New York born sports writer Brad Cooney, who now resides out of Mississippi, has been fighting the good fight in hopes of spreading integrity throughout the boxing world for many years now. Taking experiences from his life, which include a stint in the Navy, writing for various boxing publications including websites and magazines, from judging fights to promoting a show, he became the author of, “Let’s Talk Boxing”. Cooney also uses his accolades to present the fight fans with artistic integrity with his very own website, 8 Count News.
In this exclusive interview conducted by Convicted Artist Magazine, Brad speaks out on his writing career, his book, as well as his foundation entitled, Hydr8. Enjoy.
Benny Henderson Jr.
What inspired you to become a sports writer and how did you get your start?
Brad Cooney
Actually I was researching Gerry Cooney online, and I found an interview that a writer did with him, and I corresponded back and forth with the writer. One thing led to another and we actually became friends, and he inspired me to get into the boxing world.
BH
We know that there are a lot of sports writers in the mix, especially with the Internet and all. So what advice would you give to a young writer, maybe some advice that would keep that writer from being just your normal Internet writer?
BC
Speaking for myself, I think what has made me successful, they need to know the fighters. These guys are warriors, they get in there and train their hearts out and literally put their lives on the line to pay their bills. If you know a fighter you get more in depth answers in your interviews, as opposed to somebody who doesn’t know the writer. An example would be three time world champion Robert Guerrero. When I began interviewing Robert he was a young prospect, so over the years I have developed a relationship with him, and after gaining my trust over the years the interviews keep getting better and better. That is one example. You earn each others trust and research. Research is very important.
BH
Let’s talk a little about your book, “Let’s Talk Boxing”.
BC
That book was published in 2005, and basically it is a compilation of interviews that I have done. It also has some amateur boxing with my points and views on certain points in the game. My first big interview was with Evander Holyfield. He was my first big name interview. I decided to put together a compilation of my early interviews, and it has really helped me get my name out there as well.
BH
You have project Hydr8, fill us in on the foundation.
BC
That is a charity that I started with my business partner. I was watching Oprah one day and she had Oprah’s Heroes, and it had a class of sixth graders who had a vision to raise money to help people in Africa. I was looking at these kids making a big difference in people’s lives, and I thought if these sixth graders can do it, my forty-three year old ass can do that. (Both laugh) So I got to thinking about it and what I could to impact a life over there, and the first thing that came to mind was water. I went to Africa when I was in the Navy; I have seen the struggles that these people go through over there. Africa has a bad problem with contaminated water. Kids walk up to twenty miles a day just get to a dirty water source. They drink it and get sick, and a lot of them die from it. I came up with an idea to try to raise money to help drill some clean water wells. We started the foundation and a lot of fighters and regular people have helped out. We raise money and it goes to drill wells.
BH
You have worked for various sites before establishing www.8countnews.com, what did you take way from the other sites that has helped you be successful today?
BC
Speaking for myself, the reason why I bounced around from site to site is because I did not like the way I was treated, and there are some other writers out there that has not been treated well either. I will say this, Fight News treated me fine, but there were some other websites that didn’t. I have really moved past all of that, but the one thing I take from those other sites that I bring to 8 Count News, is that I take how I was treated from the other websites and do the complete opposite. I treat my team with respect; we have a great solid team.
BH
In closing, what is the one thing you want the reader to get out of this interview?
BC
There is a saying that I live by now. It is, “success breeds hate”. It is so true. It is really cool to get your name out there, but the down side of it is that you always have somebody out there who wants to hate on you. I just want people to know that you can hate all day, but Brad Cooney is going to be Brad Cooney and I do this because I enjoy it. I feed off the hate; it inspires me to do better.
Check out Brad and his entire staff of talented writers at www.8countnews.com
Benny Henderson Jr.
www.convictedartist.com
