Femmefan Exclusive Interview - Arnie “Tokyo” Rosenthal
A Ring of Their Own

By Ivette Ricco

June 6, 2006

 

Ivette Ricco of www.Femmefan.com spoke with Arnie Rosenthal via phone on Tuesday June 6 th.
Arnie Rosenthal is a v eteran sports and entertainment promoter who, along with his partner, Ken Weiss of Rock and Sock Productions felt that the time had come for women boxers to take the stage, not as a sideshow to men’s boxing but as the “main event”.
Their idea became a reality when their all women’s boxing series " A Ring of Their Own" debuted Saturday, January 29 th at the Silverton Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Arnie Rosenthal knows boxing.
Arnie knows the TV and the Cable business.
Arnie knows a crowd pleaser when he sees one.

A Ring of Their Own’s inaugural event took a little over four months of planning to develop and produce. Not a long time in my opinion, to put on an event of this type. The speed at which this idea became a reality is due in large measure to the experience and expertise of Rosenthal and Weiss.

Rosenthal believes that women’s boxing, with the right marketing and promotion, and specifically with better TV distribution, can be as successful as other women’s sports, he cites the WNBA, women’s tennis and the LPGA as examples.

18 months into this “vision” Arnie is cautiously optimistic. The female boxers on “A Ring of Their Own” have been well received. But although the show currently reaches 40 million homes, “A Ring of Their Own” still needs greater TV distribution, the key to necessary exposure for the series. “ A Ring of Their Own” is currently not reaching many boxing fans due to limited distribution.
Finding the program has been a source of frustration for some boxing fans, as Bernie McCoy states in his article, A Ring of Their Own Deserves Better.

Rosenthal states that the women boxers have shown great passion for the sport of boxing, a necessity given that there simply isn’t much money in the sport, yet.
Arnie observes that for these female athletes it’s all about the sport, they come to fight, with a purpose and the pureness of attitude typically found in amateur sports.

Arnie says he knew that it was time to feature female boxers when it became obvious fight fans found the women’s bouts more exciting than many of the men’s fights. Arnie says many fans consider a women’s fight their favorite bout on the fight card. The speed and the action of the 2-minute rounds in women’s boxing may have something to do with that.

Rosenthal says that the typical fight fan views women’s boxing, initially, with skepticism and perhaps think they’re going to see a titillating “mud fight”. But according to Arnie, once the fight fan sees the skill level of these boxers, that attitude changes quickly and then it’s all about watching the women compete as athletes.

Arnie expressed his disappointment with the Olympic Committee’s rejection of women’s boxing as an Olympic event. That “slight” dealt a blow to the aspirations of many of these young women. A place in the Olympics would have gone a long way to providing the credibility and the worldwide exposure the sport needs.

For Arnie and his partner, this is a labor of love. They don’t know what the future holds, but are optimistic that with wider TV distribution and going from a bi-monthly to a weekly show that they will be able to reach a bigger audience.
They are hoping to develop stars, legitimate contenders and boxers who will draw in the public.

Arnie hopes to gauge the future of his vision with a Pay Per View fight in October. Although the venue and date have not yet been set, Rosenthal would like to hold the 3-world title fights on that Pay Per View fight card in Edmonton Canada where fight fans have embraced female boxers. Rosenthal feels it is the perfect venue for the first Pay Per View fight in Women’s Boxing.

The October fight is scheduled to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

A Ring of Their Own will return to the screen on July 31 st. On August 31, “A Ring of Their Own” will broadcast from Harrah’s Lake Tahoe. I hope to be there to cover that fight on behalf of www.Femmefan.com

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