TalkingBoxing Interviews
“Haitian Sensation” Edouard Looks to Take Career to the Next Level
FRI December 19, ANDRES ANTONIO CARRIEDO - By early 2004, Daniel “The Haitian Sensation” Edouard had begun to establish himself as a fan favorite with his television friendly fighting style. He’d won his first 15 professional bouts and was starting to build up a fan following. At the time, though he had an undefeated record and had begun to move up the professional rankings, he was not quite able to commit fully to boxing. But he was held in solid regard by fans and the television networks. So, bigger opportunities began to present themselves to Team Edouard over the course of the next year.
In March 2004, in a televised ShoBox co-feature bout, Edouard struggled throughout the early and middle rounds with the slick boxing of Dorian Beaupierre, but he gritted his way back to salvage a majority draw. One month later, Edouard met Beaupierre in a rematch, this time as the main event of an ESPN2 televised “Friday Night Fights” card. The two again battled to a draw and the star of that telecast was an undefeated upstart middleweight out of Philadelphia by the name of Willie Gibbs. Gibbs stole the show from the headliners by dominating Giorbis Barthelemy over the course of their fight en route to a TKO6 victory.
Gibbs, the kin of then middleweight champion and ring legend Bernard Hopkins, began calling out the brightest young prospect in the middleweight division at the time, Jermain Taylor. A Taylor-Gibbs fight was a long shot to happen anytime soon. So, instead, ESPN2 matched Gibbs with Edouard in a FNF main event four months later. The Edouard-Gibbs fight was an absolute war. Both men tasted each other’s power throughout the four action packed rounds before Edouard knocked Gibbs down twice in the fourth round and won the fight.
Edouard’s eventual prize for those three tough tests in 2004 was a date in the co-feature of the February 19, 2005 edition of HBO’s World Championship Boxing against the aforementioned Taylor. It was the opportunity of a lifetime in that a win over Taylor would have guaranteed Edouard a shot at the middleweight title held by the legendary Hopkins. The problem was that Edouard was not yet ready for that next level.
Whereas Taylor had been carefully groomed for a match against Hopkins by HBO, Lou DiBella and others, Edouard was basically brought in as a showcase opponent for Taylor’s dress rehearsal leading up to his imminent challenge of Hopkins. Edouard lost his fight against Taylor. Since then, he has not fought on television nearly as often, but he began to rebuild his career by taking more control of his fate not only inside the ring, but outside of it as well.
I interviewed Daniel Edouard, who currently holds the WBA Fedelatin 160 lb. title and owns a less glossy, but more seasoned 21-2-2 record, earlier this week. Our conversation spanned several topics ranging from the charitable work he does with his foundation, his efforts to develop boxing programs both in Haiti and South Florida, his recent signing with Square Ring Promotions and the future endeavors of Haitian Sensation Promotions, which Edouard created in order to become more hands on with his career. I’d like to thank Tim Walker, CEO, of Haitian Sensation Promotions and Daniel Edouard for their availability and granting of this interview.
Andres Carriedo: I spoke to Tim Walker about Haitian Sensation Promotions and he said that you want to become more hands on with your career. Can you tell us about that? When did Haitian Sensation Promotions start up? And what are your plans for 2009?
Daniel Edouard: Well the whole concept of the promotional company was not just to promote me. I have a foundation called Haitian Sensation Foundation. The whole purpose of the foundation was to bring help and hope to young kids who have talent and to get them on the right track and between the ropes. At the same time, the promotional company was started to give them an avenue to make some money and some things to do.
AC: So, what other things does the foundation do?
DE: Well, the main thing right now is that we’re focusing on the boxing. We have the boxing office and we work with the boxing federation in Haiti. I’m in charge of getting boxing going. As of last year, boxing didn’t really even exist in Haiti. Now we have three boxing gyms and Isaiah we just sponsored him going to the Olympics in 2008. He got himself there, but we were able to help get him there. We also have Evens Pierre, one of the main pupils of the foundation; he also fought on the card that I fought on in Panama. He’s 5-0 as a pro. So, those are some of the things that we’re trying to do. As far as boxing here in the States, next year we’ll be starting a small boxing program at our facility. We have people in tutoring programs and food distribution within the community.
AC: Is that mainly in Haiti or also in South Florida?
DE: The boxing program is mainly in Haiti, but we have the food distribution and also tutoring programs that are done here in the states.
AC: So, I saw that you have cards planned for Jan. 23rd and March 13th; can you tell us more about that?
DE: Actually, Jan. 23rd has been pushed back to Feb. 5th and there’s a lot of things going on with that. We’re teaming up with Square Ring, with Roy Jones Jr.
AC: Are you going to be working with Square Ring on a fight to fight basis or is that going to be a long term commitment?
DE: Square Ring signed us as a promotional company and we’re working with them mainly because Roy Jones is a part of the company. So, I said ‘hey this is the type of person I’d like to work with’ as far as a long term basis because they can help me get to that next level and that’s what I want. I want to get to that next level. With them doing it, they’ll be working hard to get me through. So, I said no man can stand alone and get there by himself. I’m not going to even try to think that I can get there by myself.
AC: Are you signed with Square Ring the same way Dmitriy Salita and Zab Judah are or are you going to be working with them independently through your own promotional company?
DE: I’m signed with them just like their other fighters; I’m working with them and just trying to have a business mind and we figured we could work together and make some things happen.
AC: The next thing I wanted to get into was that when I was talking to Tim Walker, he said that previously you didn’t have as much control over your career and that you felt as though you were rushed into fights, particularly with Jermain Taylor. Then later you went down to 154 and that didn’t work out right; now, you’re starting to redo things and focus more on boxing and on controlling the business end of your career. Can you talk a little bit more about the difference starting from about when you fought Willie Gibbs up until now?
DE: Well, basically, when I fought Willie Gibbs. People were guiding my career and at that time I was just really young in the game and I just loved boxing. I just loved fighting; I loved getting in the ring. So, that’s what I did. I didn’t even think about the business side of it; I wasn’t even thinking about the money aspect of it. It was just the fact that I get to fight for a title and that’s all I cared about.
You know as I got older I started to see the business side and it’s not just about getting in the ring fighting, it’s a business. I realized that I’ve got a son, I’ve got bills to pay, I’ve got a family to take care of. So, I realized that I’ve got to focus on the whole business side of it; I can’t just focus on me just fighting and that’s it. So, I said ‘ok, let me figure out how to properly do it.’ The main thing is the marketing and promotion. So, I put everything together and said ‘hey, let me do it.’ Because I do have a degree and I went to school and I got taught how to do all of this in school. It’s the same formula, the same format and I said “hey, let’s do it.”
It took me some time to mature, understand and learn. Then I had to take that time do it because if I didn’t do it there’s no way I would be able to properly take myself to the next level.
AC: When did you go to school? Was that something you were doing while you were fighting?
DE: Yeah, yeah all at the same time. It took me a long time. I started in 1998 and I wasn’t even worried about boxing. I really wasn’t caring about boxing after I lost in the trials. I said, ‘let me focus on school. Let me get my stuff done, get my schooling done.” Then when I was training in Gainsville they were trying to get a boxing program going up there in Gainsville. The trainer there said, “Daniel, you’re still young, you’re still good, why aren’t you boxing?” I said, “I really don’t want to do it anymore.” He told me that the best way for them to market their program was for me to compete to kind of give the kids someone to look up to.
So, after doing that, I said “hey, this is probably the best thing for me to do is go forward with it.” Because I started seeing guys who I had beaten in the amateurs going pro and on television. So, I said “let me go ahead and do this so I can get some money for school instead of working an eight or nine hour job.” I was training anyway. So, I could just keep doing what I was doing and I finished school. That was originally how I went pro.
Then I started moving up the rankings and I said “wow; this is actually my job. This can actually be my career.” So, I started focusing more on it and it eventually became my career.
AC: So when did you finish school?
DE: I finished in 2006.
AC: And when did you start the foundation and promotional company?
DE: I’ve been working on the foundation since 1998. I start mentoring basketball and working with kids who had the ability to play for the high school team, but grades wouldn’t allow them to or they had disciplinary problems. So, I started doing it back in 1998. I started coaching an AAU basketball team and trying to get these kids into college and things of that nature. I had a few kids who got scholarships. So, it started back in ’98, but it wasn’t called the foundation then. It was called the Y Program back then.
Then it kind of developed and developed and developed. So, now we said ok…we’ve got the Haitian Sensation Foundation. We’ve got the clothes and everything together now. It’s something to help people and kind of help and guide young people who have the skills and the talent to do something positive, but they didn’t necessarily have the foundation themselves to get something going. That’s where we step in and we give them that foundation and we give them some hope and help them with the dream that they have.
AC: So, you started that right out of high school?
DE: Yeah, right out of high school. That’s always been my passion is just helping people…through my faith in Christ and acting on my passion to help people doing the best I can to just bring help to people around the world, that’s all I wanted to do. Then that’s kind why I keep my passion up for boxing. So, that I can use boxing by winning a world title and making the kind of money I need in boxing to take this foundation to the next level and help the people I need to help.
AC: When did Haitian Sensation Promotions start?
DE: That started back in ’05 actually.
AC: So, right around the time you fought Jermain Taylor?
DE: Well, it started in March of ’05. It started right after I fought Jermain Taylor. That fight with Jermain Taylor kind of spurred me to say, ‘Ok, I really need to take this seriously and go to the next level with this.’ Because I went up to a higher level and I left the leadership into other people’s hands and I said, ‘Hey, let me take the initiative. Let me try to do this.’ That was kind of the plan that I had back then.
AC: Do you have any opponents lined up for any of these next few fights?
DE: Erick Bosher, he’s our matchmaker. He’s working diligently to find a good opponent so that I can defend my WBA Fedelatin title. So, I’m just leaving it in his hands and we’ll go from there.
AC: Who are you training with now, are you sparring with anybody right now?
DE: I’m kind of taking the holidays off a little bit. Just trying to relax and take the holidays off. I’m working with Panama Lewis. It’s been a great motivation for me. He’s a great trainer. He’s teaching me and he’s growing with me into the game. He’s teaching me about everything including the business side and getting me ready for that next level and the championship level from being a top level prospect.
AC: Ok, so the next fight will be February 5th?
DE: It’s going to be either February 5th, 6th or 7th. One of those days will be when the actual fight takes place. We’re just in the process of getting the proper venue. The venue we were going to use, unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to use it. By the end of this week we should know more and have everything concrete.
AC: So, all of these next few fights will be in South Florida?
DE: Yes, the next few fights will be in South Florida.
AC: So, is that something that you are working on is building up the boxing scene in South Florida with Haitian Sensation Promotions?
DE: I just want to put boxing out there in general. Right now, MMA is kind of exploding boxing right now. And boxing is kind of behind the scenes right now. I want people to understand the art and the science of boxing and just appreciate it because boxing is a great sport. It’s a great night out. I want it to be like back in the days when people would just go. I mean they didn’t care who was fighting they would just go and it was just a fun night at the fights.
Now, I don’t think people really admire or appreciate the love of boxing. So, we’re just trying to be active, doing shows and give opportunities to up and coming fighters to have that level where they can get in there and fight and not have to worry about when they’re going to fight again. They’ll know, ‘Hey, I can fight every month or every other month if I want to.’ We want to get it moving like that instead of having to being so political and diplomatic. Let’s just fight, just have fun and fight.
AC: Do you think it’s easier to do that with a local boxing scene that you’re trying to build with Haitian Sensation Promotions? And what do you think would help build that back into developing young fighters’ careers?
DE: It takes local club shows. That’s the main thing. Everybody wants to be a big time De la Hoya, or Don King or DiBella. Everyone wants to be on the big time HBO or Showtime thing, but to get there you have to start somewhere. I mean even the small club fighters think that overnight they’re going to be this great champion. It doesn’t work that way. It takes time to be seasoned. It takes time to, even if you’re not a prospect fighter, if you just enjoy fighting period you need those club shows.
Club shows are what maintains boxing and keeps boxing going to the next level. It’s those shows on the islands in the Caribbean and small shows that keep boxing going until it can catapult to the bigger shows. I think you need those small shows, you need those medium range shows then of course you have the major shows. But if there’s no middle ground or no beginning or foundation then there’s always something that you’re missing. And that’s what’s kind of happening right now. There’s no foundation because everyone’s trying to do these grandiose types of things. A small club show could be grandiose, but still be a club show.
AC: That’s what you’re working on right?
DE: Yeah, yeah that’s what we’re trying to do. Just bring it back to the people and bring it back to the fighters where the fighters can just focus on them. They don’t have to worry about nothing just get in there and fight. With the crowd right there on you; screaming and hollering right there on you. You can feel the sweat. The people right there in the front can get blood on them. That’s what boxing is about. It’s not about this big ol’…I mean Madison Square Garden and all that is great when you get to that level. But when you’re coming up you need to just get out there and just fight and learn your craft. The only way to do that is through club shows.
AC: Are you all in the process of signing any fighters? Is there anyone we can be looking out for on these shows that you’ll be headlining?
DE: Yeah we’ve got Isaiah Agustama. He was a 2008 Olympian for Haiti. We’ve got Emmanuel Agustama, his brother. He’s a Cruiserweight. We’ve got Wilky Campfort. They should all be making their pro debut on that card. Isaiah Agustama was supposed to debut on my last card in Panama, but he suffered a small injury and was unable to travel.
AC: They all came up through the amateur program in Haiti?
DE: No, they were born in Haiti, but they came up through the amateur program here in the states. It was the foundation; we took them to the Olympic trials and got them going. We tried to get them all qualified for the Olympics but unfortunately Isaiah was the only one who qualified. They all tried and gave their best. They’re all top notch quality fighters and I can’t wait to see them come up through the rankings in the pros.
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