Lincoln club boxer wants to prove he is in right sport

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook staff writer

There is no changing Eggy Bocicot’s mind when it comes to boxing. Tyrese Williams, his trainer at the Lincoln Neighborhood Center, can attest to that.
During a sprint drill, Bocicot showed speed that had Williams suggesting that he goes back to football. Bocicot had played the game in high school while dabbling in boxing.

 
Williams was in disbelief over the speed that he saw from Bocicot, an Orlando native who attends Tallahassee Community College.

 
“I said you’re in the wrong sport; with that kind of speed you should be on somebody’s football team,” Williams said, knowing his football history. “He said this is what I want to do; I want to be boxing.”

 
There doesn’t seem to be any turning back for Bocicot, who had tried jump starting a career in boxing as a teenager. At age 24, he hopes this time to go all the way to a professional career.

 
He’s had a tough start, losing his first bout in his hometown Orlando. This Saturday he’ll have his second fight in the Lincoln Neighborhood Center Boxing team’s annual tournament at the National Guard Armory.

 
Bocicot had a budding high school football career at quarterback. However, he was forced off the team because of a contentious relationship with his coaches, he said.

 
Bocicot was still smarting over his loss, especially being in front of his home folks. Fighting at home was a bigger problem for Bocicot than his opponent was, Williams said.

 
“He wanted to do so well that he drained himself physically and mentally,” Williams said. “Everything went out of him in the first round.”

 
Losing the way he did might have discouraged the average amateur boxer, but Bocicot insisted that he has to prove he is better than his first fight.

 
“I’m prepared,” he said. “I’m going to put on a show. I’m going to impress.”

 
His first two tries at boxing, starting at age 15, were cut short because his single-parent mother couldn’t afford the gym fees. With time on his hand, he turned to the streets.

 
He called it surviving because of his mother’s struggles to keep food on the table. That’s one of the reasons that he is focusing on making it to a level where he could be paid for his work in the ring, he said.

 
“I rather bleed in the ring than bleed in the streets,” he said. “I’m looking for bigger experiences in life.”