On a youtub vid the other day, someone said he really invested his money shrewdly and was very successful after boxing. never heard this before. I knew he was a promising actor Its good to hear about boxers being smart with there money. too many start thinking there billionaire arab princes with the millions or thousands they make
I know Mark casually. Never inquired about his financial situation but he seems to be getting along fine. I'd say he must have put some money away and invested wisely -- don't get the impression that he lives the lifestyles of the rich and famous life, but very comfortable. Larry Holmes and George Foreman seem to be the all-time champs in this regard: Holmes owns a lot of real estate in his hometown and built a building that was leased to the federal government (post office, I think, and other federal offices) on a 25-year guaranteed lease (and the government doesn't miss payments when it signs a lease). Foreman, of course, bought the grill, shilled it, made a ton of coin and then sold it for $127.5 million and another $10 million in stock.
Some fighters do well but most dont. So many come from the streets, toxic neighbourhoods where folks just live for the day. A fighter with that background often live for the day when they have cash too and wind up broke. Too many wives, too many kids and living for the day like there is no tomorrow. Often a sound investment isn't. The champions that do best are the ones that put the time into a businesses rather than leave it to other people.
I did read in the 80's that Breland invested wisely and was level headed about not just his money but everything else. Well done Mark, it's great to see some true success stories in boxing
Breland had a financial adviser that put x amount of dollars away and he lives off the residual ... the fact that he did not break it and blow it is to his credit ... he's not any financial wiz nor is he rolling in the dough ... he is simply a pragmatic man and that is to his credit ..
Unlike Saintpat and others on this board, I haven't met him, so I'd naturally welcome any comments from those who do know him about my stab here at some observations and speculation from afar. He never swaggered like others seemed to, despite his talent. Like Marciano, I suspect he had a rational and clear headed perspective towards his situation from an early age. He appeared to behave as though he never read his own early press clippings, and was secure within himself as a rational person. He didn't need an entourage to further elevate himself, nor do I think he would have been susceptible to the undermining hyper-negativity of a Philip Coetzee. [That Philip's son Gerrie went as far as he did with his old man notoriously injecting self doubt in himself is staggering]. Kipling's classic poem "If," might apply to Mark, like it did to Schmeling. As hyped as he was, even as an amateur, he was never a showboat [like Whitaker in those same 1984 Olympics they both won at, Pea clowning himself out of the Val Barker Cup, which defaulted to the professionally inconsequential Paul Gonzalez], and seemed very restrained and rather quiet in his presentation of himself outside the ring. What confronted Breland with his professional limitations early on was Starling I. Rather than deny the reality of that outcome like many defeated champions, he appeared to actually accept and integrate the fact of his knockout loss appropriately. [Previously, he came perilously close to being stopped in a preliminary match during the LA Games, sustaining a pair of standing eight counts during a single round. As with actual knockdowns, a third such halt to the action while remaining in an upright posture would have resulted in an automatic stoppage, and the resulting upset might have been the boxing story of those games, instead of Barry-Holyfield. That episode probably cost Breland his chance at the Val Barker Cup. I think Mark knew all along that his chin was a limitation which would keep him short of Robinson in terms of career potential.] Drawing in a rematch with the first man to knock him out in a championship rematch just eight months later is one of the more respectable high profile return outcomes of the decade, despite not becoming a wholly reversed regain of the title. Even before winning his Gold Medal in Los Angeles, he made his acting debut in the key role of the first black man ever admitted to the fictional Carolina Military Institute [based on The Citadel] in the 1960s for "The Lords of Discipline," and his role of Pearce was altered from the version of the novel, rewritten considerably in favor of his depiction of the character by filmmakers much impressed by the dignity with which Mark carried himself. [I never watched that movie, only read about it, but it might be worth a look if you're interested.] So while still an amateur boxer, Breland had already established viability in an alternative professional acting career for himself which Max Baer and Ray Robinson previously had aspired to. Beyond that, he was involved in training other competitors in disciplines like kick boxing. He did compete professionally himself over a span of 13 years. While often considered a disappointment in the punch for pay ranks, he did win the vacant WBA WW Title twice, defending it successfully four times in 1989 and 1990. Maintaining a sober and reality based sensibility towards life despite the obscene hype surrounding him as an amateur seems to have served to keep him well balanced with a rational, low keyed perspective towards life.
I am told while in England that he inquired about reaching out to Ragamuffin Man Lloyd Honeyghan, who he had heard is in ill health. Mark, of course, handed Honeyghan a decisive KO defeat. I don't know if they connected or not but Mark wanted to say hello and give him encouragement. That seems to be the sort of guy Breland is. In my encounters with him (he is a friend of my brother's), he is very soft-spoken, humble, very wry sense of humor and very secure in himself. He will talk boxing with you all day long and loves the sport. He doesn't have the ego like so many where he needs to be told he was great, he isn't bashful about his defeat to Starling (they are friends after all these years) nor does he brag about his wins over Honeyghan or anyone else. I think the poster above is correct about Breland's self-awareness and sense of who he is and who he was as a boxer. He's just a good guy in my limited dealings, not air of celebrity about him at all, but someone who is a pleasure to be around.
I figured Mark did well with his earnings, I personally thought he was training dogs, or something.And he didn't end up messed up like a couple of his 1984 contemporaries.
It wouldn't surprise me. Mark strikes me as being a very thoughtful, cerebral guy, not the type to blow money impulsively. Also, he was making big money from day one, owing to his legendary amatuer career.
