01/08/09

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Boxers in the sun; Shockey's bad ankle; restaurant rumor off target

At the intersection of hard-charging commercial real estate salesmen and testosterone-laced sports stands none other than Thomas Kramer, the flamboyant German bad-boy developer/playboy/media hound and "enfant terrible" of Star Island.

It was at Kramer's perpetually-for-sale, 29,000-square-foot mansion that Broker Boxing Miami held its weigh-ins and ring card girl auditions on a recent Saturday. Broker Boxing is a fun event with Miami roots. Members of the extended family of commercial real estate — brokers, investors, financiers, lawyers — can put their training on display, work out their frustrations and raise some money for a good cause. Nationally, it's a growing phenomenon with boxing cards raising millions for charities in major markets. Come April 10, it will debut in Miami.

It was a glorious afternoon on the bay and the tour boats couldn't resist coming by for a peek at the festivities. There were buff young (and some not-so-young) brokers flexing; there were bikini-clad wanna-be ring girls strutting; and there was host Kramer, who'll be among the combatants at the April 10 main event. He'll be a tough competitor and has experience bobbing and weaving his way through legal bouts over sex charges, business troubles and fraud accusations. But nobody has ever landed a clean hit on the guy, whose net worth remains a matter of great speculation in South Florida.

The guard at the gate of the exclusive Star Island compound could only shake her head and wave through the hordes of shirtless twenty-something guys and their accompanying eye candy. This is, after all, the exclusive neighborhood of basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, recently exiled to Phoenix by the Miami Heat, and Latin music queen Gloria Estefan. It's moments like this that make Kramer a legend among his neighbors.

On hand to add star power was Jeremy Shockey, a wild man during his football days at "the U" and now an oft-injured star player for the New York Giants. The 6-foot-5 Shockey, originally from Ada, Oklahoma, moved easily through the adoring crowd, showing off a long nasty scar from recent leg surgery. He broke his leg in a December game against the Washington Redskins and wasn't around as his teammates defied the odds to hoist the Super Bowl trophy.

His left ankle, which looked like it belongs on a Clydesdale rather than an NFL star, gives "We heard" pause about selecting Shockey in the upcoming fantasy football draft. The ankle is more worrisome than his off-season training program that clearly includes a beer and a stogie. He's working on a five-year contract that will pay him $26 million-plus through 2011.

It also should be noted that nobody accepted a $200 challenge for the first man to kiss the footballer. These guys are tough but they're not nuts.

David Goldberg, late of the Newmark Knight Frank boutique brokerage, is the driving force behind both the Broker Boxing Federation and the Miami event. He was sweating buckets as he rearranged props in the hot sun around Kramer's pool. Even he couldn't keep the boys from gravitating to the bodybuilding table and the girls from circling the spa and hair displays.

The eight short bouts will take place at the Mansion in Miami Beach. A full rundown of the matches is available at www.bbfmiami.com. It's all for a good cause — the Alonzo Mourning Charitable Foundation.

Who knows? Maybe Shaq will make a special appearance just to get a free swing at Kramer, who is scheduled to fight Ernie Cambo of CPF Investment Group in a heavyweight match.