Fighting for Gold
By Mark Johnson
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mjohnson@morrisdailyherald.com
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| Michael Reid is 14-for-14 in decisions as a boxer. (Photo Provided) |
There has been no stopping Michael Reid since the Channahon resident and Minooka Community High School student transitioned from karate and Muay Thai into boxing.
Reid has won each of his 14 career boxing matches, giving him a career sparring record of 50-4 heading into a Muay Thai event in Orlando, Fla. last weekend. His fast start has given Reid real hope of becoming an Olympic boxer, and after that, a professional.
In mid-June, Reid became a Junior Olympic national champion in the 176-pound weight division. He advanced to the Junior Olympics after winning Silver Gloves competitions at the state, region and national levels. What Reid lacked in experience against some of the top competition in the country at his age and weight levels, he made up for in confidence.
"When I first started out in boxing, a lot of people said, 'We're going to make a champion out of you. You've got what it takes,'" Reid said. "That gave me a lot of motivation to do better and push myself. Every time I won, it made me want to go harder. When I went to the Junior Olympics, I was confident I could win because I was confident no one else was training as hard as I was."
The Junior Olympics, which are sanctioned by USA Boxing, were held from June 14-19 in Camp Lejeune, N.C. Reid received byes in the first two rounds of the 176-pound bracket and did not fight until June 17, when he defeated Raquille Jackson in a bout that was stopped by the referee. He advanced to the June 18 championship bout, where he defeated Tyler Howard of Crossville, Tenn. 25-7.
"His opponent in the finals, he likes the guy," David Reid, Michael's father, said. "They talked a lot. Mike will kind of get to know somebody and if he thinks they're nice people, he doesn't really want to turn it up all the way when he's fighting them. But he did well against him."
Only three other weight-division champions at the Junior Olympics were Silver Gloves winners like Reid. David Reid feels that the Silver Gloves path helped prepare Michael for the quality of competition that he faced in Camp Lejeune.
"After he won the Silver Gloves state competition, he went on to win the Silver Gloves Region 5 championship and then went to the national Silver Gloves and won that," David said. "After he won that, I felt like he'd fought some of the best fighters in his age group in the United States. So I would say that we were fairly confident he would do well at the Junior Olympics, and he did extremely well."
Michael is relatively new to boxing, but he is well-versed in hand-to-hand combat. The owner of two second-degree black belts in karate is also familiar with the Thiland-rooted martial art Muay Thai as well as kickboxing.
"He had been into karate, a couple of different forms of karate, since he was 4 until he was 11," David Reid said. "He got two second-degree black bets. After that, he switched to Muay Thai. In Muay Thai, he has one more test to take with the master and then he will be an instructor. He started leaning more toward full contact sports. In Thiland, in the distant past, they boxed more than they do in more recent times. Muay Thai did not have as much boxing in it as would be beneficial for Mike so we switched to boxing to try and boost his ability for Muay Thai. It turned out that he liked it as much as he likes Muay Thai."
Learning and mastering boxing has helped make Michael Reid a more well-rounded fighter.
"It's just like another area that I want to be good at," he said. "I want to be good in all types of fighting, and boxing is one that I think is important."
The road to becoming a successful boxer has not been an easy one for Reid. Many of his classmates spend their summer vacations sleeping in, but his typical day starts early.
"Usually I'll get up about 5:30 and go have breakfast and then go to practice," Reid said. "I usually get there by about 6:45 so I can jump rope and stretch. Then I work with my cardio coach, Kevin Kasper. I've been with him about a year and a half."
Kasper is the all-time leader in receptions for the University of Iowa football team and later played with eight different NFL teams. He now works with Reid and other athletes at Xtreme Speed, a training facility located in Plainfield.
"He's probably the best thing that has happened to me," Reid said. "He's made me way stronger and more fit. I now have more endurance and muscle endurance and more of everything."
Reid also works with boxing trainer Joe Bennett of the Joliet Boxing Team. Bennett earned a spot on the 1960 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete at the Olympics due to an injury.
"When I first started with him [Bennett], my feet weren't that good," Reid said. "I was all over the place. My hands weren't good and I wasn't throwing punches correctly. I didn't have the right movement. ... I'm now probably 10 times better with my feet than I was when I started."
When not training for boxing, Reid continues to work with Peter Farias of the Manteno-based Wardogs Fighting Crew and with Mac Ramos of Top Notch Fitness and Boxing in Westmont to hone his Muay Thai Skills. Farias was Reid's first coach for contact fighting.
"We could not do what we do without good people to help us," David Reid said.
Next week, Michael will be back in the boxing ring competitively.
"My next boxing fight will be the Ringside World Championships in Kansas City, Mo. at the KCI Convention Center," he said. "It stars on the 2nd of August with registration. We fight twice a day and then Saturday is the championship."
Reid will continue to wait and see if his dreams of joining the U.S. Olympic team come true.
"After winning the Junior Olympics, they usually send you a paper that they want you to come out to their tryout camp, if they want you," he said.
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