rifiutò (Observer
August 27, 2014
Page 5
Poised for a Breakout Fight
Portland amateur boxer Quincy
Blanton trains at the Grand
Avenue Boxing ring in northeast
Portland. The former football
player from Jefferson High
School has overcome many
obstacles to keep his dream
alive for a professional career
as a heavyweight fighter.
photo by M ike
B ivins /P ortland
O bserver C ontributor
Portland boxer hopes to punch ticket to the pros
by M ike
B ivins
P ortland O bserver
C ontributor
“#75 Q uincy B lanton ¡’’blares the
football fie ld ’s PA system .
“N -w o rd !” responds voices in
the crow d. T he bad behav io r by
H erm isto n ’s football faithful w as
heard as each o f Jefferson H igh
S chool’s A frican-A m erican players
w as introduced.
B ut poetic ju stic e w as served
this day as, according to B lanton
“w e beat the slop out o f them .”
A fte r w inning the first round
gam e against H erm iston, Jefferson
w ould go on to be elim inated in the
second round o f the 2006-07 state
5A fo o tb a ll p la y o ffs. H o w ev er,
B lanton and his Jefferson team m ates
w on a m oral victory that year as
th e ir squad from north P ortland
defied expectations w ith its lim ited
ro ster o f players. T his, along w ith
the aforem entioned bigotry on dis
play, is a m icrocosm o f the uphill
b attle B lanton has faced as a result
o f grow ing up as an A frican-A m eri
can in O regon— a state w ith a check
ered past in regards to equality.
B lanton, a pow erhouse offensive
linem an standing 6 foot 1 and w eigh
ing over 300 pounds, proved he had
w hat it takes to go to the next level.
B lanton w ould spend the next foot
ball season at B utte C ollege in north
ern C alifornia, paving a w ay for fu
ture N F L running back A lex G reen
en route to a season capping vic
tory at the S to ck m an ’s Bow l.
B lanton w as being recruited by
several N C A A D ivision 1 schools;
he ju s t had to pick his grades up.
H ow ever, B lan to n ’s D ivision 1
dream s w ere not to be as his funds
to pay fo r college tuition dried up—
necessitating a retu rn to Portland.
A fter a short stint as a hospital
transportation aide, he w as let go by
the com pany. T w o years o f an e co
nom ic dow nturn and the entrenched
inequity P ortland offers d id n ’ t help.
M ake no m istake— B lanton w anted
to w ork. In his estim ation he was
sim ply held dow n by the sam e latent
attitudes that the H erm iston crow d
let spill over.
E ven w ith a spotless crim inal
record, B lanton w as unable to find
entry-level w ork w ith em ployers
such as T aco B ell and Subw ay.
U nd isco u rag ed and a co m p etito r at
heart, he co n tin u ed filling ou t ap p li
cations. In the m ean tim e, h e e n
rolled at a B razilian Jiu-Jitsu school.
B razilian Jiu -Jitsu ev entually gave
w ay to boxing, as well as a jo b at UPS
and a b o u n cer gig in dow ntow n
Portland. T hings seem ed to be look
ing up for B lanton.
E ventually, he built his w ay up to
a respectable 4-1 am ateur boxing
record. H ow ever, his road to victory
has been rocky as finding w illing
opponents to m atch up w ith his
w eight. His boxing debut at the U ni
versity C lub in dow ntow n Portland
w as, in his estim ation, a robbery. H e
felt like he beat his o p p onent T ony
C astro w ith the ja b alone. B lanton
w as gran ted a rem atch; he got his
revenge via unanim ous decision. A
m atch to co m p lete the trilogy is on
the horizon.
In B la n to n ’s sh o rt b o x in g c a
re e r th e re h a v e b een m u ltip le in
sta n c e s o f o p p o n e n ts g e ttin g co ld
feet. A t a B e a v e rto n P o lice A c
tiv itie s L e a g u e e v e n t, B la n to n ’s
o p p o n e n t w as a n o sh o w . A t the
K e ize r L y o n s C lu b B la n to n w as
su p p o se d to fig h t A lb a n y ’s D av id
O lah ; B la n to n ’s th en m a n a g e r a l
lo w e d O la h ’s c a m p to lo o k at
B la n to n ’s b o o k . O lah , u p o n s e e
in g th e 4-1 m a rk an d the fo u r fig h t
w in stre a k , re fu s e d to fig h t.
I asked B lan to n w hy he chose
boxing. H e responded, “I box b e
cause I like m oney and I have co n
fidence in m y self.” H e w ent on to
explain how boxing is w ide open for
h eav y w eig h t co n ten d ers because
“everybody is all into m ixed m artial
arts. M M A is really fun, but boxers
m ake three or four tim es m ore m oney
than those guys.”
B lan to n p u n ctu ates his sta te
m ent by saying that he w ould be
lucky to m ake $ 16,000 a y ear as an
M M A fighter, and for that kind o f
m oney he “m ight as well w ork at
M cD onalds or som ething.”
O n the subject o f w ork, B lanton
now holds dow n tw o jo b s. W hen
people see B lanton w orking hard in
the ring, w hat they d o n ’t see is him
at 3 a.m. leaving his jo b bouncing
dow ntow n Sunday m orning, and
then turning around fo r a U PS shift
at 10 a.m. that sam e day.
Blanton lets m e know that “people
like w inners” , and that he is aw are ol
the pressure fo r him to do well foi
him self, as w ell as for o th er black
athletes in Portland.
H e is also aw are o f the problem s
facing A frican -A m erican s in P ort
land in general. H e hopes to keep his
w in streak alive, and m ake the m ove
to the professional ranks very soon.
H e w ants to “take O regon and be
the best h ere.”
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