Michael Medina takes on Grady Brewer on enemy turf tonight at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At stake is the NABF light middleweight title but for Medina, a whole lifestyle is on the line. He?s made it clear that if he wins, he will continue on with his boxing career. If Medina loses, he won?t just quit boxing; he?ll also enlist in the U.S. Army.
And this is no ?Private Benjamin? situation.
?That?s not actually my plan A; it?s like a plan B,? explained Medina last week at the Wild Card Boxing Club after finishing up his day at the gym, ?because I?m at a make-it-or-break-it point in my career where I know that this fight is very important. If I win, I?ll be with the top contenders in the world or lose and start to become a fighter that?s a journeyman. I?m a young veteran.?
He explains his ultimatum by saying, ?One of the major reasons is I?m 25 years old. I?m at a point where I have to start making a path for my future and I really like to do things to the fullest. If I become a great fighter, a good fighter, I will do that to the best of my abilities but I always had the dream since I was a little kid to become part of the U.S. military. I don?t know why. It was the training. It was seeing the movies and all this kinda inspired me. It?s not something that I would trade for boxing because boxing is my main passion but it?s something that?s there and it?s like a motivator for me.?
Medina was born in Modesto, located in Northern California. As his parents separated when he was nine, he moved to Mexico with his mother, where he stayed through his days in high school.
?But I ended up moving back here for my boxing when I was 20 years old; I moved to Vegas,? he explained. ?I lived there for a year; I trained at the Top Rank Gym with a Cuban trainer, Robert Norris. I was backed up by Monterrey Promotions. After that, I went to Monterrey, kept fighting a couple of local fights and then got a couple of opportunities to come fight here in the U.S.?
