Justin Bieber and the Wackiest Entourages in Boxing History

It came to him while boarding the ship Liberte, readying to embark on a European tour. Sugar Ray Robinson liked it so much he made it a part of today’s sport’s lexicon—especially in boxing—the entourage.

Robinson overheard a ship steward say, “The boxer, Ray Robinson, and his entourage” as he walked up the ship’s gangplank. Robinson was engrossed by it so much that he used it and it stuck.

That’s where the term started—and it has, needless to say, blossomed. Robinson was a human magnet that attracted all types. His eight-person traveling troupe included a barber, golf instructor, dwarf mascot and sometimes stars like Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and era starlets.

Today, we see different types of entourages, often including stars and rappers looking for face time with their boxing buddies.

Here is a sampling of some of boxing’s wackiest entourages.

5. Riddick Bowe

When four members of your entourage are arrested during a melee, you have the makings of a pretty wild, and wacky bunch.

Bowe’s people went a little “nuts” after Andrew Golota took some liberties during their fight July 11, 1996 at Madison Square Garden and hit Bowe in the—well, let’s leave it there.  Until then, Golota had been in control and seemed destined to win the fight of his life with the performance of his life.

Then, Golota started hitting Bowe low, triggering all hell to break loose. Golota was disqualified, which introduced fight fans to walkie-talkie wielding Jason Harris, part of Bowe’s entourage, who smacked Golota in the head. A riot ensued at the Garden, featuring flying chairs and a free-for-all that had fans punching other fans for the heck of it.

Then there was the ubiquitous Rock Newman, Bowe’s manager. In a news conference following the mayhem, it was Newman who apologized for “all those participants in the uncivilized-like behavior.” Yet it was Newman who leaped into the ring screaming and pointing at Golota seconds after the fight was stopped.

It’s the same Rock Newman who once grabbed Elijah Tillery around the neck after a Bowe fight and yanked him out of the ring, where he landed on the head of a ringside boxing commissioner.

The Bowe crew was wacky, wild and if you weren’t looking, might pop you upside your head with a walkie-talkie.

4. Manny Pacquiao

Where once Pacquiao used to sit alone—the memory of a solitary figure sitting on a wicker suitcase in a Memphis airport after fighting on the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson undercard comes to mind—he now travels with the city of Manila. Or so it seems.

Some members of his entourage have bloated images of themselves. It’s reached a point where Pacquiao’s advisers now have advisers. Buboy Fernandez is a lovable fatman who would do anything for Pacquiao, and adviser Mike Koncz is viewed as everything in the Philippines from a demigod to someone who cuts Pacquiao’s meat for him.

Pacquiao is supposed to have people who will do everything for him from tying his shoes, to practical things like his laundry. But it’s a group that’s now as large as a small city that surrounds Pacquiao.

3. Floyd Mayweather

Mayweather tops today’s list of wackiest entourages, including his buddy, rapper 50 Cent, and he added wrestler Triple-H, rapper Lil Wayne and last, though certainly not least, Justin Bieber, to his crew that entered the ring for the Miguel Cotto fight last Saturday.

His crew does everything from waking up in the middle of the night so their boss could train to catering to anything Mayweather wants. Then again, isn’t that what entourages are supposed to do anyway?

There are, however, some in Mayweather’s group that do actual work. Leonard Ellerbe works as Mayweather’s ultimate yes-man and CEO of Mayweather Promotions.

Ellerbe is Mayweather’s business protector who goes way back to the early part of Floyd’s career. The two are more than business partners. They’re inseparable, more like brothers, with Ellerbe genuinely aiding to Mayweather’s rise.

But where he was once approachable, Ellerbe sometimes thinks he’s Floyd Mayweather, a problematic persona most entourage stragglers have—thinking they’re as significant as the boss they accompany.

As for “The Biebs” being part of Mayweather’s ring entrance entourage, it may have given him some additional street cred, and it certainly was great face time. But really, do you think the Biebs knows the difference between a left hook and a fish hook? One look at the pictures tells you what and who doesn’t fit in to this entourage.

2. Muhammad Ali

Ali’s entourage was an eclectic bunch. He had a doctor, the renowned Ferdie Pacheco, a facilitator, Gene Kilroy, who made things happen and anything else Ali wanted, a cook, Lana Shabazz, a masseuse, Luis Sarria, a manager, Herbert Muhammad and Ali’s own personal talisman, Bundini Brown, who started with Robinson and began working for Ali.

They were different and all unique added to Ali in certain ways. They authentically cared for “The Greatest,” which is something not every entourage does. Their wacky quotient rises through the roof in how uniquely diverse they all were: The doctor, the facilitator, the candy-cake maker.

1. Sugar Ray Robinson

The reason why Robinson tops this list is because he’s the originator of today’s modern entourage. He liked the surroundings of sycophants who served his every whim. Unlike Ali, whose entourage had actual responsibilities, Robinson’s crowd carried more a circus-type milieu.

He wanted to be entertained during his European jaunt, and how better to be entertained than to have people he knew surrounding him. Robinson paid for everything, but when his finances started to thin, so did his entourage.

Little did Robinson know what he started.