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boost to our arm in the early days. Boxing matches were such a major event for us to be a part of. It really boosted our credibility and image,” recalls Hughes. “The PR, the inclusion in the press room with all the big boys, no question it was Dave Wooley that opened those doors for us.” While working with Dr. J. and promoting fights, Wooley met Grammy award-winning singer Dionne Warwick, and she and Wooley started working together. He would go on to co- author two children’s books with her, “Say a Little Prayer” and “Little Man.” And he was the co-author for her autobiography, “My Life, as I See It: An Autobiography,” which was the genesis of the documentary, “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” which chronicled her six-decade career in music and activism and premiered in January on CNN and is currently on HBO Max. Wooley wrote, produced and co- directed the documentary which won several awards including, “Best Feature,” at the Gene Siskel Film Festival; and the film won first runner-up for the People’s Choice Award for documentaries at the Toronto International Film Festival. It also won the “Audience Award,” at both the Montclair Film Festival and the BronzeLens Film Festival. “I must have watched it six times now,” said Hughes. “Not only is the story beautiful, but the process that he went through was too. Just like his daughters, this man is the poster child for dogged determination.” “He had interviewed all these people without me knowing,” said Warwick by phone. Usually, people can’t keep anything from me,” she laughed. “I loved it, it showed his ability – he told the true story which was most
electrifying talent like George Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Michael Spinks. Wooley rose to prominence in the industry as the only Black man in the country to be awarded exclusive paid-per-view and closed-circuit television broadcasting rights for several states for the Mike Tyson versus Michael Spinks fight - the largest fight at the time. Around the same time, basketball Hall of Famer Julius “Dr. J” Erving retired and wanted to get into the business side of sports and entertainment and heard about Wooley. By 1992, he and Wooley became business partners. One enterprising woman with an emerging media empire was impacted significantly by Wooley’s new venture into boxing. Media mogul Cathy Hughes, in the early days of her radio station WOL- AM in Washington, D.C., was always looking for big-ticket sponsors. Wooley made Hughes’ station the premiere fight station in
Washington, D.C.
“In the early days of WOL, we only had local businesses – thank God for the crab houses, the beauty parlors, the corner grocery stores, the independently owned boutiques, they were our first clients,” said Cathy Hughes by phone. “I met Fred Brown and then Henry Brown – the highest- ranking Black person at Anheuser- Busch - and Budweiser Beer became our first national client.” The Browns wanted Hughes to meet Wooley; and when she did, they hit it off immediately. Wooley, a single father of two girls, often took Hughes’ advice particularly during discussions on combing hair. Hughes was well-versed in boxing. Her father, an accountant, had Muhammad Ali as a client when he was still Cassius Clay. She and Wooley bonded on boxing and raising children.
“In terms of prestige, Dave was a big
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