I roll with the punches so I survive/I bob and weave, move my feet from side to side/I’m back, stronger than ever surprise surprise/They try to take me out the game but I’s alive
“Some People Hate” – Jay Z
Marquis “the Hawk” Hawthorne has heard the cracks. People have made derisive comments about his sub-.500 record before, in an attempt to diminish what he’s done.
But the Waco-bred boxer simply continued to bob and weave, duck and dodge, and get in his licks where he could. And on Saturday, he’ll have a chance to bring a championship belt back to his hometown.
“He’s kind of a Cinderella man,” said Hawthorne’s trainer, Tony Chavez. “People will say, ‘His record isn’t the best,’ but if you pull up BoxRec (boxrec.com) you see who he’s fought. About 90 percent of the guys he’s gone up against have been undefeated. He’s not out there fighting guys with a losing record.
“In the meantime, he’s worked hard to gain respect. He’s just a humble young man who knows what he wants, and is going to work hard to get it.”
In his four-year career, Hawthorne has established a reputation for pulling off upsets. Hawthorne, 28, has four victories over previously undefeated fighters to his credit. So he won’t be intimidated by Saturday’s opponent, who has one loss.
Hawthorne (7-11-0, 1 KO) meets San Antonio’s Danny Baiz (13-1-0, 5 KOs) in the co-main event of a Capital City Fight Night event at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. What’s more, the American Boxing Federation’s vacant USA Welterweight Championship will be on the line in the eight-round clash.
Hawthorne isn’t a big knockout guy, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play the role of hunter. Chavez, who has trained Hawthorne since before he turned pro at Waco’s Brawl on the Brazos in August 2015, called his protégé “more of a strategic boxer than a brawler.” As such, Chavez said that the game plan against Baiz will be to stalk him, and try to make him retreat.
“We want to try to control the fight,” Chavez said. “That means coming forward, using angles, work behind the jab. We’re going to go with straight rights and the left hook, which should feed right into Baiz, because he’s a southpaw. And we’ve seen that he doesn’t really like to go backwards, so we’re going to try to make him go backwards.”
While Hawthorne’s career has defined the “you win some, you lose some” trajectory of the grinder, he’s faced some gritty competition to this point. Nine times Hawthorne has gone up against an undefeated opponent, and Baiz will be the second foe he’s faced who has only one loss on his ledger.
In April of this year, Hawthorne took down a previously unbeaten fighter, Robert Redmond Jr., by unanimous decision to seize the ABF’s American West Welterweight belt.
In his still-rising career, Hawthorne has managed to land on some grand stages, on cards promoted by the likes of Don King and Roy Jones Jr. in cities like Atlantic City and Las Vegas. If he wins Saturday’s fight, doors should continue to open, including a possible next bout in Japan, Chavez said.
For now, Hawthorne’s tunnel vision has centered on his immediate target: Baiz.
“We’ve had a couple of promoters say, ‘Hey, if you take care of this one …’” Chavez said. “That all sounds great, and it’s nice to have those offers and opportunities. But we’re just focused on what’s on our plate, and not that carrot dangling out ahead.”
Saturday’s other co-main event in Austin features San Antonio’s Edward Jeramie Ortiz (8-0-2, 4 KOs) tangling with Killeen’s Jas Phipps (10-6-2, 5 KOs) in an eight-round bout for the World Boxing Council’s USNBC Silver Middleweight title.
The action starts at 7 p.m., and tickets can be purchased at www.do512.com or TexasBoxOffice.com.