BOXING: BARBOT BRINGING BOXING BACK TO FARGO, ND

Jesse Barbot, left, in his high school football days.

By Jack Sullivan- Jesse (The Blue Collar Brawler) Barbot has been through a lot of “firsts” in his multi-faceted sports career. His first love was hockey. He became a 3-sport standout at Red Lake Falls high school, starting at quarterback and safety for the football teams first trip ever to the state title game in 1994. In 1995 Jesse found boxing and later that year he competed in his first of 48 amateur bouts before turning pro. Now, Barbot is set to promote his first pro boxing card set for this Saturday, March 2nd at The Delta Center in Fargo, ND.

Detroit Lakes Minnesota’s Chris “The Incredible” Holt will return to the boxing ring for the first time in ten years facing Fargo’s Yancey Cuellar. Minnesota State super lightweight champion Rondale Hubbert is scheduled to fight only weeks after fighting at the Grand Casino in Hinckley. Antwan Robertson battles Homer Rios and Marlin Sims takes on Tomi Archambault. 8 fights in all are scheduled. Former “Blue Collar” Brawler Jesse Barbot promotes the action alongside Maria Prussia of MPX Promotions. Prussia will also be featured on the card. Jake Henriksen meets Cheyenne Ziegler.

Together with those sports, Jesse Barbot was also raised watching pro wrestling every Sunday morning. He grew up wanting to be like Sean Michaels and Marty Jannetty. In the year 2000, Jesse got his chance to train with a new up and coming wrestling organization in Florida and have a chance at being a professional wrestler. And on November 17th in Pensacola Florida, he faced off with The Ultimate Nightmare and for the first time, wrestled professionally. Before Jesse went on and won his first professional wrestling title (tag-team) in 2004, He married his first (and only) wife Jennifer, in 2002. Marriage kept the Brawler near home in 2003, but it didn’t keep him out of the ring. This was the year that Jesse returned to boxing and entered his first FX TOUGHMAN tournament. Jesse boxed as if he never took a day off of boxing, cruising through the regionals with impressive victories, and boxing at the national finals. He was in Oklahoma when he met another Minnesota boxer who got him in touch with Brothers Promotions, a professional boxing promotional company based in Minneapolis. This company had plans to bring the Chris Holt\ Butch Haijeck title bout to Fargo’s Civic Center later that year and Jesse wanted desperately to be a part of it. Brothers Promotions invited Jesse to the Twin Cities to train and signed Barbot to his first professional boxing match set for December of 2005.

Side note: While training for the fight, Jesse caught wind of the local MMA community who put on shows in and around Fargo. Making a few calls to find more information about these events, he talked his way into his first MMA fight in late August. Jesse ended his MMA career undefeated at 8-0.

    “The Blue-Collar Brawler” went on to win that first professional boxing match in front of nearly 1500 people, whom all were made instant fans of this scrappy pugilist. In his 4 years in the professional boxing world, his biggest win was in Chicago in 2008 beating Trinidad Garcia, watched live on the Telemundo television network. With a respectable record of 6-4 before losing his last fight in 2009 to Mike Davis, suffering a career ending and life-threatening head injury. For the first time his fight was for his life and physical well-being. The next agonizing months of rehabilitation brought pain, tears and a lot of hard work to the whole Barbot family. With the family’s strength, and thoughts and prayers from all the fight world and with Jesse’s notoriously tough work ethic, it all started paying off.

“His miraculous recovery was nothing short of a miracle” says his former cornerman and friend John Hoffman.

     Since then, Jesse opened the first boxing gym in 10 years in Fargo. Barbot Boxing opened its doors in 2010 and fast established a strong amateur program while having a place for local professional boxers to train as well. With his heart still very much in the sport, Jesse spends countless number of hours dedicated to his non-profit program as well as to his students.

“We have built a place that a guy like me would have only dreamed to have while growing up” said Barbot while pridefully speaking of the boxing club. He concluded by saying “I am truly blessed to have an opportunity to bring boxing to Fargo.”

     Jesse’s next “first” will be on March 2nd. When he hosts his first professional boxing promotion. The event starts at 7pm at the Delta hotels 1635 42nd St. Fargo, ND.  Call Barbot Boxing @701-412-1479 or www.mpxfitness.com for ticket information.