Old article at www.minnesotaboxing.com

Article

This is a P.R. piece I published in the summer of 2006 for Raúl Gracia, a former national amateur champion who began his professional career in August 2005. I’ve known him since he started fighting as a kid in the early 1990s at the old 10th Street Boxing Club on 10th and Robert Streets in downtown St. Paul, MN. That gym evolved out of the Mexican American Boxing Club, on the Eastside, where I began fighting at age 10 under the tutelage of Emmett Yanez.

From April 2005 till December 2006 I helped my last trainer, Dennis Presley, with Gracia’s career. When Gracia was certain he’d fight professionally he asked me to hook him up with Presley, which I did, and on top of assisting with logistical issues I consulted on strategy and sometimes sparred with Gracia. I also was beginning to put together a public relations plan, but Gracia decided to part ways with us. While Raúl Gracia is a wonderful human being and a deer friend, his progress was stymied in the end and it was time to move on.

 Although there was never a managerial contract signed, Gracia’s career was supposed to be handled by Will Grigsby, my former Upper Midwest Golden Gloves teammate who Presley trained from his amateur beginnings to the IBF Junior Flyweight Championship in 1998 and again in 2005. At Gracia’s Chicago fight that I cover in this article, Al Bonani, who runs a training camp for Don King in Florida and worked with Presley in Grigsby’s corner for title fights, was present with another fighter. He was so impressed by Gracia that he told Mr. King about him, and there were plans on getting him a fight on a Don King promotion, but it never materialized.

Check out the article.  

 

First Post Ever

Boxers and Writers Blog is an introduction to a coming Web Site/ On Line Magazine, www.boxersandwritersmagazine.com, dedicated to the arts of Writing and Boxing. The mission of the magazine, and by extension this blog, is To celebrate the arts of Writing and Boxing in a manner that proliferates the popularity of both, promote literacy within the boxing community, and encourage all to believe in themselves and their dreams.

The site and this blog will provide some analysis of professional boxing matches, discuss literary works about boxing, and explore the connections between boxing and literary figures. Also, there will be interviews and profiles of all aspects of the boxing community, from the beginning amateur to the accomplished professional, from the “White Collar” enthusiast to the dedicated competitor.

Thank you for checking into Boxers and Writers Blog, and please be patient while www.boxersandwritersmagazine.com steadily evolves into a successfully active endeavor. As design and organizational issues for the magazine are worked out, please feel free to regularly check this blog for posts. I will start by sharing past articles I’ve published about boxing, as well as providing links to publications that have featured my writing in general. I am happy to share my experience as a literary pugilist with you.

Sincerely yours,

“Malicious” Mark Connor