“MY grandfather’s going to be 97 years old. He’s a Holocaust survivor. He’s still fully there, mentally, but life’s short. I don’t know how many years he’ll have left, and my biggest dream was to be able to give him a world championship. That’s what I’m really doing this for.”
It all felt like a dream because, once upon a time, that’s all it was. As the name of the new, unified ‘world’ champion, the Philippines’ Marlon Tapales, was read out in San Antonio, Texas, on April 8, Shane Shapiro realised both a life’s ambition and a fork in his road. He’d set out almost a decade ago to work with – and help crown – boxing champions from underprivileged countries or unsuspecting backgrounds. Now, with his first co-promoted champion eventually under his belt, the plucky Law student spoke to Boxing News about pushing forward into boxing’s front room.
“A lot of things have changed,” he sighs in relief, sounding vindicated. “Marlon Tapales won the IBF and WBA titles, and now we’re just waiting on the winner of [Naoya] Inoue versus [Stephen] Fulton, and then we’re supposed to be fighting whoever wins for the undisputed title. Hopefully it’ll
