With any Dodge City fighter, a connection to famed lawman Wyatt Earp couldn't hurt, right?
A little research will show that the line of ancestry linking Earp to Dodge native Dion Stanley, which Stanley's promoter likes to throw around, is purely an in-the-ring legend. But the 31-year-old professional boxer still likes to throw a mean right hook first and ask questions later.
Stanley won his fourth straight fight earlier this month against St. Joseph's (Mo.) Jeremy Parks at Harrah's Casino Voodoo Lounge in Kansas City, Mo. Stanley knocked Parks down in the second of four rounds before earning a unanimous decision.
The Dodge City native now resides in Kansas City, Kan., where he works full time as a beer salesman and distributor. Since turning professional in 2003, Stanley owns a 7-2 record with one no-contest decision in matches in both Missouri and Kansas.
But unlike many boxers who decide to turn pro, Stanley didn't fight in the Golden Glove ranks or even fall in love with the sport at an early age.
"I started boxing when I was 20," Stanley said. "I fought at local Toughman competitions from 1997 until 2002, and while I was in Dodge, I trained under Wayne Gingerrich."
Toughman contests got their start in 1979 as a way for novice amateur fighters to test themselves in the ring.
Since Stanley moved to Kansas City in 2000 for work, he has taken his boxing career to the next level and is looking for another step up in the near future. His Feb. 6 win over Parks was the first in his last three matches in which he didn't knock his opponent out.
Five of the light-heavyweight's (168-180 pounds) seven wins have come via knockout.
"I'm usually very patient in the ring, and that's when it becomes easier to knock your opponent out," Stanley said. "If I'm trying for the knockout, it usually won't come."
Stanley eventually wants to fight on the undercard of a Las Vegas match. His former sparring partner, Francisco Diaz of Shawnee, lost to Andre Ward at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., in his last fight in July 2007.
Stanley said that his full-time job has caused more wear and tear on his body than anything boxing-related at this point.
"It makes it hard," Stanley said. "Some of these guys box for a living and have for years. In some ways, I'm at an advantage with not having the boxing wear and tear that a lot of them have, but I can feel it mostly in my back from my job."
From his roughly 15 hours per week training (after work), Stanley's unorthodox road into the professional boxing ranks gets even more unconventional during the week of a fight.
Stanley won't know his opponent for his next scheduled fight until the weigh-in the day before the two touch gloves. That fight has been confirmed for Friday, April 10 at Topeka's Kansas Expocentre.
The uncertainty going into each fight comes with the territory of being a part-time pro, Stanley said.
"I don't know how any of my opponents compare to each other, to me, and I really don't look at it like that," he said. "If I want this thing to go anywhere, I've just got to keep winning."
Should he get two or three more wins in 2009, Stanley added that he and his promoter, Craig Cummings of Dangerfire Promotions, would start asking for bigger, longer fights in more marquee locales.
"Both coasts look down on boxers from the Midwest," Stanley said. "We feel like 10 wins would be a good mark to go out there and start getting bigger fights, but if I need more, I need more."
He added that he wouldn’t object to trying to schedule a fight or two on his old stomping grounds in Dodge City. It would be a fitting ride for one of the sport's true outlaws.
Anyone interested in tickets for any of Stanley's fights can reach him at rexdion77@hotmail.com.
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With any Dodge City fighter, a connection to famed lawman Wyatt Earp couldn't hurt, right?
A little research will show that the line of ancestry linking Earp to Dodge native Dion Stanley, which Stanley's promoter likes to throw around, is purely an in-the-ring legend. But the 31-year-old professional boxer still likes to throw a mean right hook first and ask questions later.
Stanley won his fourth straight fight earlier this month against St. Joseph's (Mo.) Jeremy Parks at Harrah's Casino Voodoo Lounge in Kansas City, Mo. Stanley knocked Parks down in the second of four rounds before earning a unanimous decision.
The Dodge City native now resides in Kansas City, Kan., where he works full time as a beer salesman and distributor. Since turning professional in 2003, Stanley owns a 7-2 record with one no-contest decision in matches in both Missouri and Kansas.
But unlike many boxers who decide to turn pro, Stanley didn't fight in the Golden Glove ranks or even fall in love with the sport at an early age.
"I started boxing when I was 20," Stanley said. "I fought at local Toughman competitions from 1997 until 2002, and while I was in Dodge, I trained under Wayne Gingerrich."
Toughman contests got their start in 1979 as a way for novice amateur fighters to test themselves in the ring.
Since Stanley moved to Kansas City in 2000 for work, he has taken his boxing career to the next level and is looking for another step up in the near future. His Feb. 6 win over Parks was the first in his last three matches in which he didn't knock his opponent out.
Five of the light-heavyweight's (168-180 pounds) seven wins have come via knockout.
"I'm usually very patient in the ring, and that's when it becomes easier to knock your opponent out," Stanley said. "If I'm trying for the knockout, it usually won't come."
Stanley eventually wants to fight on the undercard of a Las Vegas match. His former sparring partner, Francisco Diaz of Shawnee, lost to Andre Ward at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., in his last fight in July 2007.
Stanley said that his full-time job has caused more wear and tear on his body than anything boxing-related at this point.
"It makes it hard," Stanley said. "Some of these guys box for a living and have for years. In some ways, I'm at an advantage with not having the boxing wear and tear that a lot of them have, but I can feel it mostly in my back from my job."
From his roughly 15 hours per week training (after work), Stanley's unorthodox road into the professional boxing ranks gets even more unconventional during the week of a fight.
Stanley won't know his opponent for his next scheduled fight until the weigh-in the day before the two touch gloves. That fight has been confirmed for Friday, April 10 at Topeka's Kansas Expocentre.
The uncertainty going into each fight comes with the territory of being a part-time pro, Stanley said.
"I don't know how any of my opponents compare to each other, to me, and I really don't look at it like that," he said. "If I want this thing to go anywhere, I've just got to keep winning."
Should he get two or three more wins in 2009, Stanley added that he and his promoter, Craig Cummings of Dangerfire Promotions, would start asking for bigger, longer fights in more marquee locales.
"Both coasts look down on boxers from the Midwest," Stanley said. "We feel like 10 wins would be a good mark to go out there and start getting bigger fights, but if I need more, I need more."
He added that he wouldn’t object to trying to schedule a fight or two on his old stomping grounds in Dodge City. It would be a fitting ride for one of the sport's true outlaws.
Anyone interested in tickets for any of Stanley's fights can reach him at rexdion77@hotmail.com.
