BEST LOCAL NIGHTCLUB
Floyd´s at the Hard Rock Café
It´s a really nice spot up there. It´s a mixed crowd, not a particular origin of people that frequent there. People get fancy free, have a good time. You can catch good music, maybe a live band. They have a good eatery there. You can have some drinks. It´s a nice night out. But overall, I´d have to say that my favorite nightclub is First Friday in Orlando. It´s a more sophisticated crowd, more mature people. Locally, here, it´s been hard. I´ve been all over the world, and everyone´s accepted me with open arms. Atlantic City, Atlanta, Miami, New York, Vegas, L.A. Come right here at the Blue Martini (at International Plaza), they made me wait 30 minutes on the VIP line. Outside. Right here at home.
Floyd´s at the Seminole Hard Rock Café and Casino, 5223 Orient Road, Tampa, 813-235-6937.
BEST PLACE TO TAKE A DATE
Centro Ybor
They´ve got the sushi joint there, Samurai Blue. Ybor City´s a nice place to go. You can hit the Improv for a live comedy show, maybe hit a movie or whatever.
Centro Ybor, 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Ybor City, 813-242-4660.
BEST PLACE TO DROP IN FOR A BITE TO EAT AND A GOOD TIME
Malio´s
It´s always good. I always feel at home there. Malio don´t have my picture on the wall yet (laughs), but that´s cool. I´ve been goin´ there since I moved here in ´96. Malio is a good guy. His son is too.
Malio´s, 301 S. Dale Mabry, Tampa, 813-875-3927.
BEST LOCAL PLACE TO SHOP
Neiman Marcus
I have a friend there, Mark, an older Spanish guy who´s been following me since I got in town. He really takes care of me. When I go in there, I know it´s gonna be like an hour´s conversation. I can´t just walk in and get a shirt (laughs). I gotta catch him up on everything that´s goin´ on. I get my shoes and suits custom made. I have a designer in California who makes all my suits. I go to so many places, to nice events, where I have to let the people know that boxing is not a thuggish sport. It´s a sophisticated sport. I want to represent myself and the sport of boxing to the fullest and, yes, you have to be clean.
Neiman Marcus, International Plaza, 2223 N. West Shore Blvd., Tampa, 813-877-5700.
BEST TV STATION
Bay News 9
Oh yeah, ever since I got here in ´96, Bay News 9 has shown me a lotta love. I was interviewed by sports reporter Dave Logan before he passed. Now they have my man over there Rock Riley. It´s like being in my living room when I go see Rock. He loves interviewing me. He´s always been there to support me.
BEST SPORTSWRITER
Anwar Richardson, Tampa Tribune
You see him at every major fight. The Tribune has gone out of their way to make sure they´re up on boxing. They do more boxing coverage now than they ever have — and they should. I can say Tampa is now starting to realize that they have a real hotbed when it comes to boxing. Back in the ´70s, they had promoter Phil Alessi and boxer John Mugabi, and NBC was telecasting boxing all the time. Tampa was big then. It´s much bigger now. You´ve got two guys, me and Winky, in the Top 5 of pound-for-pound boxers and then super middleweight Jeff Lacy coming up.
BEST SPORT OTHER THAN BOXING
Golf
I´m an avid golfer. I play with all the boys. Bucs linebacker Shelton Quarles and I played the other day at Copperhead. Kevin Doggins and Lamar Thomas are guys that are regulars. We had Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks out there the other day. Terrell Buckley. Bucs lineman Anthony McFarland. There are seven or eight of us. We just hit it. I like to play all over the area. About a week and a half ago, I shot a 72, my best round ever. That´s the buzz around town. Those guys are still payin´ me (laughs). I killed ´em. Killed ´em.
BEST LOCAL ATHLETES
Derrick Brooks, Carl Crawford, Winky Wright
I take my hat off to Derrick Brooks for being at the top of his game as long as he has. You see a lot of ´em come and go, but he´s been really steadfast in his approach to the game and made all those Pro Bowls. I like this kid from the Devil Rays, outfielder Carl Crawford. You´re looking at one of the best baseball players of the near future comin´ up right here in Tampa. World super welterweight champion Winky´s another of my favorites. Watchin´ my man, the way he´s come up through tough times, that´s when it´s really sweet. To overcome and accomplish. No one gave you something; you earned it.
BEST CHARITY
Boys and Girls Clubs
I´m a product of the Boys and Girls Club. That´s basically my charity. I can relate to the children there. I can put myself in their shoes at that age. I started there. That´s where my foundation was built. I used to go to the Boys Club when I was 8, 9 years old. I first started boxing when I was 10, at the Boys and Girls Club on Riley Street in Orlando.
Boys and Girls Club locations throughout Tampa Bay; main Tampa office: 3020 W. Laurel St., Tampa, 813-875-5772.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.