Marquis Pierce was happy just
to be at SteelStacks on Thursday night.
Pierce, a former wrestler at
Phillipsburg High School, was even happier when his hands were raised after
beating Jeffrey Dorsey by majority decision in his professional boxing debut in
the first ever Fight Night held at the venue.
“It was an incredible win,” a
smiling Pierce said. “I came out here to fight hard; I’m glad I earned the
money and took care of business. ... This is actually keeping me from going to
jail tonight. I’m more than happy to fight anytime if I have to just to keep me
from ending up in a place I don’t want to belong. I’m a good kid, I’m a good
person. If I need to give up every dollar to make sure it doesn’t happen, that’s
what I’m going to do.”
The 23-year-old Pierce, who
said he could have been in jail due to child support issues, admitted it was a
struggle just to be allowed to participate in the event.
“The craziest thing is I work
two jobs and they take money out of both my checks,” said Pierce, who is
employed at Chick-fil-A and Big Lots in Phillipsburg. “They weren’t even
planning on letting me fight in this. I’m so glad I had so many people who
wanted this to happen; I fought for them and fought for myself. I want to turn
this money over to whoever I have to give it to so I don’t go to jail. ... It’s
just one road bump in this long journey I call life.”
Pierce (1-0), who won by a
judge’s scorecard of 38-38, 39-37, 39-37, was able to stick to his gameplan of
staying close enough to Dorsey (0-2), a grandson of boxing legend Larry Holmes.
He took some hits but prevented the crucial blow while keeping Dorsey in the
corner or up against the ropes most of the bout.
“My goal was to keep him close
to me so he couldn’t get space to throw big punches,” said Pierce, who trains
at Holmes’ gym in Easton and with Hanisak Sports Performance in Allentown. “When
he got the space and was nailing them, they were tearing me apart, actually. I’m
not going to lie, he really caught me with one that put my eyes out. It got me
real nervous. If I got hit with too many of those, I was going down; I could
smell it.”
Dorsey, 25, fought back in the
third round landing some key hits but Pierce stuck with his strategy. Frank
Pintabone, Dorsey’s trainer, said his boxer wasn’t 100 percent for the fight
but took nothing away from the victor.
“Two weeks before the fight,
Jeffrey had a severe back muscle tear up at Ronald Cruz’s camp,” Pintabone said
as Dorsey sat next to him, declining to be interviewed. “He was out for about a
week. He didn’t spar in the two weeks before the fight, he wasn’t doing any bag
work, it was all just light work. He’s been coming in for massages and
stretching.
“His back popped again in the
middle of the first round and he couldn’t get going. When he’s straight up and
down it gives him some relief but when he’s hunched over in the fighting
position, it’s unbearable, in his words. The corner and ropes gave him a place
of stability.”
Those locations in the ring
also provided Pierce with momentum on offense. With a pro-Dorsey crowd on hand,
Pierce showed no signs of nervousness or shyness in his pro debut.
Pierce, who did mixed martial
arts for a year and a half before devoting his attention and efforts to boxing,
said he and Dorsey are friends. While the two never wrestled against each other
at the high school level—Dorsey went to Easton Area High School—the pair have
sparred once or twice before but according to Pierce, “that was a long time
ago.”
“We’re always going to be good
friends” Pierce said. “Without him, this wouldn’t be possible. I’m so happy he
gave me the opportunity to do this. ... It’s bittersweet. This guy was kicking
my behind years ago. I was like the little brother.” (Source)
