He is a family man first, but is comfortable sharing himself with others. As Lou’s career segues from boxer to boxing promoter and personal trainer, Lou Savarese continues to break the mold by setting a new example of what life outside the ring can be.

Pictured above: Lou's wife Louisa and two sons, Ciro and Luca.

Candid Interview with Big Lou

By Greg Barr

Courtesy of the Houston Business Journal 

As a professional pugilist, Lou Savarese knew how to take a punch and dole out some hefty shots of his own. Now he’s stepping into the entrepreneurial ring and taking a swing. Although he still occasionally laces up the gloves to spar with up-and-coming fighters at a Houston gym, Savarese has moved into the middle rounds of his life as a fledgling boxing promoter and manager, real estate developer, occasional Hollywood actor and now a business owner. Savarese Fight Fit, his new venture set up with business partner and boxing trainer Bobby Benton, opened in late December in the Main Street Gym building on Austin Street.

Savarese is also putting together a slate of fighters for his next public boxing event at The Houston Club on Feb. 11. Savarese got into plenty of trouble and street fights as a youngster in New York, but was steered by his father into a boxing gym to channel his aggression into an actual profession. Eventually moving to Houston to train. Lou had his first pro fight in 1989 in Galveston. During a career that lasted nearly 18 years, he won a couple of heavyweight titles and met all kinds of famous — and infamous — fighters in the ring including George Foreman, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. His professional record was 48-7. Savarese, 44, recently sat down to talk about what he has tried to apply from his experiences as a boxer to his new endeavors:

HBJ: Tell us about the concept behind Savarese Fight Fit.

SAVARESE: I’ve modeled it after the gym that a friend of mine owns in New York called The Trinity Boxing Club. It’s aimed at clients who want to learn how to box and how to stay in shape like a professional boxer would, so we’re doing it with private lessons like you work with a professional trainer at other gyms, but now we’re starting group classes in January, and we hope to attract people working nearby at all those corporations in the downtown area. Eventually, as some of the clients learn their way around, it could lead up to them sparring in the ring with a buddy or maybe with somebody from another company. I would think with all of the mergers and acquisitions going on in Houston and that it’s such a competitive business environment, maybe a couple of guys could settle who’s going to get that promotion at work in the ring with the Marquess of Queensberry rules.

HBJ: That sounds a bit like that “Fight Club” movie with Brad Pitt.

SAVARESE: No, the way we’re doing this is the total opposite. It’s a very controlled environment, where the clients learn that there’s actually a lot of strategy that goes on in the ring, and that they are mainly here to stay in good shape — actually to use boxing to get in the best shape of their lives, and still have fun. Once somebody progresses to the point that we think they are ready to spar with somebody, they’ll have big gloves and protective headgear, and can invite their buddies from the office down to watch. We don’t want anybody getting a black eye and then have to go into the boardroom the next morning.

HBJ: What other boxing-related business ventures are you involved with?

SAVARESE: I’m working with some heavyweight fighters who are getting ready to move up and get some higher profile fights, like Nagy Aguilera, a fighter born in the Dominican Republic who beat Oleg Maskaev in December. He’s being funded by some real estate guys, and we’re just looking to get him the right fights. And I did my first local boxing event in December under Savarese Promotions at The Houston Club downtown, which is a really good venue with all of the seats close to the action so we’re looking forward to our second event in February. These guys may not be marquee names, but we’re matching guys who are at equal skill levels so the fights are entertaining. You don’t always want to see these unmatched fights where you already have a pretty good idea who might win, so we were encouraged by the reception we got with the first fights in December with fighters that were matched pretty evenly.

HBJ: What did you learn from your days as a professional boxer that you can apply in business?

SAVARESE: There are no shortcuts in boxing, just like there aren’t any in business. In the ring I always set attainable goals, and that’s what I’m doing now. I might lose a bit of money with the first few fights I put on, but the idea is to create a good atmosphere and value for the entertainment dollar to build something up over time. Like when I was a boxer, I had to learn to be ready for setbacks and learn perseverance. You’d see guys who would lose once or twice and they were done. I always felt that if I wanted a chance to win in the ring, I would have to train harder than the other guy and learn to punch harder.

HBJ: But didn’t you also learn early on in your career that marketing and building up your own brand was just as important as all of your training?

SAVARESE: My manager back then was a creative guy. He came up with this Lou Savarese Fan Club that started to create a buzz about me down at the grassroots level to get my name out there more than other guys trying to get known as heavyweights. I still get those fan letters today.