Marqus Bates’ thirteenth professional fight comes off this Saturday and he’s reflecting on the man he was and the man he has become as he prepares for the fight this Saturday. According to Marqus;
“It’s been great! Boxing has its ups and downs, but I love it. I have this fire inside of me, and I’m not going to stop until this fire is put out. These last six years have been an amazing journey.”
“It’s never too late to turn it around. So pick up the pieces and make it right! Just because you’ve been to prison, don’t let anyone tell you can’t do it. Don’t let society tell you that you can’t get a job, that you can’t chase your dreams. I’m living proof that you can do it,” concluded Bates.
There is more on Marqus Bates’s career;
“You know Marqus, what is that you want to do with your life? What is it that you would regret not doing when your’e fifty-sixty years old? Boxing!” This is what thirty-five-year-old professional boxer Marqus Bates (8-4) said to himself while sitting in a prison cell serving a three-year sentence at a Massachusetts State Penitentiary.
Marqus Bates grew up in Taunton, Massachusetts. If you’re asking yourself, “where the heck is Taunton, MA?” You’re not alone; I had to look it up. It is located southeast of Brockton, MA. Are you familiar with Brockton? Of course, you are! It’s the home of boxing greats Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler.
When he logged into our meeting, Marqus was in the gym getting ready for his thirteenth professional fight. I can hear the commotion of boxers training in the background. I can tell it was an old-school gym. I can smell the unmistakable aroma of sweat-soaked boxing gear permeating the gym through my computer screen. I can imagine salt rings of sweat and dried blood adorned on the floor by the fighters that train there.
Bates was dressed in a black hoodie, black knit winter hat, and beads of sweat glistened from his thick beard. At first glance, he had a stark resemblance to former world champion Gary Russell Jr. “Nah,” said Bates bashfully when I mentioned it.
Marqus started boxing when he was twenty-years-old. A relatively late start, given that most boxers pick up the sport at a reasonably young age. Why the late start? “Boxing was something I always wanted to do as a kid. But my mom wouldn’t put me into any martial art. She thought I would take it and use it against people,” said Marqus chuckling.
According to Marqus, the men of the Bates family are inheritably athletic. His father was an all-star athlete in high school and was offered a football scholarship. His younger brother, Trevor Bates, was drafted by the NFL and was a linebacker on the roster of the 2016 Superbowl champions, the New England Patriots. During his school years, Marques played basketball and football. So, he knew that he could rely on his natural athletic ability to learn quickly and succeed in the sport of boxing.
However, the road to the ring wasn’t paved in gold for Marqus. He grew up in a single-parent home. “My family didn’t have the money,” said Bates. His mom did the best she could to house and feed four kids. Surviving on welfare and section-eight housing meant that there was only enough money to provide for what was needed, not what was wanted. “It was tough on her. At sixteen-seventeen years old, being that age, you want things,” recounted Bates.
“In high school, you got to be on point. My mom couldn’t do all that. Around that time, my father was sentenced to prison in Maine. Dad is gone, mom struggling, and having to get help from my grandmother was tough. So, I started selling drugs. I didn’t want to burden my mom or grandmother to get things for me. So, they can get things for my brother and my sister. Looking back on it now, I probably didn’t have to. But in my mind, it was something I felt I had to do,” said Bates regrettably.
Marqus continued, “I was a really good football player, but I didn’t play. I stopped playing football because my dad was in prison. He used to come to my football games when I was younger. So, for him not to be there, I didn’t want to play.”
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