“Doctor Mike” Varshavski showed off his footwork and punches during a workout in front of New York City media on Tuesday before he ducked out to make his afternoon shift at the Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey, where he’s an attending physician. Dr. Mike will balance practicing medicine with training for his pro boxing debut when he takes on Chris Avila (1-1) in a four-round cruiserweight bout on Saturday, October 29th as part of the Showtime pay-per-view event headlined by Jake Paul vs. UFC legend Anderson Silva at Desert Diamond Arena (formerly Gila River Arena) in Glendale, Arizona.
A social media influencer with over 22 million followers, Dr. Mike plans to donate his entire purse on October 29th to the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem, whose executive director, Sharon Joseph, was in attendance during Tuesday’s workout. Dr. Mike, a board-certified family doctor who was named People magazine’s Sexiest Doctor Alive, started his boxing journey nearly eleven years ago after his mom died of leukemia, and he found refuge in the steady routine of training.
During the early days of the pandemic, his popular YouTube page emerged as a reliable source of health information with interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health authorities. Senator Chuck Schumer has invited Dr. Mike to appear with him at press conferences to discuss health projects that Schumer has championed. Dr. Mike appeared in a YouTube video with super lightweight contender Ryan Garcia who proclaimed that Dr. Mike “beats any YouTuber” after working out with him.
Dr. Mike entertained media at the Last Round gym in Chelsea, Manhattan on Tuesday under the direction of respected head trainer, Thomas Baldwin, and assistant Steve Frank, an eleven-year pro who once lost a middleweight title challenge to Bernard Hopkins in 1996. Here is what Dr. Mike had to say on Tuesday:
“I’m living out my boyhood dream being able to fight on Showtime pay-per-view. Getting to face Chris Avila and getting a taste of what it feels like to be a real warrior inside that ring is a dream come true. I’m looking forward to making my teammates proud and showing all the hard work we’ve done in the gym. I know it’s not as long as some other fighters, but I understand the privilege that comes along with being in this position. I’m going to make the most of this one opportunity that I have to make my patients, my co-workers and all the people that watch my YouTube channel proud to encourage them to stay active, stay fit and to live to the top of their potential so they can stay happy and healthy.
“Not only do I have this connection to boxing for the love of the sport – but also because of how I fell into the sport. About 11 years ago, I lost my mom to cancer in the middle of medical school. I found myself in a dark place. I was fortunate enough to meet my head trainer Thomas [Baldwin] here over 10 years ago. He started training me when I was little kid with braces and a hoodie coming into the gym, just coming in once a week for the love of the sport.
“Over the last year, Thomas [Baldwin] and I kicked it into high gear. I see the work that he puts into training me. He has a family. He has kids. He always makes time to be here for me and that’s always appreciated and with my many other jobs that I have, I make sure to be here every day. I’ve never once canceled on Thomas since we’ve been doing this, and I look forward to continuing that streak.”
How do you balance boxing with your other pursuits? “The biggest edge I have – and it’s funny that it’s even an edge -- is that I don’t have a big family and I don’t have kids so I’m able to dedicate myself to the craft of boxing to make sure I’m there every single day. I make sure to stay super organized with my team that’s here. They help me with my YouTube stuff and everything else that we have in line. The podcast – we’re launching special products at the end of this year. We’re doing this with a very small team but because we’re very passionate we believe in the message: Ethics, motivation.
“Right now, the people that look at YouTube boxers and the sphere of influencers that are getting into the boxing space – there’s a lot of beef, a lot of arguing, name calling, and while that has been successful in boxing – props to Floyd Mayweather and everything he’s created – I’m trying to do this differently. I’m trying to be respectful and a true artist in the sport of boxing, where we’re doing it for the love of the game. I respect my opponent but once we step into the ring, they are my opponent. So, we’re going to go as hard as we can, and I want him to go as hard as he can because I don’t want this to be easy.”
On wanting to face Jake Paul in the future: “I think there’s a lot of fighters in my size range in the 180-190 range that will be very interesting to take on. Also, we have to keep in my mind that I’m a practicing doctor, so we have to see what the schedule holds, what the timing is, but I like to be optimistic rather than pessimistic, so I think there’s great things on the horizon.
“I think Jake Paul caught a lot of flack for being very inflammatory and instigative, and he had to do that to create a name for himself in boxing because otherwise people really wouldn’t pay attention to him. But now I’m very appreciative of the stuff he’s doing to improve fighter pay. He’s got Amanda Serrano fighting in sold-out Madison Square Garden. He helped her achieve that. I’ve become very close to her family and see how grateful she is for the things he’s helped her as a team achieve. So, if he keeps doing that, then that’s amazing and I want to see only continued success for him.”
