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The Boxing Years in Eugene, OR
Learning how to fight helped me be more confident in life.
I learned from Rocky Marciano to get out of the game before you lose. With a 3–0 amateur record, I hung up the gloves and headgear and called it good.
Actually, I didn’t even know who Rocky Marciano was when I started boxing at 21 years old. I come from a time when the internet and smartphones weren’t a thing and we never had cable, so I wasn’t a depository of information like the youth today.
The Boxing Idea
It was around the year 2001 when I had the idea to box and started scoping out boxing gyms in the Eugene, Oregon area. I found two gyms to choose from.
I chose the smaller gym with fewer boxers; it was located close to the downtown area yet hidden behind some commercial businesses in an old metal shed. The West Eugene Boxing Club.
Going to community college in the area right after getting out of the Air Force, I felt the need to learn how to fight better.
I was a security forces member in the AF (military police) so I did learn some techniques for fighting, yet I hadn’t been in many fights in my life and wanted some experience. I had a fistfight only one time in high school.
Younger Brother Dynamics
My older brother was the fighter, not me. He never beat up on me, but he would fight people for fun and everyone avoided messing with him. The little brother dynamic was part of what made me want to fight; coupled with the nice guy character, I wanted to prove to myself that I was tough.
The road to becoming a man is even longer for nice guys, at least, to earn respect from other people and yourself.
My friends and I were always the clowns having fun, rather than the brutes trying to intimidate everyone. Before I went to a small high school, I was the obscure nerd at larger schools who played role-playing games with the guys in the library.
Once you become secure with your manhood, you can divulge these types of things. This is what boxing helped me do in my early 20s.
