Michael Pierre starts off pro boxing career with a bang

As he walked into the ring at the Extravaganza in Charlotte, North Carolina, Michael Pierre had a million thoughts running through his head.

This wasn’t his first fight — he had an amateur career of seven fights — but it was his first as a professional. 

“I was stepping into the unknown at this point,” Pierre said. “This was my first fight as a professional. The gloves are lighter — any punch can change the fight. I’m not scared, but I’m cautious. It’s kind of like going to war. … It was kill or be killed.”

Just before the bell rang, Pierre surveyed his opponent from across the mat floor to get a feel. In the other corner stood Jerome Woods — who was also making his debut.

It was in that quick glance just before the first punches that Pierre felt the fear in Woods’ soul.

“To be fighting at 160, I’m ripped and big compared to his 160 — our body types are totally different,” Pierre said. “And when the referee brings you guys in to touch gloves, you can look somebody in the eye and tell who they really are. He looked at me, and then he looked away, and I said, ‘OK, he doesn’t want no action.’”

As the bell sounded, Pierre and Woods approached one another — and immediately Woods seemed overwhelmed. 

A few seconds in and a quick shot from Pierre had Woods on the run. Pierre’s gut feeling at the glove touch before the match was right; he could smell blood. The fight was supposed to go for four rounds — instead, it didn’t even last 30 seconds.

The pressure that Pierre kept putting on Woods finally came to a head in the 26th second, when the Winter Garden fighter went to the body, before swinging an overhead right that sent Woods crumbling to the floor.

“I’m going to be honest, I didn’t (see it going like that),” Pierre said. “I’m not from North Carolina, I’m from Winter Garden, Florida, so me going to a whole other state — a whole other city — I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew I had to show up and show out.”

Pierre couldn’t have asked for a better start to his career, which is made even more impressive given what had happened leading up to the March 16 fight.

Two weeks before, Pierre broke his right hand while sparring — the same hand he used to deliver the knockout blow.

“The bone in my hand is split like a twig … so at this point, I have to choose, do I fight or back out?” Pierre said. “I mean, it’s your hand — you fight with your hand — so I said I have to go through with it. I signed the contract, and I have got people flying in from California — I feel like I had to do it and had to prove something to myself.”

That toughness has been with Pierre ever since he took up the sport unintentionally two years ago. Back in 2017 when his twin sons were born premature at UF Health Shands Hospital, Pierre met a woman who handed him a CD that had “forgiveness” written on it; it was for a church in town.

Feeling inspired, Pierre decided to make his way over to the church, which to his surprise, was no longer a church. Instead, what he found was a boxing gym.

“I was stepping into the unknown at this point. This was my first fight as a professional. The gloves are lighter — any punch can change the fight. I’m not scared, but I’m cautious. It’s kind of like going to war. … It was kill or be killed.”

— Michael Pierre

“I was like, ‘Well that’s weird,’” Pierre said. “But I went into the boxing gym, and I signed up, because I felt like it was a sign.”

Call it fate, destiny or good fortune, but since that day, Pierre has found success in the ring.

His seven-fight amateur career and the extensive hours he puts into his training have prepared him for every obstacle so far. It also has helped that Pierre is a natural athlete. Before his time boxing, Pierre played running back for the football team at the University of South Florida.

But it’s the workout routine that reflects his passion for boxing. Outside of Sunday, Pierre is constantly moving, whether that be in his base gym (Kissimmee Boxing Gym) or out in the streets running five miles at 4:30 in the morning.

Although there is no stopping for Pierre, there is the hinderance of that broken right hand that will require surgery — forcing him to rest it up for about six weeks.

That period will give him time to prepare for his next fight on July 20, which will also be in North Carolina. Although if you ask him, Pierre is ready to get back to the ring ASAP.

“It’s hard to stay out of the ring,” he said. “Once you get a taste of it, it’s like a drug — you want it again. I just want to keep going — I don’t want to sit around.”