Tonight at the Beacon Theatre in, New York City, two-time former New York Golden Gloves champion Vaughn Parham, looks for his second win as a professional. Mr. Vaughn Parham or “MVP” for short will be showcased in a four-rounder against Kenyatte Ravenell as part of the supporting cast on the show that will be headlined by John Duddy, this evening. Normally the Beacon is known for concerts and comedy acts, however Parham who stands 6’6, plans on belting a couple of hits of his own on Ravenell.
Standing at a whopping 6’6, and tipping the scales at little over 255 pounds, Parham is no one to laugh at. For Parham it will be a home coming of sort, the promising heavyweight prospect was born and raised in the Bronx. Parham appreciates how special it is to be fighting in his hometown. However he also realizes that he is not who the people came to see.
“I know there will be a lively crowd, as is the case in all of Duddy’s fights. That’s going to be a great feeling fighting in front of a packed house. I also know for sure that not too many people will know who I am, but I see this as a way for me to kind of cross over and possibly build a new type of fan base. Irish fight fans like to see action and someone get in there and take care of business. I can promise you this, I will do my part to give them a good show and their money’s worth,” Parham.
Parham won the prestigious Golden Gloves on two separate occasions, competing in the Super Heavyweight division. Parham’s first title was in the 2001 tournament. Then in 2002, he showed it was no fluke as he captured top honors once again. Parham who was 23 years old at the time of his standout amateur days took a hiatus from boxing to pursue another passion, football. With the gridiron not panning out the way he had planned, he has rededicated himself to the sport that he started practicing at age 13. With that in mind Parham scoffs at the notion that has been floating around that the “Great American Heavyweight is playing in the NFL.”
“Sure now you have better athletes than you had back then and when you start comparing the money of pro football to what the average fighter makes football wins out. But on that same note you can be athletic but that does not translate into the ring. I’ve seen strong guys who can’t fight, we all have. I know a lot people say that the reason the heavyweight division is down is because Americans are playing football now, but I mean football has always been in this country and so has boxing. To me I don’t see how that makes sense, if they could fight that they’d be boxing. When Jim Brown was running there is was Ali. When L.T. was sacking QB’s there was Tyson, so I guess this is just this a down period,” said Parham.
If all goes well for Parham he is set see action again in late June, possibly at the Paradise Theatre in the Bronx. It was that same venue where he made his pro debut and scored a 1st round TKO win.
Parham considers himself to be a true student of boxing. Some of his idols growing up were Larry Holmes and Riddick Bowe. At this stage in his life, MVP, has been testing his metal against current heavyweight contenders Monte “2 Guns” Barrett and Taurus Sykes at Gleason’s Gym. Parham says that he’s been blessed to be able to work with world class fighters like the aforementioned New Yorkers. At the same time, he says it’s a great feeling to know that he can hold his own in sparring against such high level opposition.
“I’m anxious and I’m ready to go. I just want to let everyone know that I’m here now and that I intend on making my imprint in the heavyweight division. To some extent we need to criticize the division, because it’s really disgusting the guys who are getting exposure. We need to throw a monkey wrench in the way they are doing things with the heavyweights. All you see is guys’ following each other around trying to land one punch and it’s putting people to sleep in their seats more often than they are putting their opponents to sleep. The promoters and managers need to get away from the politics of guys being protected, it’s hurting the sport. There are guys like myself who want to prove themselves against the best guys out there”, said Parham.
