Most of you out there have never heard of Fort Worth’s James Vick. In fact, if you saw him walking down the street, he would probably go by unnoticed. At 6’3” and a solid 165 lbs, all you would think is that this kid looks like an athlete. Your notion would be correct, but Vick isn’t just some athlete; he’s a fighter.
In fact, simply labeling Vick a fighter would be as egregious as calling a Ferrari, “just a car”. You see, Vick very well may be the Renascence Man of fighting. Allow me to explain, Vick is a fighter in the purest sense of the word. Boasting an amateur MMA record of 4-1, an amateur kickboxing record of 2-0, and let us not forget an amateur boxing record of 30-3, it’s clear that if there is another combative sport out there involving the act of rendering your opponent unconscious, Vick has yet to find it.
All of this brings us to this Saturday night where Vick will make his professional boxing debut on the undercard of the Ann Wolfe promoted card taking place in Austin. Vick’s opponent for the night will be Amir Rocha out of San Antonio. While most boxers making their professional debut battle some sort of nerves, the prospect of being punched sans heard gear is nothing new for Vick. I mean this is a kid who has battled in the cage in the ultra-competitive TAMMA, and BACA amateur MMA organizations, not to mention engaging in the limb numbing act of kickboxing.
Vick’s trainer Durwyn Lamb likens Vick to middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in terms of power and build. That may be a bit extreme for a fighter yet to box a round professionally, but one thing seems to be agreed upon by those who have seen Vick fight, it’s his toughness. In fact, Vick’s toughness was on display in his last cage fight where he suffered a broken hand in his fight with Brian Garza at Texas Fight Fest 14. Though clearly crippled in the fight, Vick would rally back to gut out a unanimous decision. Now that’s gangsta, and more importantly, exactly the sort of temperament you want in fighter.
Mixed Martial Arts Videos on Purefight
You may not know who James Vick is now, but trust me, you soon will.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
