Once upon a time (I love stories that begin like that don’t you?) becoming a professional fighter was just a pipe dream for me. Picking up boxing at the age of 22 after never having done it before is no way to enter into a profession—not with optimism at least.

Nevertheless I began anyways.

I toiled away for years in the hopes that one day someone might take an interest in me—see my potential, and take the time to hone my skills.

Five years later I’ve finally found that person…maybe more appropriately—he found me.

How this Journey Begins

Three weeks ago a gentleman named Krishna Wainright contacted me through the site you are reading now, and initially his inquiry was about my intentions to start up a fight promotion—a statement I’ve made before. He was curious as to what I was looking to do and wanted to see if our interests aligned.

Wainright Productions (Krishna’s company) has put on several shows in Colorado, but since his relocation to NC he’s had difficulty finding a suitable amount of sponsors to run one here.

So we agreed to meet and discuss the possibility of us helping one another out.

Little did I know the help I was about to get...

The meeting started out well.
Krishna’s one of the more enthusiastic and affable people I’ve ever met. And it was a real treat for me to converse with someone who’s as into boxing as I am.

Krishna was apart of the USA Boxing team back in the 80’s. He was the #3 light heavyweight in the world as an amateur and took home a bronze medal in the World Championships. After that he spent the following twenty years splitting time between fighting professionally, managing/training fighters, and promoting.

While I certainly was excited about the prospect of putting together a show, I was way more intrigued by his experience as a trainer.

The wheels in my head started turning...

You see Atlantic MMA, Inc. (my company) is really just a front. No really, I mean it!

You want to know the real reason I started this thing?

It was literally so I could have an excuse to travel the world to train with the best the fight game has to offer. My business has way more to do with providing me the means and the time to do that than to be profitable.

I want to blow all my coin on learning how to be a certified badass. Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever…you know that sorta thing.

Back to my story...

Since that’s really all I’ve ever wanted to do I decided to tell him.

”What I really want to do is fight Krishna”...so he said, ”ok, when we get to the gym we’ll see what you got.”

I’m a good boxer. I’m really good actually. And I know that because of the 1000 plus hours I’ve put into drilling the same shit over and over and over again the last 5 years.

But just because I think that, doesn’t make it true. After all I could be delusional…you never know.

I needed someone else to tell me I was good. Someone who I know—knows what they’re talking about. Then THAT would make it true.

So I hop in the ring with Krishna and his partner Tony Douglas (who’s also been training fighters for twenty years) to work 4 rounds on the mitts.

I could drag this out and tell you all the nice things they said after the last bell rang, but there was one comment that mattered to me more than any other one.

Krishna told me, “I’ve been in NC for 4 years and I haven’t seen anyone as talented as you yet.”

That was pretty sweet to hear.

This guy took a junior middleweight to an IBF title shot, and he’s telling me that?

Within the timeframe of a few more conversations he seemed just as excited about what he could do with me as a fighter as he was about doing his promotion.

That meant the world to me.

The Impossible Dream

To make a long story slightly shorter, Krishna and Tony have agreed to train and guide me through at least the start of my professional boxing career. I can’t thank them enough for that.

My goal, as impossible as it may seem, is to be the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World.

My journey—it’s successes and failures—will be chronicled here for you to read on this blog.

”If there’s magic in boxing, it’s the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It’s the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you”
Million Dollar Baby

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about my first training session.