-(L) Mike Arnaoutis and Cestus Management's founder Mike Michael-
-Photo Courtesy of Cestus Management-

     The story of junior welterweight contender Mike Arnaoutis and Cestus Management started about six years ago in Greece. At the time Cestus Founder, Mike Michael, was working with Lennox Lewis' former promoter Panos Eliades, and promoting fights in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Bloc countries.

     Michael was a former amateur Boxing champion in the United Kingdom and had been around the Boxing world in and around Europe. One day, while still working with Panos Eliades, Michael got a call from Greece about a fighter who had fought in some Greek tournaments. Michael didn't know what to make of this, since Greece was not exactly a hotbed for fighters; actually there is no professional boxing in Greece, only amateur. So getting a call about a fighter he should see in Greece was not something to get unusually excited about. Nevertheless, Michael made the flight from Cyprus to Greece and watched this kid named Mike Arnaoutis. Arnaoutis made an impression on Michael and Michael decided to take him on.

     Michael took Arnaoutis to London and let him spar in the Lennox Lewis center in London to see just how good the kid was. He had Arnaoutis spar with an 18-0 prospect by the name of Steven Murray, and as Michael recalls Arnaoutis more than held his own. He immediately signed up Arnaoutis.

    Arnaoutis had fought in some tournaments in Greece, but the training there was way under par. At near that same time, Michael split from Eliades and decided to follow his dream of starting up his own company in the United States. Michael had picked up a lot of experience working with many major companies in the United Kingdom, and from his own amateur background. Michael went on to start Cestus management with his first client, a kid from Greece named Mike Arnaoutis. From that point on, Cestus laid down the blueprint that would lead the talented Arnaoutis to a world title fight next Saturday, November 17th,  against Ricardo Torres in Las Vegas on the Pacquiao-Morales undercard.

    Coming to America was strange for Arnaoutis, a bit of a cultural shock even from the UK where there were many Greeks around him. But, as his manager put it, coming to America was like going to Pluto for Mike. Arnaoutis was brought along at an ample pace, stepping up a little more each time, and his reputation was starting to spread when he finally landed a big fight on Showtime's ShoBox series. Michael states, "We have numerous matchmakers here, and were not gonna throw our fighters to the wolves, I know how to match a fighter." Mike's first TV fight would be in an underdog role against heavy punching Juan Urango in Urango's hometown in Florida. Many thought this was a risky fight for Arnaoutis; as his manager Mike Michael states, "Everyone thought we were out of our mind for taking the fight, but I looked at tapes of Urango and I knew Mike could beat him." This would be Arnaoutis's first major TV appearance and his first major test.

     "We had to test him and see where he was at this point, is he going to show what he can do or go south in another direction? We wanted to see if was the real deal, stated Michael. "I wanted to see what he had, and the rest is history, everyone thought we were crazy, but we went into the guy's backyard and won." The fight was actually a very disputed draw, with most believing that Arnaoutis had pulled the upset, nonetheless the fight was a breakthrough fight for Arnaoutis that had Showtime clamoring for more. As for Arnaoutis, he couldn't believe what was happening. This kind of stuff doesn't happen in Greece, where soccer, track and field, and basketball are the major sports. Michael stated that Mike was in awe, and that they had to mold him into the athlete that he is today.

     The Urango fight was a big cornerstone for Arnaoutis and Cestus as Mike's stock rose in the boxing world. Michael states, "This was the test. Managing is like raising a child, you have to have a blueprint, you have to have strength & conditioning coaches, trainers, media attention, and you have to be able to deal with a kid's anxieties."

     Michael explains how Cestus brings young fighters up, "I consider raising a fighter up like raising a kid. When you have a four round fighter, it's like when he's just been born. When you have a six round fighter you got to put the Pampers on him. When you get to eight rounds you start to think about whether you should take the Pampers off. When you have a 10-12 rounder, the Pampers come right off."  Before the Urango fight, Arnaoutis had mainly fought on the Baltimore circuit, and now he was fighting a big name on a major boxing network. As Michael states, "normally you don't take a kid off the Baltimore circuit and put him in with a big gorilla. But, we knew what we were doing, and we were very proud of that, because that was our breakthrough fight."

    After the Urango fight, Showtime was ecstatic about Mighty Mike; in fact Arnaoutis would set a record for most appearances on ShoBox, which included four consecutive fights on the series. According to Michael, Arnaoutis was bringing in 2 million viewers in a midnight time slot. Arnaoutis was starting to become a sort of cult figure on the network. So, now it was a matter of matchmaking and who would be Mike's future opponents on the network.

     Through careful management Cestus looked into who Mike would fight next. In his next fight, Arnaoutis fought a tough guy by the name of Joaquin Gallardo, and blew him out. Again Showtime was calling for more, and Mike's next fight was against a bigger name in Jesse Feliciano. Feliciano had been in with many big names, and went the distance with most. He was known as a tough guy, who would give Arnaoutis a major stiff test. Instead, Arnaoutis blew Feliciano away in the first round. Arnaoutis' stock really began to soar after the Feliciano fight, and he was being considered as one of the bigger prospects in the division. Then came another fight on ShoBox with a late sub by the name of Roberto Santa Cruz, who Arnaoutis and his management knew little about. It was Arnaoutis' toughest fight as he was forced to go the distance to win a tight, majority decision. Many critics felt they saw flaws now in Arnaoutis, but Cestus and Mike Michael felt differently about the fight.

    "This fight was a test, this is what I really wanted to find out. I wanted to see how he would deal with a tough 12 rounder where he would have to dig deep. I wanted to see how Mike would react under these conditions and he showed us a lot. It also showed us where he was, what deficiencies had to be fixed, and what we had to do to get him to the next level."  With the successes on ShoBox came new found fame for Arnaoutis, and at times like any fighter, Arnaoutis let it get to his head a little bit. Michael said that this was another challenge of theirs. "There were a few times we had to give him a bit of a reality check, and tell him not to believe his own hype, and that there are a lot more levels to go. We had to get him back to following the blueprint, that's what we do."

    Considering that Arnaoutis was the first client at Cestus, Cestus has done a pretty good job in bringing him up. Cestus now has more fighters, and the same blueprint they laid down for Arnaoutis is being laid down for others. Michael further states, "We have shown with Mike Arnaoutis that we can take a kid from oblivion to the world title and we have a blueprint for every fighter here at Cestus." Cestus also includes undefeated super middleweight Donovan George, who just recently ran his record to 10-0 with a 5th round TKO in his last fight. Michael believes that George has the ability and personality to become a star in Boxing. Michael can go on and on about George as he stated, "Donovan is made for Boxing, people will love him, and next year you will see him a lot. He's a good looking kid, and the girls go crazy over him. I see this constantly and ask what does he have that I don't have."

     Being that Cestus is a company that is still young, it has been tough for them keeping their fighters away from other lower elements of the sport. Michael states, "You get people who try and manipulate, strong arm, and even confuse young fighters." There's even been times that Cestus has had to put people on legal notice to protect Arnaoutis and themselves. Michael states that at times legal notice has been necessary, "We have legal documents and contracts that protect Cestus and its fighters. We have invested a lot of money and the fighters have invested a lot of effort and this should be protected".

    The road for Mike Arnaoutis has now led him to his first title fight on November 18th against Ricardo Torres for the WBO crown. Arnaoutis and his camp were at first disappointed that Miguel Cotto was moving up, because they wanted to fight him, but are happy to be fighting for a world title. Arnaoutis and Cestus feel that their blueprint will be partially fulfilled after November 18th. Michael has said that they have not seem much of Torres, just his two most recent fights, which includes the fight with Cotto. They feel Torres only fights one way, and that he's not going to change after thirty professional fights. They feel Torres will come out and apply pressure, because they feel he can't outbox Mike. Michael says they feel the fight will go one of two ways, "The first way would be Mike taking him to school, like Carlos Quintana did against Joel Julio. The second way would be a shootout for 5-6 rounds. People think Mike can't punch, but he can punch like a mule with crisp shots."

    That's the story of Mike Arnaoutis and Cestus Management, who hope to fulfill one of their goals on November 18th when they challenge for the WBO 140 pound crown. Cestus hopes the path of Mike Arnaoutis will be the path of future Cestus fighters, and manager Mike Michael fully believes in his blueprint for success. "We are proud and privileged to get our first fighter to the World title. Mike was a kid who came from oblivion, and there's a lot of other kids out there like Mike who just can't get discovered. We saw his talent and molded him into a superstar, and we can do this for others. We have turned a corner for Mike Arnaoutis and have other fighters like Donovan George who will soon follow. One thing about Mike Michael that a person can say after talking to him is that he's passionate, and passionate about what he and his company do for young fighters. Hopefully, Arnaoutis is the first of many getting the type of management and direction that is needed in the fight game today.

For more information on Cestus you can visit www.cestusmanagement.com
 

11-11-2006