Alan Belcher was only a rookie when, in 2006, he had the chance to box on a Roy Jones Jr card. He was fresh-faced in the UFC, and the UFC brass denied his request to make his pro boxing debut.
“I started amateur boxing when I was 14. I had a good bit of amateur boxing, I did Toughman [competitions], and I was never beaten in boxing. I was going to make my debut shortly after I got into the UFC in 2006, 22 years old.
Alan Belcher: UFC Banned Him From Boxing on Roy Jones Jr Card in 2006
Roy Jones Jr. was making one of his comebacks at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and he asked me — I was a new, young UFC fighter who had just got on TV — he asked me to co-headline his card there with him to bring in the local crowd. I would have made my debut there but the UFC shut that down.
Dana White thought it was a stupid idea so there went my boxing career or anything else that I really wanted to do.”
Belcher retired in 2015, but made an emphatic comeback in the brutal world of bareknuckle boxing. He boasts a 2-0 record with BKFC and spoke of the motivation driving him almost a decade after he looked to be leaving the ring for the last time.
“That’s part of my main motivation now. Doing the things I want to do. Now I get to be a boxer. I’m quickly becoming the best bare-knuckle boxer in the world.
When I was first talking to [BKFC President David] Feldman, talking about coming back, I was like maybe I’ll do this a little bit and get myself back into wrestling and maybe do some MMA.
As I got more dialed in, especially after that first fight, it became apparent to me that if you want to be a world champion then you’ve got to focus on this. So Feldman is cool with me boxing and pro boxing because it’s making me a better bare-knuckle boxer because I’m leveling up there. I like having the freedom.
I’m also disciplined and everything I’m doing is to be the heavyweight bare-knuckle boxing champion of the world.” At 37, he may well get his chance to box as a pro once more – this time with gloves.
“I knew that I was going to get the knockout cause I could feel my skill level come up from the first fight. A month or two months after that, I could see myself continue to climb up and progress. I’m 37 years old at the time and I never felt this strong, this slick, this smooth, this accurate. I’m going to knock everybody out from now on.”
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