Las Vegas brings pain, salvation for boxing manager Caruso

Las Vegas always will have a special place in Vince Caruso's heart.

It’s where he made money in boxing, working with Marco Antonio Barrera and promoting fights at venues such as The Orleans.

It’s also where his life was ruined and ultimately saved and where his son was born.

Caruso, who co-manages light heavyweight Nadjib Mohammedi, is in a place he never thought he’d be again — working with a fighter who can win a world title. And if Mohammedi defeats Sergey Kovalev on Saturday at Mandalay Bay on HBO, the Jersey City, N.J., native will be managing the new International Boxing Federation champion.

"Can Mohammedi win? Absolutely," said Caruso, 44. "But to win, he knows he’s going to have to fight a perfect fight. No mistakes."

Mohammedi (37-3, 23 knockouts) appreciates the confidence in him.

"He cares about me more than just as a fighter," said Mohammedi, a French fighter of Algerian descent. "For me, Vince is not just my manger. He’s family."

Caruso found boxing in the mid-1990s. He had been dabbling in the pro wrestling world as a behind-the-scenes person in Atlanta, then moved to Colorado and was working as a DJ at a 100-watt college radio station when an opportunity to meet with Eric Wright, aka Eazy-E of the legendary rap group N.W.A., led him to move to Los Angeles.

He and Wright became friends before Wright died of AIDS in 1995. Around the same time, Caruso and Barrera had met at a fight card at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and a friendship was born that exists to this day.

Caruso was in the corner when Barrera and Erik Morales fought at Mandalay Bay in 2000 in a featherweight title fight that would be the first in their trilogy of great fights.

Morales won a split decision that night. But Barrera got revenge at the MGM Grand in 2002, then won the third fight in 2004 at the Grand Garden, this time in a super featherweight bout.

"We became like brothers," Caruso said. "When Marco lost to Junior Jones (in 1997), he took some time off and I had nothing to do. So I moved to Vegas and started promoting female boxers.

"Vegas became my hub, and it was easy to do fights back then. We did fights at The Orleans. I promoted Chris Byrd’s sister Tracy, among others. But when Marco called me and said, ‘I’m coming back, I’m fighting Erik Morales,’ I thought he was kidding. But he was serious, and I told him, ‘I’m there.’"

But while Caruso was enjoying all the trappings that came with being in the camp of a world champion, he was losing a much bigger fight.

He had scoliosis in his spine and began to abuse drugs to deal with the pain. He was popping pills at an alarming rate, and his life was soon spiraling out of control.

"I got a bad addiction to painkillers," he said. "I was popping pill after pill. It was destroying my kidneys and my liver. I would go down to Mexico and come out with 500 pills. I was doing stronger stuff like Oxycodone.

"I had OD’d on cocaine back in 1988 while I was still in Jersey. I knew you don’t put a street drug in your body again. But a doctor is giving me this pill that’s taking away the pain. So I got addicted to it."

Caruso didn’t know where to turn. All he knew was that he had to do something. Finally, he called Dr. Flip Homansky, whom he knew from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

"I remember calling Flip and said, ‘Flip, this is Vince. I need help. Can you give me an in-patient place?’" Caruso said. "He sent me to what is now New Horizons. I went 90 days in-patient, and I came out, I detoxed and I felt like a million bucks.

"In the meantime, I went to a pain clinic that deals with spinal compressions and had surgery to fix the scoliosis. Two, three years later, I’m better."

And off drugs. Meanwhile, Caruso met a woman, they fell in love and got married and had a son, Nico, now 11.

"My life is great," Caruso said. "And now I’m back, and isn’t it ironic that I’ve returned to Mandalay Bay, the place where 15 years before they held one of the greatest fights ever?"

He's confident Mohammedi is good enough to hand Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) his first loss.

"Mohammedi has a great story," Caruso said. "He came from nothing. He had to work for everything he’s ever gotten. He’s a nice guy. He’s very respectful. He’s a very caring guy.

"All Mohammedi ever wanted was a chance. We went to Kathy Duva, and we knew Kovalev needed an opponent. Plus, he was the No. 1 contender. So we waited and now here we are.

"Listen, Kovalev beat a 49-year-old guy in (Bernard) Hopkins and beat a guy in (Jean) Pascal who fought two rounds in a year and still gave him a fight. So don’t tell me my guy has no chance."

But should Mohammedi lose the fight, Caruso is just glad he’s getting a second chance in a sport he always has loved.

"Drugs tore me away from the people I cared about," he said. "I’ve had $700 dinners with senators, and I’ve slept in dumpsters. That’s my life. And if you can’t accept both parts of your life, then you're in denial."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.