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The Pugilist of Morning Drive THE CONNECTION -- Paul Frommelt - Monday, November 27 As far as radio show stunts go, The Junkies, 106.7 WJFK’s morning show, have done their fair share. They’ve locked one of their own in a coffin for 48 hours. They played a football game against the D.C. Divas, a professional female football team. But when J.P. Flaim, one of the show’s four hosts, announced that he would strap on boxing gloves and fight a professional boxing match on Dec. 9 at the Patriot Center, the radio-show shtick was left behind. “The gimmick is that there is no gimmick,” said Flaim, who, along with Eric “EB” Bickel, John “Cakes” Auville and Jason “Lurch” Bishop, broadcasts every weekday morning from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. “The bell is going to go ‘ding ding ding’ and there is going to be a guy in there that is going to try and take my head off.” Flaim admits, however, that he believes four rounds of dodging haymakers will be a great event for the show. “I want to create a ‘wow’ factor event for the show,” he said. “I want that night to be a huge night for the show.” THE IDEA SPRANG from Flaim watching local boxer Jimmy Lange, from Great Falls, beat Perry Ballard at the Patriot Center in September of last year. Flaim watched the hometown crowd’s reaction to the former “The Contender” star’s ring entrance and had a “light bulb moment”. Flaim thought back to the Junkies game against the D.C. Divas, which drew 8,300 screaming fans. “Seeing the energy of the crowd [at the Divas’ game] and the energy of the crowd at Jimmy’s fight, I thought, ‘lets see if I can make something happen,’” said Flaim. When the Junkies took over the morning drive-time slot at WJFK in January of this year, focusing on building a new audience pushed the boxing idea to the back of Flaim’s mind. “The focus was really on doing the show because it was a big opportunity for us,” he said. The idea stayed in Flaim’s head, however, and during a late August lunch with the show’s producers, Brett Oliverio and Chris Kinard, the talk of actually doing the event got serious. “He said that there was a ten percent chance that he would do it,” said Kinard. “We kind of just browbeat him into doing it. We attacked his pride.” By the end of the lunch, Flaim was on board. “We painted a picture of what it would be like and we brought it up to an 80 percent chance,” said Oliverio. Flaim floated the idea by his wife Carol that night, who “didn’t say absolutely not.” The next day, he gave Kinard and Oliverio the green light. KINARD AND OLIVERIO got in touch with Lange, his father Johnny, and Major League Boxing promoter Joe Hensley to see if they could set up the event. Johnny, who acts as Flaim’s manager, and Henley found Flaim an opponent and he was added to the undercard of Jimmy’s WBC Continental Americas Jr. Middleweight Championship match against Fontaine Cabell. Flaim met with Jimmy, who gave him a workout regimen to begin his training. The next step, however, was to get Flaim a permanent trainer, which led him to the Arlington Boxing Club’s head coach Willie Taylor. “When they came to me, my first thought was that they were crazy,” said Taylor, who fought in over 60 professional boxing matches, including 25 against top-ten opponents. It only took two days for Flaim to have second thoughts about what he was getting into with Taylor. The first day was tough, but doable. Jump ropes, medicine balls and sprints left him sore but optimistic. The second day was different. “Let’s put it this way – I was a human piñata,” said Flaim. After warming up, Taylor told Flaim to strap on his sparring gear. Flaim, who was told that he wouldn’t spar for at least another few weeks, got into the ring with an 18-year-old southpaw who brutalized the 36-year-old for a round. After two rounds, Flaim’s commitment wavered. “I came home with a bloody lip, a bloody nose, sore as hell, tired as hell. That was the moment when I thought, ‘what am I doing. I make a good living. I don’t need to do this.’ That was with 45 days to go. The finish line was really far away.” Taylor admits that he was testing the commitment of Flaim. “I did try to personally see if it was really for him. I tried to discourage him for the first couple of days. I made it really tough for him,” said Taylor. Flaim cast aside his doubts that night and, to the surprise of Taylor, showed up the next day. “I was surprised, to be honest, to see him stick with it. He showed guts. When he showed that, then I put everything in it to get him ready for this fight,” said Taylor. Now, more than a month later, Flaim sits on the edge of the well-worn boxing ring at the Arlington Boxing Club and wraps up his hands, preparing for another practice. “I am getting confident. I know that I will be in the best shape of my life. I know that I put everything that I have into it. I have not slacked,” said Flaim. “I don’t want to look back on Dec. 9th and wonder if I could have tried harder.” DURING THE INITIAL month, Flaim kept his training a secret from the other Junkies. He would come into work with noticeable black eyes and dropped 17 pounds. His co-workers didn’t notice. “We’re guys and we’ve known each other for so long,” said Flaim. “It’s not something that I would expect them to notice.” He kept the secret until Nov. 16, when he announced the event on air. The other Junkies learned about the event at the same time that the listening public found out. “I wanted it to be a surprise on the air because their reaction will hopefully reflect the audience’s reaction. I think that it worked,” said Flaim. The Junkies were initially shocked, but they said that if anyone of them would step into a boxing ring, it would be Flaim. “I do think that he is nuts, but knowing J.P. — he is big into challenges — he is a frustrated athlete. I’m not shocked at all,” said Bickel. Auville echoed the sentiment. “J.P. is one of the most competitive people I know, so its not surprising that he is doing it,” he said. “He is looking to push himself a little further.” During his two months of brutal training, his fellow Junkies have used that time focused on other pursuits. “He is working out two-to-three hours a day and I’m probably [playing six hours of poker],” said Bickel. This week, the Junkies will be hosting their first annual Junkies Poker Open in Atlantic City. Flaim will be in Florida, training with Lange. “I haven’t worked out for three hours in three months combined,” said Auville, as Bickel added, “He has lost 15 pounds. I have gained eight.” As for his chances, his coworkers give him about a ten percent shot at beating his opponent, Jay Watts, who has a 1-8 record, but has spent most of the last two years in prison. “It wouldn’t shock me, in the first minute, he takes five-straight shots to the face and the referee calls the fight,” said Oliverio. “Watts has been to prison. He grew up fighting – whether it was boxing, or fighting on the street, or fighting in prison. J.P. has never been in a fight in his life except an argument and now he is going to be put in a ring.” But Flaim feels that his first professional bout will be a success, whether he wins or not. “I enjoy challenges. This is a challenge,” he said, before adding, “Like Apollo Creed said at the end of Rocky, ‘Ain’t gonna be no rematch.’”
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