EliteXC Exec Still Hyping Kimbo Slice, Despite His Lack Of Hype-Worthy Attributes

You have to love the stick-to-it-tive-ness of Gary Shaw, a key promoter of the failed EliteXC MMA enterprise. First, he compared Kimbo Slice (seen here posing quite sexily) as a comparable talent to Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Then Slice got embarrassed on national television, ending both his hype machine and the EliteXC franchise altogether.
Shaw, who has retreated back to the world of professional boxing, has come to admit it was a bad idea to allow Slice to fight Seth Petruzelli on such short notice. But he doesn’t think Slice’s career is over. Far from it. Shaw is betting that, with the proper training, the 34-year-old Slice could be a star in MMA or boxing.
We’re having a hard time concentrating here. Stupid sexy Kimbo!

Shaw also envisions a continuing relationship with Kimbo Slice, a 34-year-old married father of six whom he insists still can become a major force in either MMA or boxing if he receives the proper training.

“I said it before and I meant it: I believe he has superstar potential,” Shaw insisted. “Whenever Mike Tyson walked into a room, everybody stopped what they were doing, got up and looked. Why? Because he was Tyson. I was with Kimbo the other night, and it was pretty much the same thing. We were in a four-star restaurant and even the chef wanted to come over and meet him.

“In today’s era of heavyweights, do I believe he’d have a shot at some version of a heavyweight championship? Absolutely. He’d have to get a good trainer, a good strength and conditioning coach to help him get limber, but I definitely can see him becoming a factor in a heavyweight division that is as decimated as my 401k. This guy can punch, and punch really hard. He does certain things that are natural, things even he doesn’t realize he’s doing.

“If he ever learned to sit down on his punches, to plant his feet, how to get proper spacing, how to turn his punches over … look, I admit he’s a novice. But he’s got what I call the `It’ factor. I’m not sure if you can explain it to anyone, but people know it when they see it. And Kimbo has it.”

Shaw should promote Slice as a prizefighter. Sure, if he learned all those specific skill sets this late in life, he could be the next heavyweight champion, and Shaw would have the inside track. And if a bull had tits, it’d be a cow. Kimbo Slice’s it factor is what got millions of people to watch EliteXC. His skill set, and the embarrassing 17-second loss that it led to, is what, at least in part, destroyed the aforementioned company.
No Matter How You Slice It [The Sweet Science]
Image [In The VIP]