Lou DiBella BoxingInsider.com Exclusive Biofile Published by Scoop Malinowski Last Updated on April 11th, 2008

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Status: Boxing promoter.

Born On: May 17. In: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Hobbies/Interests: “I love baseball. I’m a huge Mets fan. I’m a season-ticket holder, probably go to 50 games a year. I have two seats in the fourth row behind home plate and seats in the loge for my friends. I love music, all kinds. I go to see music.”

Favorite Movies: “Casablanca, On The Waterfront, Rocky.”

Musical Tastes: “All kinds, jazz, old funk, John Coltrane, Felonius Monk, Charlie Mingus, George Clinton, Earth Wind & Fire, The Isley Brothers. I went to see Parliament Funkadelic last week at B.B. Kings. How could I forget Springsteen, who’s like my Dylan. And growing up in Brooklyn, I liked the old school rap, it was a little less gangster. Being around the fight game has gotten me into some of the new rap like 50 Cent and DMX.”

Favorite TV Shows: “M*A*S*H was one. Hill Street Blues. Then to prove you can take the boy out of HBO but not the HBO out of the boy, I like Oz and The Sopranos. I’m especially on Oz fan. Most of the actors are boxing fans.”

Childhood Dream: “I always wanted to be in sports and entertainment. It’s somewhat amazing I’m doing this. I’ve met a lot of my heroes.”

First Car: “1976 white with red trim Ford Mustang.”

First Job: “Messenger, no, no. Actually, I grew up in a 99% Jewish neighborhood and I was paid to turn on people’s air conditioners on Sabbath. Then I was a messenger around the World Trade Center (age 14).”

Early Boxing Memory: “I remember watching Nino Benvenuti with my grandfather on TV. My grandparents were Italian immigrants. I remember Dick Tiger and Alan Minter. Those are my first memories. Then, following Ali. Ali was my man. That’s what got me hooked. I remember listening to Ali fights, the round-by-round results on my transistor radio under my pillow. I never heard anyone who could talk like that. Good-looking guy with charisma and personality. I was mesmerized.”

Greatest Boxing Moment: “I had a lot of those. I’ve been lucky. From a personal standpoint, somewhere around the 9th or 10th round of the ‘Boxing After Dark’ fight Barrera vs. McKinney (DiBella created the ‘B.A.D.’ series when he was at HBO). Not only did I know it was a great fight, I knew this was a great idea…of matching – not necessarily A-list boxers but good boxers in great fights…evenly-matched brawls without worrying about who the fighters are. I believe ‘Boxing After Dark’ is the type of boxing that is boxing. I don’t like to watch stars dance alone. Bernard Hopkins victory over Trinidad was a great moment. Unfortunately, that turned into a bad memory.”

Most Painful Moment: “Reading Hopkins’ quotes in Steve Kim’s article (on maxboxing.com) is right up there, high on the list (DiBella later won a $610,000 libel judgement against Hopkins in United States District Court). The way things went down…my exit from HBO. I don’t want to get into the details. That blew a lot of my illusions about working with a major firm in America. The way I left, the prolonged nine months of leaving. Not something I want to talk about right now but someday maybe I’ll do a book.”

Favorite Meal: “Depends on my mood, something northern Italian. Also, I like sushi. I’ve been eating sushi three times a week for the last 20 years.”

Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Until I graduated (Harvard) Law School it was Cap’n Crunch. Now my wife (Carolyn) has me eating Multi-Grain Cheerios.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “A new flavor – Girl Scout Cookie.”

Funny Boxing Memory: “I’d say there were thousands. This business will, at times, break your heart, make you miserable but through it all, there’s no lack of humor in this sport. I’ve laughed my ass off. All I have to do is call (long-time promoter) Don Elbaum and ask him to tell some old stories. I go out of my way whenever I can to see Don Elbaum, sometimes just for the humor. Boxing has loads of these kinds of people.”

Favorite Boxers To Watch: “The warrior guys, the guys that overachieve. I love the warrior guys like Holyfield, Ward and Gatti. I also like the guys who are supremely talented. Roy Jones’ performance against Ruiz was Hall of Fame, time-capsule stuff. I like to watch De La Hoya. Every fight he has is an event. He commands that kind of response from the public. I just like fights. Right now, we’re blessed with a lot of talented fighters, who are talented, particularly when at risk.”

Favorite Fights: “Barrera-McKinney. Barrera-Morales I. Half a dozen of the life-and-death Gatti fights. They’re right up there with Basilio-DeMarco. Pryor-Arguello I. Hagler-Hearns. I watched that at a bar in Cambridge, MA with a bunch of boxing people. Jose Torres was there. At Harvard Law School, before that fight, they had a panel discussion about if the sport of boxing should be regulated or knocked out.”

People Qualities Most Admired: “Honesty. Directness. I don’t like bullshit…and it seems to be everywhere. I like people who look you in the eye and tell you the truth, whatever it is. I don’t suffer stupid people very well. That’s a pet peeve of mine. There’s nothing worse than stupidity combined with a bad ethic!”