ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 1, 1996 TAG: 9612020067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
THE SPARSE CROWD would've been sparser still if not for the city officials' complimentary tickets.
In this corner was Mayor David Bowers. In another, City Manager Bob Herbert. In yet another, Councilman Jim Trout. And Councilmen Nelson Harris, William White and Carroll Swain.
Elsewhere ringside at the big boxing match Friday night were the city attorney, the finance director, schools superintendent, fire chief, building commissioner and an official from the Economic Development office.
Nearly anyone who is anybody in Roanoke City Hall - high-ranking males, at least - turned out to see the flying fists of Thomas "Hitman" Hearns and the scantily clad "ring girls" at the "Brawl Beneath the Star" in the Roanoke Civic Center's Coliseum.
And all of them had choice complimentary seats for the eight-fight boxing card. Those seats would have sold for $150 each had anybody been buying them. As it turned out, nobody was. The coliseum was mostly empty. Its more than 10,000 seats held 963 people.
The officials can thank Trout for the free tickets. He took orders for them in the back room behind council chambers before council's Nov. 18 public meeting. Most of the dozen or so who accepted his offer got two free seats, Trout acknowledged.
"Recognizing all the city has done to promote boxing here in Roanoke, Thomas [Hearns] was more than happy to provide the city officials with seats," said Melanie Steele, president of Steelhawk Promotions, the fight's local promoter. Hearns himself carried most of the costs of the event.
What the city has done to promote boxing goes back to Aug. 19. After weeks of prodding by local fight impresarios Rick Hawkins and Steele, City Council anted up about $50,700 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds to start the Roanoke City Boxing Association.
Council also earmarked another $15,000 in city taxpayer money so the association could buy a boxing ring.
Hawkins, executive director of the boxing association, is also vice president of Steelhawk, which stands to earn 15 percent of Friday night's rather slim gate.
The youth athletic program is aimed at getting 50 low- to moderate-income youths off the streets and into a boxing gym, where they will be taught physical fitness, teamwork, self-confidence and character building skills.
Trout, a former amateur boxer who heads the RCBA, denied any connection between the free tickets and council's appropriation for the boxing association.
"It's apples and oranges, I swear," Trout said. "The Roanoke City Boxing Association has absolutely nothing to do with this fight program."
But Page One of the "Brawl Beneath the Star" program features a letter from Trout on RCBA stationery that begins: "Fellow boxing fans: Welcome to the Roanoke Civic Center. On behalf of Roanoke City Council and the Roanoke City Boxing Association, we are pleased to bring boxing back to Roanoke, where the sport has a distinguished history."
Trout's letter noted that a portion of profits from the fight, if any, were to go into RCBA's youth boxing program.
And then there is Hawkins, who earns $8,000 a year with RCBA while serving as vice president of Steelhawk. He said "not one cent" of the RCBA money went into the professional fight promotion.
City Finance Director Jim Grisso said he attended mostly because "it seemed like it meant a lot to Jim [Trout] for us to be here." His wife didn't want to go, so Grisso invited Fire Chief Jim Grigsby.
Building Commissioner Ron Miller, City Attorney Wilburn Dibling and Herbert brought their sons.
Council member William White said there was absolutely nothing wrong with officials accepting the free seats. It wasn't a payback for the funds the city bestowed on the RCBA, he said. Council members are often offered free seats to sporting events like high school football and Virginia Tech games, White said.
"I can't connect [complimentary] seats to anything. If they wanted to give us [complimentary] seats, that would be a way of showing their appreciation. But if this wasn't a positive event, I wouldn't be here," White said. "We've brought ESPN [a cable sports network] in here. We've brought people into the city, boxers talking about drugs to kids in the schools. There are a lot of positive aspects."
"The only thing I know was I was asked, 'Do you want to go to the fight?''' Swain said. "And I said, 'Yes,' and I got the tickets. There were no details discussed, no arrangements."
"I'm not going to comment," Harris said angrily. "I'm here with some friends, enjoying the fight."
(Vice Mayor Linda Wyatt and Councilman Jack Parrott turned down the offer of free tickets.)
There was, however, at least one elected official who paid to get in. State Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum plunked down $60 for his seat in the stands. He may have been the only public official in the joint who didn't get in for free.
"That's why they call me 'Honest Chip,''' Woodrum quipped.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY\Staff. City councilmen Nelson Harris (left)by CNBand Jim Trout were among the Roanoke officials ringside. color.