to get into every aspect and detail, but I can tell you this: Even on smaller shows, if you don’t have fights and matches, you don’t have a show. If something happens, you don’t have a show, and who do they look at? The matchmaker. If the fight sucks, who do they look at? The matchmaker. If the fight doesn’t go according to plan, who do they look at? The matchmaker.
So we take responsibility, and the burden of the show is literally on my shoulders. I’ve had coaches in the past aggressively push for a fight after the show because they thought their fighters should win and the judges were in my favor and that I had something to do with it – which I obviously didn’t. It takes a certain type of person to handle the pressure because there were times, especially early on in my career, when I literally went to bed and thought, “Fuck this, I’m done with this, I don’t want to do this.”
BS: How challenging was it to match Serhiy Bohachuk, considering his knockout ratio?
Bosecker: Matching an undefeated puncher with a 100% knockout rate is very challenging. The athletic commissions are more strict, especially in California, because California has high standards and they want to protect and take care of the fighters, and of course they just want good matchups. Also, not many people are lining up to fight Bohachuk. So there are challenges with the commissions and challenges with finding opponents who are willing to take a risky, challenging fight with a large puncher.
BS: The confidence the team has in Callum Walsh is obvious given how quickly and fiercely they have matched him.
Bosecker: Part of it has to do with Dana White coming out and honking and being on TV and doing all of this on UFC Fight Pass. Those types of situations escalate a fighter’s popularity, beyond my control. It just had that effect. So when that happened, I remember when we first got Callum Walsh, he only had about 2,000 followers on social media and nobody really knew about him. Faster than I can think, he’s now got 200,000 followers and he’s only 10-0.
I’m glad you mentioned it because it worries me a little bit. Where we’re going with this is uncharted territory for me, dealing with this type of situation and a fighter who’s developing so quickly and hasn’t had many professional fights. It’s an fascinating scenario.
BS: Who is the most talented player you have ever faced?
Bosecker: Dmitry Bivol. You know when these guys have that aura? For me, when he was at Fight Club OC at the weigh-in after I compared him and it was just him, his character had an aura. I knew there was something special about him.
BS: Great warriors have completely different goals, right?
Bosecker: Completely different. Again, they’re just locked in. There’s just something special. You just know when you see something different or special. That’s the mark of truly great warriors.
BS: What was it like keeping up with Ryan Garcia before fame?
Bosecker: I met with Ryan Garcia the week before, the week he turned 18. I had another fighter who was supposed to fight on the Steve Bash show here in Los Angeles, but the fighter pulled out. We lost the fight. His original manager, Roger Ruiz, asked me to assist with matchmaking and working with Ryan Garcia early on, so I helped him set up fights in Mexico. [in 2016].
Roger said, ‘Ryan turns 18 next month. Remember us if you ever come up with anything here locally.’ Well, I actually had the fight the week before. I let Ryan know, he had just turned 18. I found a guy from Puerto Rico a few days before to fly in and fight Ryan, and I’ll never forget it.
We’re at the weigh-in and that was one of the most memorable moments for me. Ryan is really moist behind the ears, he’s 18 years senior and he’s at the weigh-in. He’s fighting a guy who’s had a few fights and he’s not scared, he’s not scared or anything. He comes in all cocky and brash and walks up and throws Ryan out. Ryan just stood there, composed, he had a little smirk on his face.
Roger and his dad, Henry, came up to me and were worried that this guy might be too much for Ryan. I thought to myself, “Considering what I know about Ryan and all the other factors, this is going to be a good fight.” But in the back of my mind I thought, oh shit! I wondered how Ryan was going to handle it. I remembered being 18 and guys coming at me aggressively. But Ryan was so composed.
Of course, the bell rang and this guy just went at Ryan. Ryan held on. He stayed composed and it ended up being a knockout.
It showed me something in terms of Ryan being able to handle pressure and dealing with a guy who wasn’t afraid of him. Personally, after all these years of matchmaking, I pay attention to a lot of these little details because it shows you a lot and tells you something because boxing is all about the mind. It showed me that he had the mental strength and the strength to start with.
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