12 ROUNDS WITH GINA IACOVOU Author: Chris Akers

Fights: Wins: Loss: Draws: N/C:

1. What were you doing before entering the business of boxing and what made you decide to become involved in the sport?

Well, one could say that I was thrust into this sport by way of default (when I met and came involved with Mike Michael in 1998). Before embarking into this fascinating arena I was working in Advertising and PR and prior to that in the Culinary industry. From childhood I was always involved in my parents business, they owned and ran restaurants in Nottingham, UK (Robin Hood land for all you that are unfamiliar with this city. My father came to the UK from Cyprus (near Ayia Napa) when he was in his late teens and worked as a chef and worked his way to owning restaurants. In the 60's my father co-owned (with my Godfather) a famous restaurant called 'The Sombrero' in the east-end of London. Being close to the West Ham United football (soccer) club, the team (Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters, Bobby Moore, Billy Bonds, Trevor Brooking) would always come to eat after practice and after home games; they loved my father's Irish Stew and his apple pies. In the Early 70's my father moved to Nottingham and opened a restaurant with his brother; but my early memories as a nipper was when we would visit my Godfather and of course the restaurant was always bustling with the rowdy Hammers players and me and my sisters were always being tossed and flipped by them like we were footballs. I loved that time and knew that i would follow my father into the restaurant business. I attended Culinary school for 3 years (specializing in French Cuisine) and also gained membership in the Royal Society of Health & Hygiene which i could qualify to be a Health & Hygiene Officer. By the age of 25 I wanted to change career direction and have a break from the long hours and shifts of restaurants and I did a Computer and Communications course and after went to work as an advertising executive in a newspaper. I worked for the recruitment section of the paper (some of my bigger clients were, Bank of England, Barclays, Pizza Hut (East-London division), Redbridge NHS, Epping Forest Council, Waltham Forest Council, Highways Agency and Met. Police(East-London division); I stayed in PR until I met Mike Michael and as the cliche goes, 'the rest is history'.

2. What makes a good Boxing Management company?

Well i guess in my opinion, a compilation of many qualities ranging from integrity to being able to hustle with the hustlers; mostly having an eye for talent and being able to separate the contenders from the pretenders. nAlso surrounding the fighters with enough publicity to bring them from obscurity to being a household name which would be the catalyst for bigger fights, bigger fan base, TV exposure and if they are good enough championship titles.

3. Despite the profile of women's boxing increasing over the last few years, the number of female promoters and managers is still very low. Why do you think that a lot of women do not go into the promotional and managerial side of the sport?

In a nut-shell, IT'S STILL A MANS WORLD!!!; through my experience for a woman to succeed in this male oriented business you have to have firstly have a thick skin and the ability to recognize that you are the minority and will face more obstacles (even though we are more than capable to do the same tasks). Also you must not have the mind set that you will be the 'ONE' to change the dynamics of hundreds of years of male dominance in boxing and go against the grain.

4. To people reading this interview who have not heard of Cestus Management, how would you describe the company and what they are trying to achieve in the sport?

Cestus prides itself as being multi-faceted, having a good eye for talent, good negotiators, media friendly, a promotional approach to image building of our fighters, building the right connections, having the ability to know when to take calculated risks and lastly one of Cestus' trademark qualities, 'There are two sides of the boxing world that anyone with experience should recognize, You're either THE BOXER or THE OPPONENT! With Cestus Management on your side, YOU WILL NEVER FEEL LIKE THE OPPONENT!'. I guess what Cesuts is trying to achieve is probably what most managers strive for, to discover and make champions.

5. Which boxers in your stable in particular do you think have the potential to succeed on the world stage?

ALL OF THEM!!! OK I'm being a bit biased but I do believe that they all have the qualities to either contend or win championships; and lets be honest here, not all fighters on the world stage even have the ability to be there its just politics, how big of a fan base they have and how many PPV numbers they can sell.

6. As a fan, what is the best fight you have seen and in your line of work and what is the best fight you have helped to promote?

Hmmmm that's a tough one, so many to choose from; OK most recent would be Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto, that was brutal and the past would be the Ali vs Fraser fights. I love Ali's flamboyancy and style and on the other hand Fraser's rough and tumble brutishness. Fraser was one of the first legends I met when I first came to the US and being that we live close to Philly we would often take our fighters to the Fraser gym for sparring. The best fight i helped promote would have to be Mighty Mike Arnaoutis vs Ricardo Torres on Top Rank's Manny Pacquiao / Eric Morales PPV event at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas. Arnaoutis was Cestus' first fighter to challenge for a world title and what better stage to be the co-main event in front of 18,000 people. Cestus took Arnaoutis from Greece as an amateur and built his career from scratch and brought him to a world title; unfortunately he lost by a SD which many believed he was robbed.

7. Who is your favourite all time fighter?

Well seeing as Ive only been in this sport for 10 years I haven't really followed boxing my whole life like the other boxing degenerates; but I do love Ali, Fraser and Roberto Duran.

8. What in your opinion is the hardest part of being a boxing manager?

Getting too emotionally attached and seeing your fighter badly hurt and on the business side investing hundereds of thousands of $$$$ and years of work and having the fighter trying to screw you by breaching contracts and not having the appropriate protection from the boxing commissions.

9. If you could change one thing about the sport, what would it be?

Hmmm I'm gonna have to give you two scenarios...for me personally, definitely more protection for managers against fighters that try and default on manager's rights and contracts and as a whole, bring more entertainment to the sport, bigger ring entrances etc...

10. What is the biggest improvement that you have seen happen to the sport since you have been involved with boxing?

I guess more safety regulations and in the past decade the impact of the internet which makes the sport more accessible; I haven't been in the sport long enough to see monumental changes.

11. If you were not a boxing manager, what would you be instead?

Probably running my parent's businesses, unfortunately for them none of their four children (no sons) ventured into the family business so they were not able to pass the torch down to the next generation. My father sold his last restaurant only a couple of years ago where he still ran it full time until he was 73 and he had hoped that his children would take over but we all took different career paths.

12. Finally, are there any fights that Cestus are performing this year that we should look forward to?

Cestus made a few new signings this summer, four Latino fighters, Robert Luna Jr., Jairo Martinez, Jesse Santibanez, Rodolfo Gomez and an all American boy James DuBois all hailing from South Texas. They all have had decorated amateur careers and DuBois is well on his way in the professional ranks with a 6-0 record, the rest are at the infancy of the professionals. Luna and DuBois were both in the USA Air Force; Luna came back from Irac in July and will make his pro-debut sometime in October. Our flagship fighter Don Da Bomb George (15-0, 13 KO's) is scheduled to fight in December as will the rest of the fighters.

You can go to our website for all the Cestus updates and schedules for the fighter's next events. www.cestusmanagement.com

I would like to thank Chris and John from Ultimateboxingresults.com for their continued support and to all the fans for their loyalty and support to Cestus and our fighters.

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