Cameron Dunkin, a manager of fighters who was renowned throughout the boxing industry for his sharp eye for talent, died Tuesday in Las Vegas following a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.
Dunkin made his share of enemies after more than 30 years in the business, but nearly everyone who had ever worked with him praised him for his ability to find elite boxers. Among the fighters Dunkin managed over the years were Hall of Famers Tim Bradley, Johnny Tapia and Diego Corrales, current pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford, former world champion Nonito Donaire, multi-division champion Mikey Garcia, welterweight champion Jaron Ennis, Brandun Lee, ex-middleweight king Kelly Pavlik, one-time featherweight champion Freddie Norwood, Steven Luevano, Michael Zewski and former flyweight and super flyweight champion Danny Romero.
He also worked closely with trainer Robert Garcia and managed Brandon Rios, Victor Ortiz and Leo Santa Cruz.
Dunkin lived in Las Vegas for 30 years and is best known for his long affiliation with Top Rank. Top Rank was one of many stops matchmaker Ron Katz made on his boxing journey and he recalled Dunkin's ability to discover amateurs who would turn into elite boxers.
"Obviously, he had a great, great eye, one of the best that I've come across," Katz told keviniole.com Tuesday of Dunkin. "What was unique about him is that if you look at the list of his guys (he managed), they weren't Olympic gold medalists or superstar amateurs or anything like that. But he saw the potential in those guys to become real players and world champions and that's rare in this business.
"Listen, plenty of people will say they didn't get along with him. and this and that. But I recall now what (promoter) Lou DiBella said that (ex-HBO Sports president) Seth Abraham said, that 'there are no choir boys in boxing.' So take him for what he was, a great evaluator and manager of fighters."
Very sad to hear that boxing manager Cameron Dunkin has passed. The 67-year-old had managed dozens of world champions, including Nonito Donaire Jr., Tim Bradley, Kelly Pavlik, Jaron Ennis, Diego Corrales, Terence Crawford, the list literally goes on. pic.twitter.com/UwOM6HtGM7
— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) January 2, 2024
Most of Dunkin's top fighters were big punchers, and it is the one trait he always sought. Even those who never quite made it were known for their ability to score knockouts.
In a 2019 interview with The Sporting News, Dunkin discussed his thoughts on scouting fighters, noting power was always a priority.
"They’ve got to punch," Dunkin told TSN. "Look at my track record and tell me who wasn’t a puncher. You’ll struggle. Ninety-five percent of the guys I sign to either manage or promote are punchers. Kelly Pavlik, Nonito Donaire, Terence Crawford, the list is long and when you’ve got a puncher then you get the people in more often than not. You can take a guy’s punch and add so much more to it, but when someone doesn’t have the pop, then you’re going to spend a lot of time working on the other stuff."
Pavlik was one of those big punchers that Dunkin adored. Dunkin managed Pavlik from the beginning of his professional career in 2000, through his days as middleweight champion and then until he retired in 2012.
"I can honestly tell you, one of the best moves I made in my career was hiring Cameron Dunkin as my manager," Pavlik told keviniole.com.
Pavlik said he first met Dunkin following a tournament in 1999. The late Jay Edson, then an executive at Top Rank, urged Pavlik to speak with Dunkin. At the time, Dunkin was being pursued by most of the major promoters in boxing and managers who were affiliated with them.
He did as Edson asked and chose Dunkin after they had a chance to speak. He called Dunkin's passing "horrible" and said Dunkin did a great job for him.
"I can honestly say this, that anyone who had Cameron as a manager knew that he was great at what he did," Pavlik said. "My relationship with him was great. He'd stay on the phone with me and my Dad and explain things all the time, and the moves he made, they almost all turned out to be the right ones. Me winning a championship, he had a big part in it."