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Boxing Promoter Bob Duffy Helps Dreams Come True

By Robert Mladinich  

When Bob Duffy, the president of Ring Promotions, which is headquartered at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, New York, retired from the NYPD as a highly respected detective in the early nineties, he thought he had left the chaos of working for a large, unyielding bureaucracy behind. Instead, he finds himself busier than ever as a grassroots boxing promoter in the New York metropolitan area. In conjunction with Frankie G. Productions, he will promote his second show of the year on Friday, March, 23, at the Huntington Town House in Huntington Station, Long Island.

Duffy will be showcasing two enormously popular natives of Poland, each of whom has an immense following in the United States. Junior middleweight Pawal Wolak of Brooklyn will put his 13-0 (8 KOS) record on the line against Keith Sims, 25-13-1 (14 KOS), of Kansas City.

In the co-feature, colorful heavyweight Art Binkowski, 14-1-3 (9 KOS), of Chicago will square off against an opponent to be determined. Besides boxing, Binkowski has secured small but integral roles in the films "Cinderella Man," where he played boxer Corn Griffin, and the upcoming "Resurrecting the Champ" with Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Hartnett.

Also on the card is young heavyweight sensation Wilmer Vasquez, 1-0 (1 KO), of Venezuela, who made his pro debut on a Duffy show last year. Vasquez is being mentored by the legendary Roberto Duran, who will be in attendance to work with his protege and also meet and greet fans. Vasquez scored more than 50 knockouts in 58 amateur fights. He punches with ferocity and has the stoic facial demeanor of a hired assassin. While a lot of things can happen on the road to a title, Duffy says that Vasquez seems to have the makings of a future champion.

On a related note, hard-punching junior middleweight Alan Conyers, 11-2 (9 KOS), of the Bronx, who is also promoted by Duffy, scored a sensational second round knockout of previously undefeated Derek Ennis on Showtime's ShoBox: The New Generation in February. Duffy is more than happy to ride the positive momentum that all of his hard work has brought him.

"I've never been so busy in my life," said the always positive Duffy, who takes at least 200 phone calls a day. "People ask me why I do what I do because there is so much stress involved. But this is what I love, so I consider myself very lucky."

Duffy also loved being a cop, but got fed up with the internecine politics of such an outwardly noble profession. As a Queens detective one of his partners was Bill Clark, who later became the executive producer of "NYPD Blue." One memorable case that he worked on was the murder of an off-duty police officer who was shot point blank in the head outside of a bar. The killer, a wannabe Irish gangster named Patrick Bannon, was on the lam for months.

"I played a small part in that case, but it was a tough one," said Duffy. "It was one of the few cases where the department would stop at nothing to get their man. The manhunt was intense and relentless. Bannon was finally arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to 50 years to life."

Not long afterwards, Duffy left the NYPD to take a full time position as the director of boxing for the New York State Athletic Commission, where he ran the day-to-day operations of the then beleaguered organization. It is no secret that the commission was a political patronage mill and Duffy was a one-man army. Most observers still believe that he was the only one there with any personal integrity or even general knowledge of the sport.

Duffy handled all of the details, including the weigh-in for the 1995 Madison Square Garden bout between Oscar De la Hoya and James Leija. Many of the other officials were busy wangling complimentary tickets or trying to pose for photos with De La Hoya, who at the time was ascending to boxing's stratosphere.

Duffy resigned in disgust from the commission in the fall of 2000. He said that the political appointees who the late Jack Newfield and Wallace Matthews once described in the New York Post as "political hacks, know-nothings and no-shows," were placing the safety of fighters in peril. In good conscience, Duffy could no longer be part of such a broken system, which has since been revitalized and is doing an exemplary job.

Not long afterward, Ring Promotions was born and the 57-year-old Duffy has not looked back. He promoted eight professional shows in 2006 and two already this year. This year's first was held at the historic Plattduetsche Park restaurant in Franklin Square, Long Island. In the main event, hard-punching middleweight James Moore, a native of Ireland who fights out of Queens, ran his record to 10-0 (8 KOS) by stopping durable journeyman Edson Aguirre. On hand was an SRO crowd of more than 1,300.

Duffy, who is on the board of the Veterans Boxers Association, Ring 8, a wonderful organization that helps fighters in need, says that boxing got in his blood while growing up in a housing project on Manhattan's West Side. In those days, the fifties, boxing was in its heyday and Duffy often ventured to Stillman's Gym on Eighth Avenue. He always dream of being involved in boxing, so he counts his blessings each day to be doing what he wholeheartedly believes he is meant to be doing with his life.

"Life couldn't be better for me," said Duffy. "As busy and as frustrated I can get, I never forget that I'm living my dream. And by living my dream, I'm also helping young fighters make their dreams come true. There's nothing not to be happy about."

The Huntington Town House is located at 124 East Jericho Turnpike (1/5 of a mile east of Route 110). General admission is $40. VIP tables that can accommodate 10 people and include a two-hour cocktail party and a seven-course dinner are available for $1,600. Tickets can be obtained by contacting Duffy at 516-313-2304; the Huntington Town House at 631-427-8485; or Frankie G's Academy of Boxing in Huntington Station at 631-673-3520.

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