Pulling Punches for a New Career

Brown Says He's Focused on Being A Jockey Agent

J.D. Brown insists the undercard of the Jimmy Lange-Fontaine Cabell rematch Saturday night at Patriot Center was the swan song of his long career as a boxing matchmaker. Working as a full-time jockey agent for two riders at Pimlico and Laurel Park more than fulfills his minimum daily requirement for action, and the longtime right-hand man to Sugar Ray Leonard has decided to try and let the fight game go.

Yet two days before the show on the campus of George Mason University, Brown, who says he is "60ish" and lives with his wife in Camp Springs, didn't appear to have let his peers in on the decision. He sat down with a reporter to talk about his career and his cellphone rang -- Baltimore boxing promoter Jake Smith calling to talk about fighters for his upcoming card. A couple of minutes later, Eric Bottjer, another matchmaker, called hoping Brown knew a boxer good enough to fill a main event bout on ESPN on short notice. Then yet another call, this time from Brian Bishop, who handled public relations for Lange-Cabell.

This didn't look like retirement.

"I still get calls, but as far as doing it anymore . . . I love horse racing, the competitiveness of it," Brown said. "Boxing is not like it used to be. Back in the heyday, the '80s and early '90s, guys would fight anybody. Now, it's hard getting guys to fight. Now, the promoters have all these medicals to deal with. You have last-minute pullouts, and you don't have guys that take fights at the last minute like you used to."

At "60ish," Brown also can't surf the kinetic wave of big-time boxing like he did as a younger man. When riding high with Leonard, who blew out of Palmer Park to become one of the greatest, most electrifying fighters boxing has ever known, Brown cut a dashing figure whenever the Sugar Ray caravan hit the road. He wore impeccable pinstripe suits with a fresh handkerchief in the breast pocket and had an athlete's build from his days as an all-conference outfielder at Howard University and with the Washington Black Sox amateur team. Good looks help today's idols, such as Oscar De La Hoya, and, on a local level, Lange and Brown, float above the fight crowd as Leonard was able to do.

"It was a great ride working with Ray Leonard," Brown said. "I got to go to some of the greatest places. We flew in private jets. The groupies came calling, and if we didn't keep control of it, we'd wind up like Mike Tyson.

"At the time, Ray was Ray. He was having fun. We would travel all over the world doing things. The road life is much different now. Ray's 50 years old. Back then, Ray could sleep for 15 minutes, and he'd be ready to go."

These days, Brown is up at 5 a.m. and at the track by 6 to watch morning workouts and see which horses look ready to fire in the afternoon.

He makes the rounds of the barns at Pimlico, Laurel Park and the Bowie Training Center, shooting the breeze with trainers, offering the services of his riders Carlos Quinones and Nick Santagata for workouts in hope of securing mounts for them in the races, including ones on the rich programs Friday and Saturday for Black-Eyed Susan Day and the Preakness Stakes.

Brown, who grew up in Washington, is the only black jockey agent on the backstretch, but his immersion in the job has appeared easy.

"His background in boxing has really helped him in this sport," said Steve Rushing, the top agent in the region, who guides the careers of Ramon Dominguez and Anna Rose Napravnik. "Managing a fighter is probably a lot like managing a young rider, molding their careers, having a plan. Promoting is the same thing. He has the background for that. He's very good with people, and everyone likes him."

"It's a specialty to have that type of ability," Leonard said. "J.D. blends in. He becomes like your pal, your acquaintance and your business partner. But he's not too slick. I think he's like a chameleon, from a positive aspect."