Pick up a recent article about Rau’shee Warren and the headline will inevitably be about the 23-year-old Cincinnati native vying for his third U.S. Olympic boxing team. No American boxer has ever fought in three Games, and Warren is expected to change history in London in 2012.
But how did Warren decide – not once, but twice – to remain an amateur while 15 of his 16 teammates from the past two Games surrendered their Olympic eligibility by turning pro?
Both times, Warren sought his mother’s advice, but in 2004 his decision was slightly easier. When he lost his first-round bout at the Athens Games in the light flyweight (48kg) division, Warren was 17 and still hungry.
“We both decided he should keep going,” said his mom, Paulette. “If you get a gold medal [before you go pro] you get a whole lot of respect.”
Four years later, Warren entered the Beijing 2008 Games as the reigning world champion and a gold-medal favorite in the flyweight (51kg) division. At 21, he was also the father of an eight-month old son, Rau’shee, Jr.. After another first-round exit, Warren said, “I really took time off and was thinking about what to do with my life.”
Promoters reached out to him.
“They thought whatever they threw at me, I’d take it,” Warren said, but – as in the ring – the clever, controlled fighter knew better than to jump all over the first opportunity.
He still wanted the medal he had been seeking since he was a teenager, and the chief executive of USA Boxing mentioned something about a new league in which pros could still go to the Olympics. Warren said, “That stuck in my head; it never left me.”
Warren opted to go one more round, and now a version of that league has come to fruition. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has organized the World Series of Boxing (WSB) to bridge the gap between Olympic-style boxing and the professional system. In June, franchise owners gathered in London to complete their 10-20 man rosters from a pool of 175 amateur boxers.
The 12 franchises are divided into three conferences (Asia, Europe, and North America). Warren will represent Los Angeles in the North American conference (so, too, will the South Korean fighter who ousted him at the 2008 Beijing Games, Lee Ok-sung). In that conference, Warren will face fighters from the Boston, Mexico City, and Miami teams. The best franchises will advance to a playoff series, and the best boxers in each weight class will go on to the individual championship in May.
The team format is not the only major difference between the WSB and the Olympics, however. The WSB will feature fewer weight classes (five, compared to 10 at the Olympics), more rounds (five, compared to three at the 2012 London Games), different scoring (a 10-point must system) and – unlike amateurs – WSB boxers will compete without head protection.
“It’s a risk,” said Michael Stafford (Warren’s trainer) of fighting without headgear. “But everything’s a risk. Boxing amateurs, there’s a risk. Any time you step in the ring, that’s a risk.” The absence of headgear, he said, “may be a good thing or a bad thing. It’s a chance you got to take. The main thing is, he’s going with guys in his weight class.”
The WSB website includes a similar point. Under the FAQ tab, it says, “The best boxing headgear is not the headgear itself but the prevention of head injury…Most injuries in pro boxing occur because boxers are mismatched or are not of a very high skill level. In WSB the most highly skilled Olympians and World Champions will be competing.”
WSB competition begins in November, so Warren will have four months to strategize after winning his fourth U.S. National Boxing Championships title.
Saturday night, July 17, in Colorado Springs, Warren faced Miguel Cartagena in the 114 lb division final at nationals. Cartagena, who was last year’s U.S. champion at 106 lbs., answered the opening bell with unbridled zeal. Unfortunately, his furious flurries jolted Warren into action like a loud alarm clock, and Warren quickly humbled the 18-year-old by using whippet-fast combinations and unrelenting hooks that defied prediction.
In the second round, Warren was leading 19-1 when Cartagena received his third standing eight count and his corner stopped the bout.
Afterwards, Cartagena said, “I couldn’t figure out when and how he was going to throw. I couldn’t figure it out. I have to hand it to him”
Warren’s 2010 victory avenged his 2009 semifinal loss to Jesus Magdaleno in a tiebreaker – one that upset Warren so much that it pushed him to the brink of turning pro.
“I worked so hard last year and I didn’t get what I wanted,” Warren recalled on Saturday night, but at this point, there’s only one piece of hardware that matters – and it’s not a U.S. medal.
“I got about 300 of these” he said, holding the disk in his thickly-bandaged hand.
Now, Stafford will give Warren a break to “let him heal his body, heal his mind, and let him be Rau’shee the person.”
Rau’shee the Person
Rau’shee was the youngest of four boys raised by a single mother, Paulette, in Cincinatti. When Rau’shee was 6, he followed his brothers into the gym.
“He was a talented kid, into everything. Just full of life,” recalled Stafford. “He wanted to box but he was so little that we [were] scared to put him in there. As soon as I [did], he’s been fighting bigger guys ever since.”
“I was 8 years old and one of my first tournaments was at the State Fair in Columbus, Ohio,” Warren said. “My mom was going crazy, saying the guy was too big for me. Coach was telling her to calm down. The gloves went from my hands down to my elbow but I could still let my punches go. Finally, she was like, ‘Wow, my youngest son is doing this.’ It became fun.”
But Warren was still a kid.
“A lot of times, in the gym,” Stafford said, “he’d pull the pants down of the bigger kids and run away because he’s so fast. They couldn’t catch him, he’s so tiny and fast.”
Warren has had only one coach –Stafford – and Stafford is practically part of the family.
“Every time I wanted something, he was like a father figure to me,’ Warren said. “If [guys from the gym were] at his house, we’d mess stuff up. He’d say, ‘Sit your [butt] down or I’m going to whup you.’ He was showing us respect. When you go to someone’s house, you gotta be respectful. When I was young, I used to eat McDonald’s pancakes with my hands. I used to stuff them in my mouth. He’d smack my hand and say, ‘Use a fork!’ He was there to point me in the right direction when I was away from my mom.”
“I was always at tournaments, so I found my talent young” Warren said, “In junior high, I was also playing point guard in basketball. In high school, I started seeing kids my age who were 5-10, 5-11. I was 4-11 or 5-feet in ninth grade. I’m not about to play basketball with them, Also, practice was around the same time as boxing, so I stuck to what I loved, which was boxing. I graduated from high school in 2007. As soon as I graduated, boxing became a 9-to-5 job. Run, work, train again, spar. I still love boxing; ain’t nothing like doing what you love to do. Ain’t nothing better.”
“At 17, I upset the number 1 guy, Rayonta Whitfield, in the finals at the 2004 Olympic Trials. I stopped him in the second round on points,” Warren said. “I made the Olympic team.”
“That was the reality check,” said his mother, Paulette. “He took him out like it was nothing. I didn’t think my son could beat this kid – shock! He made the Olympic team – double shock! It was beautiful.”
“It was one of the greatest moments,” Warren said of those Trials. “But when I won, I didn’t know what it meant to be an Olympian. No one ever explained. Now I know: I represent my country, represent the kids on the street; it means a whole lot to represent that flag.”
When he fights, Warren also represents his brothers – two of whom are in jail. The third-oldest, Antonio was locked up in 2003 for three counts of aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony. In October 2005, Rau’shee’s oldest brother Steven, was incarcerated for felonious assault, drug trafficking, and carrying a concealed weapon. Both are serving 10 years in Ohio institutions and, according to officials at the two facilities, are not scheduled for release until January 2013 (Antonio) and May 2015 (Steven).
“They’ve been gone since I was 15,” Rau’shee said of his brothers. “That’s why I do what I do. If I say the wrong things, I could go in a different direction. It’s hard on my mom. It’s just me and her [and one other brother, Ortayga]. I made her strong by doing what I do.
“And when I’m the only one standing on the podium, or when kids come up to me and say, ’Oh, you’re Rau’shee Warren,’ It shows me I’m doing something good,” he said.
Now, Warren has a son of his own. Raush’ee, Jr. who was born in December, 2007, and is already a fixture at Stafford’s gym.
Stafford says fatherhood has changed Warren. “He started being Rau’shee the man, instead of Rau’shee the teenager, or Rau’shee the boxer. Everything’s about his son.”
Except “Junior” isn’t the only who looks up to Warren now.
“Rau’shee is what you call the Olympic movement,” Stafford said. “While all his teammates are trying to turn pro, he’s sacrificing that to be with a group of kids. Last time [at the Olympics] there were two or three 17-year-olds. This year, there are four or five that’ll look up to him. He’s a leader. He’s thinking about his country.”
For all that Warren means to the team, one thing remains personal. It’s gold and it’s the prize offered every four years for which he has maintained his amateur status for so long.
Asked why it’s so important, Warren flashed a broad, gold-flecked grin. “I gotta close my trophy case,” he said, “I get that? Then I can lock it and throw away the key.”
Aimee Berg is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.
