Francois Scarboro Jnr wants to introduce the world to Scarboro Nation.
Scarboro faces D'Angelo Keyes in an eight-round junior lightweight bout Friday at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C., in a bout set to stream on ProBox TV.
Scarboro, 10-0 (8 KOs), will fight in his third consecutive eight-round bout after beating then-undefeated prospects Ferris Dixon Jnr and Wayne Lawrence in back-to-back bouts last year. Yet it is the fanbase he and his father, Francois Scarboro Snr, are cultivating that is becoming as big as any part of his story.
“Scarboro Nation originated by giving fans a different alternative,” Scarboro Snr told BoxingScene. “I wanted to make sure my son had a following of people that we felt accountable for.”
The team is a unique entity. Members arrive at Scarboro Jnr’s fights in suits. Scarboro Snr even joked that sometimes people would joke that they looked like The Temptations. The tone was set: They mean business and are coming to the ring to conduct themselves as professionals. The demeanor Team Scarboro projects connects to the fanbase it seeks to attract.
“It is not going to be a bunch of rowdy, drunk people,” Scarboro Snr said. “And they are going to be cheering for something very rare.”
Scarboro Jnr’s path is different from those of a lot of boxers – which might be the selling point of his fanbase. He went to college in West Virginia. Scarboro Jnr, 29, opted for school over competing at the Olympic Trials in 2016, attending Glenville State University to fulfill a promise to his grandmother. When Scarboro Jnr turned pro in May 2022, his father recalls the fighter coming home from the gym with 35 tickets to sell for his professional debut.
“I told him, ‘You worry about the training, and I will worry about the tickets,’” Scarboro Snr said. “I knew he’d be successful, but I had no idea in his very first fight he’d sell 357 tickets.”
Part of the secret to cultivating a fan base and becoming a regional draw is selling directly to an audience. Scarboro Snr spoke about the one-on-one relationship he has with the people who buy the tickets from him.
“I hand-deliver tickets to people at their jobs, to their homes,” Scarboro Snr said. “I want you to understand that you are more than fans. Now we are family. Now you are a part of Scarboro Nation.”
Before Scarboro Jnr threw a professional punch, his father made a documentary about him. Between training sessions, Scarboro Jnr, from Cheverly, Maryland, was making appearances at hospitals, hospices and charity events. Scarboro’s brand has been strategically community-based.
“Love is contagious,” Scarboro Snr said. “In fact, he just did a backpack giveaway where he handed out 150 backpacks for the kids.”
Those left over went to an elementary school in West Virginia, located near where the fighter attended college. The elder Scarboro admits he is tired of hearing the common story of boxers battling tough life adversities such as poverty through boxing. The family hopes the movement they are starting can inspire a different wave of fighters.
“I want to see more boxers with college degrees,” Scarboro Jnr.
Trained by Ernesto Rodriguez of Hillcrest Boxing, Scarboro will face Keyes, 18-6 (11 KOs), whom Scarboro Snr points out has more knockouts than his son has fights. Keyes, a 28-year-old from Houston, might be riding a two-fight losing streak, but has faced contenders like Oscar Duarte and, in his previous performance, pushed unbeaten prospect Haven Brady Jnr in a split decision loss.
An opponent of Keyes’ caliber is viewed as the next logical step in Scarboro’s development as a fighter – that, and building the population of Scarboro Nation.
“Frankie is more than a non-cavity pretty smile,” Scarboro said. “He is more than a college degree. He is the true meaning of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.