By Chris Rockwell

Marcus Boness and I walked into Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco and it was completely empty. The only sign of life were the promoters and roadies running around assembling the ring, lighting and testing the sound system for the packed crowd that would fill this place later that night. The anticipation and loud music sent adrenaline through my veins; I was ready to jump into the ring until I looked up at the big screen of footage they were playing from a previous fight that left one of the fighters knocked out cold with one strike to the face. I figured I better chill the hell out and take my seat in the stands and come to the realization that my days of battle were clearly behind me…

We were there to support our latest fighter, Buddy Roberts, for his Cage Combat fight against local SF fighter John Devine. Marcus had just signed Buddy to the King Duce fight team and I was stoked to see our first heavy weight fighter battle it out as the headlining fight of the night. Buddy had just signed a three fight deal with Strikeforce and Showtime and was coming off a huge victory that earned him a heavy weight title belt..

As the crowd started filing in by the thousands, Marcus and I headed down into the locker room to go see Buddy and the rest of the team. As we made our way past the security guards and fans, we walked down a narrow old hallway that made me feel like I was going back in time. The smell of old sweat, the faded and chipped paint on the concrete walls, and the dim lighting created a nostalgic feel of an old time boxing arena from way back. Kezar Pavilion has a rich history of Friday night fights that date back to the heyday of boxing back in the fifties. In fact, my neighbor grew up in San Francisco and he told me about going to boxing matches there as a kid.

We got to Buddy’s locker room and he was warming up with some deadly kicks and punches with his trainer. With each strike you could see sweat flying like mini explosions. Buddy was focused and everyone else was silent. This was my first time seeing Buddy and I was impressed. He was big and intimidating. Buddy and his trainer stopped and looked directly at Marcus and me as if we were intruders to their lair. I felt my instincts tell me to get the fuck out of there! But Buddy politely shook hands with us without changing his mind set and then went right back to warming up. I was stoked to see the whole crew wearing King Duce and representing.

As the opening fights were finishing up, Buddy’s battle was nearing kick off and Marcus and I found our seats next to his girlfriend and supporters in the stands. I couldn’t sit still. All of a sudden I looked over to the locker room entrance to see the King Duce fight team walking into the arena. Buddy had his title belt on and his King Duce Legacy of Kings T-shirt on.

As he made his way through the hostile crowd he was met with screaming fans there for the opposing local fighter. At that moment we knew we were in hostile territory and this was going to be a battle, and it made the anticipation much more exciting and electric. Buddy stepped into the ring after he was checked by officials and final words from his trainer and was introduced by the ring announcer. Then the opposing fighter stepped in as the crowd made a deafening sound in support of their local guy.

No sooner were they introduced, the bell rang and the fight was on. The two giants hurdled towards each other with everything they had. They held nothing back, trading kicks and punches and standing tall for almost the entire first round. It was off to a great evenly matched fight. By the third and final round Buddy and the other fighter were exhausted. They were both bleeding and had taken some pretty heavy hits. And then all of a sudden, the other fighter Bull rushed Buddy into the wall so hard that the cage door literally busted and nearly sent Buddy and the other fighter out of the ring. You could feel the impact down the street. Within seconds, Buddy was on his back fighting off massive punches to the head. He nearly made it out when the official called the fight with seconds left in the final round and motioned that the fight was over. It was a heart breaking loss.

After the fight Marcus and I made our way back into the locker room to give respect to Buddy for the great battle.  He was understandably upset and disappointed. He had given everything and came up short that night. But I can promise that he will return for his Strikeforce Showtime fights with a vengeance.

Duce Up!!