Sunday, March 25, 2001

By Mark Oliva
Okinawa bureau

Mark Oliva / Stars and Stripes Eddie Erazo, a base civilian employee on Okinawa, stands inside a boxing ring at Camp Foster's field house. Erazo brings sports entertainment to local bases on Okinawa, and hopes to branch out to bases throughout the Pacific later this year.

CAMP FOSTER — Eddie Erazo loves a good fight — almost as much as setting one up.

Erazo might not look like Don King, but he’s promoting fights like the famous boxing impresario. That’s what made Erazo, a 32-year-old civilian employee, Mr. Fight Night on Okinawa. He has brought wrestlers, kickboxers and even Ultimate Fighting Champions to headline sports entertainment events at area bases.

"The night of the event, to see the crowd yelling they want more — that’s three months of work culminating," Erazo said. "The first show I did by myself I was busy until 11 p.m. the night of the fight. I was too tired to even worry about what people thought of the fights. The next day is when it hit me what a success it was."

Erazo learned the art of fight promotion as a young fighter. He started out as a competitor in karate tournaments. From there, he began helping others in the sport he loved.

"I used to [help] run karate tournaments in the late ’80s," Erazo said. "I was still on active duty [for the Marine Corps] and I was dealing with hundreds of competitors."

Now, Erazo teaches karate at the base Boys and Girls Club.

Admitting the punches weren’t getting softer as he got older, Erazo’s passion for martial-arts competition kick started him toward the path of fight promotion. Last July, he put together his first solo act: a full-fledged fight night at Okinawa’s Torii Station.

"We had 12 fighters and about 300 spectators," Erazo said. "We did it on a shoestring budget. Some of the fighters expected payments into the thousands, and I had to talk them into the hundreds."

Still, the work never overwhelmed Erazo, a feat he credits to meticulous planning.

"I give myself enough time to meet my deadline," said Erazo, a clerk with Headquarters and Service Battalion on Camp Foster. "After work, my family comes first, then my karate students. I usually start working on fight promotion at about 7 p.m. and work until between 2 and 4 in the morning."

Erazo begins planning at least three months before the event. The first month, he dedicates to planning the event, finding sponsors and searching for venues. The second month, he books the fighters and entertainers, and the final month is location preparation. The entire time he’s shaking hands and making deals, marketing his ideas to sponsors.

"The last month is the toughest," he said. "I’ve got to do a lot of convincing to the sponsors that the fighters are pro athletes. Everybody who’s in the show is either a pro you see on TV or developmental talent, waiting for their big break."

Erazo is planning a fight night at the end of spring for Okinawa featuring Ultimate Fighting Champion Dan Severn, who plans on putting one of his belts up for grabs in his first military-exclusive show. Other bases are calling, too. He’s working out details for shows at mainland Japan bases.

"The bases are starting to see a demand, and there's not too many sources [from which] to get these shows," Erazo said. "That's the unique part of this all — convincing the fighters they're coming to a little bit of America in Japan and supporting the military."

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