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Travis Kauffman Grows Up
By Thomas Gerbasi/MaxBoxing
Five miles.
Every time Travis Kauffman reads the internet boxing forums and sees a negative comment, each time he gets a funny look on the street, every time he feels like he’s still carrying the stigma of a crime he didn’t commit, he hits the road.
Five miles.
It’s the running that refocuses him, that gets his mind off a 2008 that could have changed his life irrevocably and cost him not only his promising boxing career, but his family. It’s also what got him down from 310 pounds last year to the 221 pounds he weighed last December when he blasted out Malachy Farrell in three rounds in his ShoBox debut and improved to 14-0 with 11 KOs as a pro.
It was the perfect end to an imperfect year for Kauffman, one that saw him facing serious jail time on a statutory **** charge from 2005. Initially convinced to take a plea deal by his attorney due to the possibility of him facing even more time for a 2004 marijuana distribution charge, Kauffman later withdrew his guilty plea, got a new lawyer, and at trial in March, he was acquitted after just 45 minutes of jury deliberations.
But in this society, the acquittal never gets as much ink as the initial charge, and to many, Kauffman isn’t the type of person to be celebrated on national television as a future heavyweight star. And the 23-year old has heard all the whispers and read all the comments. They hurt, but they also motivate.
"I'll tell you one thing that gets me motivated,” he explains. “I look on the forums about my upcoming fight, and people write ‘oh, that rapist is still fighting.’ And it pisses me off because I know it’s something I’m not. The people who say bad things about me, they drive me to do even better. But I don’t want people to think of me as that because I’m not that type of person. If I was, I deserve the worst punishment in the world. But 12 people who didn’t know me sat in there (in court) and heard the facts. They heard everything detail for detail and they deliberated for 45 minutes. It should take longer than that if you have any doubt in your mind that the person might be guilty.”
And Kauffman, 19 at the time of the initial charge, had no doubts when it came to his innocence. Neither did his father and trainer Marshall. But when it comes to the legal system, innocence isn’t always enough. And every day, as Travis pondered his future while putting on the pounds, the father agonized over what the future could bring.
"Every day I thought about him,” said the elder Kauffman. "I'd wake up in the morning and think about what today was gonna bring for Travis, what’s tomorrow gonna bring? You fear for your son’s future and his life, especially when you know he’s innocent of everything. So it was very hard and tough to deal with.”
It was even tougher for Travis, who was on the verge of losing his fiancée and his young son (there’s another child on the way for the couple) over the whole incident. But when it was over, there was a silver lining in the cloud.
" I was at the lowest part of my life mentally,” he admits. &ldquoBu it taught me discipline. If I could get over a hump like that, I can get over anything in life. Since I got past that, I’ve been in this gym every day. I don’t want to blow back up to 310 and I don’t want to have to work three, four months just to get my weight down. I want to stay in shape and be the best I can be. I was always afraid of failure, but I’ll never know if I fail if I don’t try.”
Five miles.
The runs started slowly following Kauffman’s acquittal, a couple of miles at first, then progressively moving up as the weight came off. He would occasionally visit the gym during his ten month layoff, sparring with former heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman and hitting the bags when the mood struck him, but it wasn’t until his freedom was assured that he really got back to business.
And when his legal ordeal was over, Kauffman wasn’t just a kid given a break who was going to go back to everything he was doing before, business as usual. He had been changed by almost a year off from the ring. He wasn’t the over the top ****y kid who trained enough to get by, who was hanging out on the streets and getting into trouble. His nine lives had dwindled down to one, and he’s chosen to make a new start, in and out of the ring.
" I believe I went through what I went through for a reason,” said Kauffman. “I always lacked discipline because I knew I had the talent to beat some of the top guys and I felt like I didn’t have to train to beat people. I’m 23 years old, I have a family to take care of. Before when I just turned pro, I was just a kid. I didn’t have any responsibilities. Now that I’m getting older, last year I saw what I almost lost. I almost lost everything.”
Marshall Kauffman sees the change as well.
" I've always thought that Travis had everything it takes, except one thing, to become heavyweight champion of the world,” he said. “And I was always hoping that one thing would change as he got older and more mature. And that was the dedication. But I see more dedication now than I’ve ever seen. I think with the big weight taken off his shoulders in the last year, I think he’s finally starting to believe that he has what it takes.”
In June of 2008, Kauffman, down to 243 pounds, returned to the ring with a 45 second stoppage of Octavius Smith. A month later he shed another five pounds in a second round TKO of Travis Fulton, and by September he was down to 230 ½ in a first round stoppage of Josh Gutcher. In December, Kauffman tipped the scales at 221 when he halted Farrell. Notice a trend here? The boxer has become a puncher.
" I know in the heavyweight division they don’t want to see fights go the distance,” said Kauffman. &ldquoBu I believe a lot of that has to do with what I went through. I don’t want to sit in there, I don’t want to play games with nobody, and every fight I get in there, I’m mad. I don’t believe anybody’s gonna put me through in a fight what I went through last year. I go out there and try to take care of business as early as possible, but I’m not out there looking for a knockout.”
He’s getting them though, and even though he’s not stopping any world beaters, he is only 14 fights into a career that seems a lot longer given all the press he’s gotten over the years. This Friday night at the Million Dollar Elm Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kauffman begins his 2009 campaign against 22-23-2 Ken Murphy. Yes, loser of 12 in a row and 23 of his last 25 Ken Murphy. Mark this one in the win column for Kauffman, but his father defends the choice of opponent.
"We picked this fight for experience more than anything,” said Marshall Kauffman. "Murphy’s gone the distance with a lot of guys, he’s a trialhorse, and he’s been in with world-class opposition. It’s a stay busy fight and if you look at who Murphy’s fought, everybody puts their young prospects in with someone that’s older and over the hill sometimes just to get them the experience they need. People say, ‘oh, you can learn that in the gym,’ but there’s nothing like learning it in a fight.”
And despite all the attention he’s gotten, the younger Kauffman isn’t looking to rush things, another sign of maturity from a young man who wasn’t always so humble with his proclamations of world domination.
" I've been around this game for a long time,” explains the former amateur star. “I know heavyweights don’t start maturing until they’re 26, 27. If there’s a big money payday for someone big, then we have to go after that opportunity because sometimes those opportunities come once in a lifetime. But right now, they’re not there, so I’m not gonna go out there and fight a guy 15-0 when the money’s not there. This is a business. Would I fight someone 15-0? Of course. I’m not afraid of anybody. But if you have a business, you want to get your name out there, and that’s when the money starts coming in. I believe every fight’s a stepping stone, no matter if the opponent’s record is 0-25, 25-25, or 25-0. It’s a stepping stone until you get to that world title fight. I don’t believe I’m ready for a title right now. Can I go out there and fight for a title? Yeah. Do I believe I can beat some of the guys who have a title right now? Heck yeah. But I don’t think it’s worth taking those chances right now. It’s sad with boxing – one loss on your record sets you completely back. Years ago, the champions had five, six losses and they were still on top of their game. Sad to say, that’s not boxing anymore, so you have to treat it like the business it is.”
He pauses, then chuckles.
" I'm not even getting five figures yet,” he said. "I'm still in my four figures, and it’s not worth taking those chances yet. I want to take my time. I’m 23 years old, and I have a long career ahead of me.”
That’s a sentence that wouldn’t have come out of his mouth this time last year, but with 2008 behind him, Travis Kauffman sees only bright days ahead.
" I see a lot of success in 2009,” he said. “I’m looking to be 20-0 by the end of this year, hopefully I’ll get an HBO shot by the end of the year, and I’m looking to just keep pursuing my career and keep doing what I’ve been doing. I’m going to stay in the gym, stay focused, and I’m not going to lose this discipline. I just want to keep moving forward.”
Five miles at a time.
By Thomas Gerbasi/MaxBoxing
Five miles.
Every time Travis Kauffman reads the internet boxing forums and sees a negative comment, each time he gets a funny look on the street, every time he feels like he’s still carrying the stigma of a crime he didn’t commit, he hits the road.
Five miles.
It’s the running that refocuses him, that gets his mind off a 2008 that could have changed his life irrevocably and cost him not only his promising boxing career, but his family. It’s also what got him down from 310 pounds last year to the 221 pounds he weighed last December when he blasted out Malachy Farrell in three rounds in his ShoBox debut and improved to 14-0 with 11 KOs as a pro.
It was the perfect end to an imperfect year for Kauffman, one that saw him facing serious jail time on a statutory **** charge from 2005. Initially convinced to take a plea deal by his attorney due to the possibility of him facing even more time for a 2004 marijuana distribution charge, Kauffman later withdrew his guilty plea, got a new lawyer, and at trial in March, he was acquitted after just 45 minutes of jury deliberations.
But in this society, the acquittal never gets as much ink as the initial charge, and to many, Kauffman isn’t the type of person to be celebrated on national television as a future heavyweight star. And the 23-year old has heard all the whispers and read all the comments. They hurt, but they also motivate.
"I'll tell you one thing that gets me motivated,” he explains. “I look on the forums about my upcoming fight, and people write ‘oh, that rapist is still fighting.’ And it pisses me off because I know it’s something I’m not. The people who say bad things about me, they drive me to do even better. But I don’t want people to think of me as that because I’m not that type of person. If I was, I deserve the worst punishment in the world. But 12 people who didn’t know me sat in there (in court) and heard the facts. They heard everything detail for detail and they deliberated for 45 minutes. It should take longer than that if you have any doubt in your mind that the person might be guilty.”
And Kauffman, 19 at the time of the initial charge, had no doubts when it came to his innocence. Neither did his father and trainer Marshall. But when it comes to the legal system, innocence isn’t always enough. And every day, as Travis pondered his future while putting on the pounds, the father agonized over what the future could bring.
"Every day I thought about him,” said the elder Kauffman. "I'd wake up in the morning and think about what today was gonna bring for Travis, what’s tomorrow gonna bring? You fear for your son’s future and his life, especially when you know he’s innocent of everything. So it was very hard and tough to deal with.”
It was even tougher for Travis, who was on the verge of losing his fiancée and his young son (there’s another child on the way for the couple) over the whole incident. But when it was over, there was a silver lining in the cloud.
" I was at the lowest part of my life mentally,” he admits. &ldquoBu it taught me discipline. If I could get over a hump like that, I can get over anything in life. Since I got past that, I’ve been in this gym every day. I don’t want to blow back up to 310 and I don’t want to have to work three, four months just to get my weight down. I want to stay in shape and be the best I can be. I was always afraid of failure, but I’ll never know if I fail if I don’t try.”
Five miles.
The runs started slowly following Kauffman’s acquittal, a couple of miles at first, then progressively moving up as the weight came off. He would occasionally visit the gym during his ten month layoff, sparring with former heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman and hitting the bags when the mood struck him, but it wasn’t until his freedom was assured that he really got back to business.
And when his legal ordeal was over, Kauffman wasn’t just a kid given a break who was going to go back to everything he was doing before, business as usual. He had been changed by almost a year off from the ring. He wasn’t the over the top ****y kid who trained enough to get by, who was hanging out on the streets and getting into trouble. His nine lives had dwindled down to one, and he’s chosen to make a new start, in and out of the ring.
" I believe I went through what I went through for a reason,” said Kauffman. “I always lacked discipline because I knew I had the talent to beat some of the top guys and I felt like I didn’t have to train to beat people. I’m 23 years old, I have a family to take care of. Before when I just turned pro, I was just a kid. I didn’t have any responsibilities. Now that I’m getting older, last year I saw what I almost lost. I almost lost everything.”
Marshall Kauffman sees the change as well.
" I've always thought that Travis had everything it takes, except one thing, to become heavyweight champion of the world,” he said. “And I was always hoping that one thing would change as he got older and more mature. And that was the dedication. But I see more dedication now than I’ve ever seen. I think with the big weight taken off his shoulders in the last year, I think he’s finally starting to believe that he has what it takes.”
In June of 2008, Kauffman, down to 243 pounds, returned to the ring with a 45 second stoppage of Octavius Smith. A month later he shed another five pounds in a second round TKO of Travis Fulton, and by September he was down to 230 ½ in a first round stoppage of Josh Gutcher. In December, Kauffman tipped the scales at 221 when he halted Farrell. Notice a trend here? The boxer has become a puncher.
" I know in the heavyweight division they don’t want to see fights go the distance,” said Kauffman. &ldquoBu I believe a lot of that has to do with what I went through. I don’t want to sit in there, I don’t want to play games with nobody, and every fight I get in there, I’m mad. I don’t believe anybody’s gonna put me through in a fight what I went through last year. I go out there and try to take care of business as early as possible, but I’m not out there looking for a knockout.”
He’s getting them though, and even though he’s not stopping any world beaters, he is only 14 fights into a career that seems a lot longer given all the press he’s gotten over the years. This Friday night at the Million Dollar Elm Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kauffman begins his 2009 campaign against 22-23-2 Ken Murphy. Yes, loser of 12 in a row and 23 of his last 25 Ken Murphy. Mark this one in the win column for Kauffman, but his father defends the choice of opponent.
"We picked this fight for experience more than anything,” said Marshall Kauffman. "Murphy’s gone the distance with a lot of guys, he’s a trialhorse, and he’s been in with world-class opposition. It’s a stay busy fight and if you look at who Murphy’s fought, everybody puts their young prospects in with someone that’s older and over the hill sometimes just to get them the experience they need. People say, ‘oh, you can learn that in the gym,’ but there’s nothing like learning it in a fight.”
And despite all the attention he’s gotten, the younger Kauffman isn’t looking to rush things, another sign of maturity from a young man who wasn’t always so humble with his proclamations of world domination.
" I've been around this game for a long time,” explains the former amateur star. “I know heavyweights don’t start maturing until they’re 26, 27. If there’s a big money payday for someone big, then we have to go after that opportunity because sometimes those opportunities come once in a lifetime. But right now, they’re not there, so I’m not gonna go out there and fight a guy 15-0 when the money’s not there. This is a business. Would I fight someone 15-0? Of course. I’m not afraid of anybody. But if you have a business, you want to get your name out there, and that’s when the money starts coming in. I believe every fight’s a stepping stone, no matter if the opponent’s record is 0-25, 25-25, or 25-0. It’s a stepping stone until you get to that world title fight. I don’t believe I’m ready for a title right now. Can I go out there and fight for a title? Yeah. Do I believe I can beat some of the guys who have a title right now? Heck yeah. But I don’t think it’s worth taking those chances right now. It’s sad with boxing – one loss on your record sets you completely back. Years ago, the champions had five, six losses and they were still on top of their game. Sad to say, that’s not boxing anymore, so you have to treat it like the business it is.”
He pauses, then chuckles.
" I'm not even getting five figures yet,” he said. "I'm still in my four figures, and it’s not worth taking those chances yet. I want to take my time. I’m 23 years old, and I have a long career ahead of me.”
That’s a sentence that wouldn’t have come out of his mouth this time last year, but with 2008 behind him, Travis Kauffman sees only bright days ahead.
" I see a lot of success in 2009,” he said. “I’m looking to be 20-0 by the end of this year, hopefully I’ll get an HBO shot by the end of the year, and I’m looking to just keep pursuing my career and keep doing what I’ve been doing. I’m going to stay in the gym, stay focused, and I’m not going to lose this discipline. I just want to keep moving forward.”
Five miles at a time.
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