JD Chapman Story

Perhaps this partnership between a former heavyweight champion turned trainer, his 22-year-old heavy-handed pupil and the astute manager who brought them together, will someday be made into a movie. The main story, how a successful businessman looking to get involved in the fight game stumbled upon a raw but naturally gifted heavyweight and proceeded to secure the services of a recently retired former undisputed heavyweight king to be his trainer, is woven with several sub-plots. Will the new trainer stay a trainer or will the temptation to reenter the ring prove too great? Can he take this raw, albeit huge, piece of clay and mold him into a king? Does the young man have the determination and drive it takes to make it? This is kind of like a Cinderella story,” admits undefeated Arkansas heavyweight prospect JD “The Natural” Chapman, 16-0 (15 KOs). “I come from nowhere and hook-up with a world-class manager and trainer. They picked me straight out of the hay field and now I’m in the ring with former world champions. I got lucky to be given this opportunity, it’s almost surreal.” It was earlier this summer that Florida businessman Scott Hirsch was turned onto Chapman by Arkansas promoter Stacy Goodson. “I had always been a boxing fan and I finally decided to go for my dream and get involved in managing a while ago,” explains Hirsch. “I already work with (former linear heavyweight champion and current top contender) Shannon Briggs and formerly worked with Mitch “Blood” Green. I happened to run into Stacy and he mentioned that he had a young kid fighting on his club circuit who was bowling guys over as fast as he could set up the fights. He asked me if I would consider managing him. So I flew JD down to Florida and had Shannon work with him and evaluate him. When he was finished, I asked Shannon, ‘so what did you think?’ Shannon said ‘he’s got talent.’ I said ‘like a Minto or Maddalone-level talent?’ And Shannon said ‘No. He’s got real talent.’ Once the two came to terms, the first order of business was to find the right trainer to bring out the best in the young slugger. Enter one-time Light Heavyweight and three-time Heavyweight World Champion Michael Moorer. Recently retired from boxing (during a live broadcast of ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights), Moorer says in Chapman he saw the chance to quickly establish himself as a top trainer. “I’m new to training,” he explains, “but I’ve had such excellent trainers in my career to learn from. I wanted to display my talent as a trainer by working with a green guy and developing him into a prospect.” Moorer says Chapman is the perfect first assignment for him to take on. “He listens and he’s willing to try anything. That’s what I really like about him. He does whatever I ask him to do because he knows I’m looking out for his best interests. He already has skills, but I want to enhance them so that once he gets established in the heavyweight division and starts fighting better opponents, he’ll be ready. He has an excellent work ethic,” Moorer adds. “He has a strength and conditioning coach that he lifts weights and runs with everyday. He’s doing things the right way.” Chapman returns the good sentiment and says Moorer is the perfect trainer for his personality and background. “He’ll make me the best I can be. Traditionally, you think of a trainer as someone in your face and yelling, but he’s a different. I like that he stays calm, which keeps me calm, so we can work better that way. I’ve never had a coach take time like he does. If I don’t understand, he’ll take time and show me the right way to do something. I came from competing in Toughman, so with no amateur boxing background, I have to go through and learn the fundamentals properly. Right now, I would say I’m at 50% of my full potential. I still have a lot to learn. I’ve got real heavy hands, a hard right hand. Nobody has stood up to it yet. And I have a lot of potential. I’m 6’ 6”, 250 lbs, and my body isn’t even fully grown yet, but I’m quick. I also have the heart and dedication; I just need the know-how. Time is the only thing keeping me from the top.” “Normally you don’t think of an undefeated fighter with fifteen knockouts in sixteen fights as a ‘diamond in the rough,’ or ‘raw,’ says Hirsch, “but JD has relied on the power he was born with to this point. That’s why we call him The Natural. He’s got such pulverizing fists that he can mow down the types of guys you face on your way up. But the reason I decided I wanted to work with him is, in addition to the natural talents he has, he’s also a tireless student in the gym. To watch him work with Michael, you see a kid listening to every word, so that he’ll reach his dreams. The two of them believe in each other’s potential and they’re making it work together.” Moorer says that rumors of his on again/off again comeback are baseless – he is a trainer to stay from here out. “I’m never coming back again. I’m done. I’ve already done it all,” he declares. “Training is coming naturally to me. I like it. I like to teach the fundamentals and basics, so that when its’ time to step it up they know how to do it.” And so begins what could end up a classic story of a young man reaching his dreams, of a retired fighter finding all-new glory as a trainer, and of a businessman and lifelong boxing fan using his savvy to make it all happen. However, the happy ending they hope for cannot be written with a pen. It can only be written with hard work, sweat and true belief in each other.