Paris
– Ups & Downs In the eight months since he last entered a boxing ring, Vernon Paris’ life has continued along its roller coaster path, at times coming dangerously close to jumping the track. Following his suspension from the sport in March, Paris has been the victim of a second life threatening attack, become a father for the first time and been arrested for allegedly assaulting his baby’s mother. An argument between Paris and a neighbor’s visitor, at the two-family flat in Detroit that Paris and a girlfriend called home in early May, turned into a physical altercation hours later as the woman returned with a man much larger than the 5’6” Paris. “I heard her cussing, coming down the street,” Paris related. “Disrespecting me.” Respect is a common thread that runs throughout several days of conversation with the young fighter. Then the six-foot, 230-pound man started forcefully banging on Paris’ door and windows. When Paris opened the door, the man tried to force his way inside. “He tried to bum rush me into my house,” Paris said. A fight ensued both inside and outside the residence that ended when the woman pulled a knife and stabbed Paris several times. After a couple days at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital, Paris and his pregnant girlfriend, Mary Rhodes, left for Florida and the security of family. Shortly after arriving, Paris met Charles Gatlin and signed a contract for him and a partner to assume managerial duties, while still under contract in Michigan. It is apparently one of several mistakes in judgment the 20-year old makes including the belief that Gatlin is his uncle, something Paris finds not to be true a short time later. It is this new management team that sets Paris and Rhodes up in an apartment in Tallahassee – almost an hour east of his family – and gets the fighter a job working at a gym, where he also begins training again. Rhodes gives birth to a healthy baby girl in August but it seems that for every four steps forward, Paris stumbles and loses a foot. An argument in late September between the young parents turns physical and police are called. In a sworn statement to police made at the scene, Rhodes accuses Paris of punching her in the legs while Paris tells officers that Rhodes became combative and he was forced to restrain her by holding her against a wall and wrestling her to the ground. Police note swelling under one of her eyes and scratches on him. Her injury would seem inconsistent with her story but a decision is made and Paris is arrested. He spends a total of 33 days in jail while waiting for trial and is released the night before he speaks with Sportssummary. The mother of his four-month old daughter is a staunch Paris supporter as she spoke by phone from Detroit, where she relocated shortly after things fell apart in Florida – Gatlin evicted the couple from the apartment, while Paris was in jail. Rhodes feels that she helps to provide balance to a man that is a fierce competitor inside the ring but transforms when away from the ring to being kind-hearted and even shy. And, a man that speaks with pride about being a father to Londyn, born August 7 at Tallahassee’s Memorial Hospital – the same hospital where Paris took his first breath. Rhodes and Paris were school mates at Detroit’s Brooks Middle School, where they had a computer class together. Both admit to having had a secret crush on the other, but they did not forge a relationship until a chance meeting years later at a club during the summer of ’07. “I was shy in middle school,” Paris admits. Rhodes described the September incident that resulted in Paris’ only arrest as a “big misunderstanding.” “I didn’t press any charges,” she said. She testified in a case management hearing on November 18, by phone, having returned to Detroit the month before, and said she expects charges to be dismissed in the coming months. Return to the Past Paris has re-signed with promoter Carlos Llinas and will again be trained by Butzel’s David Lester. He has retained Larry Royall as his new manager with David Shumate, his previous manager, in the co-pilot seat. Except for Royall, it is the same team that Paris has had for every one of his pro fights. Paris, who admits to having been unhappy earlier in the year with the same management team – sans Royall– said he has signed new contracts that will pay him more money per fight. “I got what I asked for (in the new contract),” Paris reported. Paris hopes to return to the ring for a spring 2009 fight at Detroit’s Motor City Casino, more than six months earlier than a one-year license suspension he is currently under in Michigan would seemingly allow. When that return will occur is a matter of contention between state officials and members of Paris’ management and training team. Rumors that something is being worked behind the scenes to allow for an early return to boxing were denied by state officials. Any attempt to change his suspension would likely be time-consuming and difficult, say officials, especially since Paris declined an administrative hearing and consented to the punishment. Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG) oversees professional boxing, through both licensing and rules enforcement. It was representatives of the DLEG that issued a total of three complaints against Paris in a year’s time. Two complaints alleged that the fighter failed post-fight drug tests (Marijuana being the drug) and a third alleged that he failed to submit to testing after another fight. Steve Gobbo, DLEG’s Director of Legal Affairs, confirmed to Sportssummary.com that Paris’ boxing license is suspended until sometime in October and is then revoked. Paris will have to reapply for a license and it will require approval of the Unarmed Combat Commission, formerly the Boxing Commission. Since the Commission meets quarterly, with their next scheduled meeting after the October date coming in December, it seems highly unlikely that fans will see Paris inside the square circle before the final days of 2009. However, Team Paris believes otherwise. Manager Larry Royall and trainer Dave Lester say they are working toward a fight by April. Both men suggest that Paris’ suspension ends much sooner than do state officials. Royall is likely repeating what someone else told him but Lester, a paralegal when not working his fighter’s corner, is adamant when he names March 29 as the final suspension date. And while he is a passionate advocate for his fighter, bet on state officials to be correct. But, regardless of the time frame, Paris is making ready to again delight boxing fans with his skills in the ring and his charisma out of the ring. For now, Paris is running several miles everyday, doing 700 pushups and 1,000 sit-ups as he prepares for his eventual return to the sport he loves while temporarily staying with his mother and large extended family in north Florida. Editor’s
Note: Check back Friday for the final part of our series. |