FNU FOUNDER “RABBLE ROUSIN'” RICH BERGERON’S BOXING COMEBACK OFFICIAL LAUNCH

Posted on | August 18, 2009 | 1 Comment

It’s time to fulfill an old prophecy that started in Hershey Park Pennsylvania where I got the above photo done in a novelty booth as a kid. Yep, that’s me, about 20 years younger. I’m now approaching 32 and pushing 200 pounds, which is a good 15 pounds over the weight I fought at for Virginia Military Institute in 1998. That season was my only official season of competitive boxing, though I coached the boxing club at Norwich through my senior year of 1999 and had one on campus fight that didn’t go on my record. I won a National Collegiate Boxing Association bronze medal at 185 pounds in my junior year, and I haven’t had an official competitive match since. My amateur record stands at 3-2 with losses to a Penn State fighter known for fouling and a guy from West Point named “Michael Jordan.” Not the basketball player, the fighter.

Since I’m not getting any younger, I recently decided it’s now or never. It’s time to do something with my boxing skills before that point in my life where I’m forced to admit it really is too late. I see so many boxers making comebacks in their 30s these days, and the sport I grew up watching and wanting to get involved in is said to be “dying” in some media circles. I don’t believe that, and I want to help my sport by getting involved at the professional level.

My track to coming back as a pro began with my radio co-host Tony Penecale’s trip to Boston this past June. As part of the trip, Tony wanted to have a Rocky Marciano T-Shirt to wear. We were going to do a promo for our show at the Boston Red Sox game he came up here to take his Dad to. The upcoming week’s show was going to feature a guest who knew Rocky, so the timing was perfect. Tony contacted the Rocky Marciano Foundation and introduced me to an officer of the foundation who I later did some work for. Denis Marrese and I eventually worked out a plan to work together more, and ROCKY49WINS.COM was born.

Since Denis didn’t have a huge bank account to dump a huge salary in my lap, we worked out a deal that involved him hooking me up with a boxing trainer. I wanted to learn more about Brockton since my new-found interest in Rocky Marciano had grown tremendously since being introduced to the foundation. The more I learned about who Rocky was and what kind of background he came from, the more I wanted to box professionally. I had already begun training for a comeback, but I wouldn’t know what it would really take on a physical level until my first sparring session. Before I even got to that level, I put together this vlog of my bag work:

Later, I met the man who would be my new trainer: TONY PETRONELLI. Tony’s professional slate includes 42 victories, just 4 losses, and one draw as a professional in the welterweight range. Denis also introduced me to Goody Petronelli, Marvin Hagler’s trainer with Tony’s father Pat Petronelli. The Petronelli Gym is right out of an old boxing movie with taped up heavy bags, sweltering temperatures, and two crusty old rings that still see their fair share of one on one combat. I started at the wall of mirrors, where just about every boxer begins with a few rounds of “shadow boxing.”

The third-floor gym is perfect for cutting weight, and no matter how hard I try I can’t seem to get through a full workout in my sweatshirt. I always end up shedding a wet layer before the hour plus sessions of bag work are done. I’ve been up to the gym less than a dozen times now, but each time I go, I feel a few pounds lighter when I leave. I’m just under 200 pounds these days and have been working on conditioning since my last sparring session at the Petronelli Gym. I’m also taking a product called 714X, which is more of an immune system booster, but it also facilitates cellular repair and generates other positive and healthy effects. You can find out more about my experience by reading my blog on the subject at ALTERNATIVE HEALTH CENTRAL.

Getting back to the comeback, so far I participated in two sparring sessions totaling 3 rounds. I really had a rough go during the first session, and I realized I had a lot of work to do. I had to call it quits after just one round against a younger and greener kid. The second time around I improved quite a bit, but I still didn’t feel at my best. Both times I took minimal damage, and with my first couple of jabs I bloodied my opponent’s nose in my first round of sparring. I know it’s all about confidence building at this stage, and I feel good about the latest sparring session, but I also know I can do better.

To really focus on the future and to put together a viable pro debut and a subsequent career of at least 10 fights, I will need to take things to the next level. I figured I would start this blog and update people here on my progress. The next video I will post will be my latest sparring session, which should be sometime early next week. Right now I’m running about 5 miles a day and doing at least 10 rounds of bag work in addition to various other ab workouts and gym sessions.

Over the next few weeks as I hone my skills and shed all the extra pounds I can, I will be looking for potential sponsors to bring along on this incredible journey. Like anyone I’d love to get endorsement money, and if your company can provide that, I’m willing to fully promote your service or product on all my web-sites and here on this blog as well as in future comeback videos. The same goes for anyone who wants to engage in a product sponsorship. If you have workout gear or supplements you want me to endorse, send me some. I go through hooded sweatshirts and sweat pants pretty quickly. I usually dress in two layers for each run and then put on another dry 2 layers for the bag work, so clothing sponsors would be really good to have.

I plan to make my pro debut at cruiserweight, working my way down to light heavyweight where the old guys of the division are still hanging in among the top 10. Guys like Glen Johnson and Roy Jones, Jr. of course come from a much more seasoned boxing background than I do, but their success still gives me hope. Rocky Marciano’s life story also inspires me since Rocky didn’t get his boxing start until he was in his late 20s. He didn’t have all that much experience when he went pro, either.

The timetable isn’t completely clear right now for when the pro debut will actually happen, but I’m hoping for a first fight to happen by late October or early November of this year. This gives me a few months to generate interest and get in top physical shape. If you’d like to help with some kind of sponsorship, you can contact me at rich.bergeron@gmail.com or by phone at 617-209-4325.

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