A Brief Moment with Nate Campbell

Whether you love him or hate him, the boxing establishment has never seen anyone quite like Jacksonville, Florida native Nate ‘The Galaxxy’ Warrior Campbell. Coming from a checkered past that saw him move in and out of foster homes at an alarming rate, Campbell was molded into a street savvy human who was ultra-confident in anything he did as well as being overly vocal about his abilities.

The first thirty-seven fights of his boxing career came with many ups and downs as he often seemed to take turns experiencing gratification and heartbreak with each and every fight. Campbell’s dreams would finally come to fruition on March of last year when he put everything together for a dominant decision win over Juan ‘The Baby Bull’ Diaz in Cancun, Mexico. With the win Campbell picked up the IBF, WBA, and WBO Lightweight belts as well as proving his true worth as a fighter.

That victory was supposed to lead to greater horizons but unfortunately things haven’t panned out as planned. Ever since the Diaz victory Campbell has seen a little bit of uncertainty and controversy come with each of his scheduled contests. First Joan Guzman failed to make weight in their scheduled September showdown, eventually withdrawing from the contest all together. Then Campbell himself failed to make weight against Ali Funeka, nullifying any chance he had at defending the belts. He would redeem himself with a gutty victory over the South African and declare that he was on his way up to the 140 pound division in his next bout.

Never shy to face a challenge, Campbell would jump immediately into the ring with WBO belt holder Timothy Bradley on the champion’s home turf in California. After two hotly contested rounds, Campbell would be struck with a head butt in the third.

Citing impaired vision out of his left eye, which Campbell claims was from bleeding behind his eye, the bout would end up being stopped in between rounds three and four. Despite initially being marked as a TKO victory for Bradley the contest was eventually changed to a ‘No Decision’ weeks later.

Campbell seemed content that his justice was served but now he faces another quandary altogether as he seems to be in a tug of war with his promoter Don King and may be on the shelf until May, when his contract expires. As the boxing world moves forward Campbell has been forced to bite his tongue and sit on the sidelines. While it may not be what he’s used to, he is trying to adapt.

“A lot of working on old trucks,” Campbell spoke recently when asked what keeps him busy these days. “I’m just taking time off. I really wish I could be fighting right now and I’m honestly bored at not being able to fight. It’s not an easy thing to watch other guys stay busy while I am still here. I’m looking at my screensaver of me beating Juan Diaz and he has fought consistently since our fight. I really want to get out there and do my thing again.”

Another endeavor that has seemed to keep Campbell busy is a fighter firm he runs called Voodoo Management. Having lived with his co-promoter Terry Trekas on and off for several years, Campbell saw first hand what that side of the business entailed and felt that it wasn’t for him. Managing, however, is something completely different and he is ready to spread his knowledge on to his young stable of fighters.

“I’m really pushing my guys to do their thing,” Campbell says of his fellow pugilists. “I have four talented kids; Cordaro Simpkins, Quinton and Marcus Willis, and Kenneth Moody. I’m really working hard with these guys. I’ve been watching guys being taken advantage of for so long and in so many ways that I wanted to step in and do something about it. Whether they weren’t properly looked after or guided in the wrong way, I wanted to make it my business to help these guys out.”

Aside from working with Voodoo Management, Campbell has always spent time as a guest analyst for ESPN’s Friday Night Fights on different occasions. It appears to be obvious that Campbell will always be connected to the sport in some way.

“I hope so,” Campbell responds. “For me it’s about what is best for the sport and not what is best for me. That’s why I will always be involved in boxing in some way. A lot of guys say that you always need to look out for yourself first and that can be true, but everybody needs to look out for each other in this sport.”

When asked his thoughts about his fight with Bradley, Campbell seems to take everything in stride. While some say that Bradley was off to a fast start and would have won the fight with his youth and activity, Campbell feels it was too early to really tell.

“I went into that fight with the belief that it was a twelve round fight,” Campbell points out. “I wasn’t there to throw a million punches that didn’t mean anything. Every punch I threw had intentions and that was to knock his brains out. I felt that if I didn’t get him earlier I was going to get him later. It’s hard for a guy to come and fight a guy in his home town, but it’s even harder to fight everybody around the ring. And the announcers don’t do you any justice when they say that you are losing the fight and everything.”

Following the contest John David Jackson, Campbell’s trainer, made mention that a fight with newly crowned WBC belt holder Devon Alexander would be an ideal fight for his charge. Jackson was hopeful that something with King could be worked out but nothing materialized. Campbell has seemed to come to his wits end with the bombastic promoter and his thoughts have been well documented on various websites.

“It goes to show you that my promoter either wasn’t willing or couldn’t do anything to secure me a fight outside of a mandatory,” Campbell says of the past few year of his career. “Every fight I fought was a mandatory. That says a lot about the promoter. If the truth was told, I beat the very best man in the division. Big things were supposed to happen for me but they didn’t.”

By the time Campbell next steps into a ring he will most likely be 38 years old and fighting in a division in which he has yet to fully establish himself. Combining that with his recent situation outside of the ring would be enough to break someone’s spirit but Campbell is resilient and has played this game before. All he can do is push forward and keep fighting on.

“I have to keep a positive outlook. I can’t allow my anger or my displeasure to hurt what I do in the ring. I’m a professional prizefighter and this is just what comes along with the game.”

Questions and comments can be sent to Chris at Trimond@aol.com and www.FaceBook.com/CRHarmony