Nicholas Barrese is a local boxing promoter who was the coach of welterweight Demonese “Juicy” Duncan and is now his legal guardian.
The duo will return to the ring on April 13th in Louisville, Kentucky as part of the Superstars of Boxing Series, headlined by Duncan. Duncan will face Dashawn “Too Sweet” Johns, and Mike Stafford remains a standout for him, along with some timely words from one of Burrace’s mentors.
“I started training fighters here in Louisville. I wasn't affiliated with a boxing gym or a trainer. I just started training fighters in my basement,” Burrace recalled.
“He said, 'I'd like to talk to you for a minute.' What I want to tell you is, I know who you are, and I've been boxing all my life. People come from everywhere. It doesn't come out of nowhere, but somehow you came out of nowhere. I'm a fan and please keep up the good work.”
Although Mr. Stafford sadly passed away last year, Mr. Burrace's journey continues and his words continue to motivate him.
Now, Burrace is embarking on a long and grueling journey to develop the young, talented fighter in Duncan (9-1, 9 KOs), a 21-year-old who suffered a surprising loss to Axel Melendez on Probox TV last year. .
In modern times, perfect records have been coveted, but now the perfect world of perfect prospecting is almost gone. Just like in battle, they need to adjust. Their alignment returns to the local market of Louisville, home of Muhammad Ali and where Duncan has a lot of support.
The fight with Johns (4 wins, 4 losses, 3 KOs) appears to be similar.
Bares was introduced to amateur boxing in the United States, where people “literally get in their cars and drive across the country for nine-minute matches.” Those nine minutes define a fighter's career until the next fight. The same goes for coaches.
Barrese, a former track and field athlete, was running a restaurant at the time. He found himself addicted to an unhealthy lifestyle, drinking and smoking pot every night after work, and was bored for eight or nine years while working 60 hours a week.
And Barres was burned out.
He asked a colleague where he could find young people interested in boxing but not yet involved in other sports, and he was introduced to Louisville.
In fact, he met some of the future fighters who were in church leagues on the basketball court, and Barres also went to the library to look up Angelo Dundee books and Muhammad Ali books and learn about the kind of training they had. I investigated whether he was doing so. He recreated it as best he could.
“We started with a clean slate,” Barais said. “I wasn't a boxer. I wasn't born into this sport. Athletes become coaches, not the other way around.”
Bares praised Duncan, who is now a proud promoter and is living a purposeful life.
“The show is affordable for the fans and Duncan is a huge asset to me as a promoter,” Burrace said. “We expect another sellout because the city of Louisville loves this young man. If he had been the only local guy in the show, it would still have been a sellout.”
The card takes place on pay-per-view on Saturday at LiveSportsCaster.com
