{"id":51908,"date":"2015-03-30T00:18:21","date_gmt":"2015-03-30T05:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=51908"},"modified":"2015-03-30T00:18:21","modified_gmt":"2015-03-30T05:18:21","slug":"vinny-paz-returns-to-the-ring-breaking-boxing-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=51908","title":{"rendered":"Vinny Paz Returns to the RING – Breaking Boxing News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VP\"<\/a>The phone call couldn\u2019t have come at a better time for Jean Pierre Augustin, even if he wasn\u2019t quite sure it was real. \u201cI didn\u2019t take it seriously at first,\u201d said the Lawrence, Mass., cruiserweight boxer. \u201cI thought it was a prank.\u201d But this was no joke. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance for the 27-year-old fighter to play a role in Bleed For This, the upcoming Chad Verdi-produced film based on the career of former champion Vinny Paz. Augustin (4-0, 2 KOs) landed the role of former world champ Gilbert Dele, whom Paz beat in 1991.<\/p>\n

Verdi and Paz, who are now guiding Augustin\u2019s boxing career, which resumes Friday, April 3rd, 2015 at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, RI, presented by CES Boxing in association with Verdi Productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a blessing for me,\u201d Augustin said. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way for me to describe it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVinny is 100 percent committed to training JP and making him a world champion,\u201d Verdi said. \u201cThis is the main reason I agreed to become JP\u2019s manager, and working with Vinny again is an absolute joy. Both Vinny and I feel JP has what it takes to become a champion, but it\u2019s up to him to put in all the hard work and dedication needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

That part is nothing new for Augustin, who, with few connections on the local boxing circuit, needed the help of a sponsor at the beginning of his pro career just to pay his way onto various cards in West Virginia and North Carolina, where he amassed a 4-0 record with two first-round knockouts in 2014.<\/p>\n

But the money from fighting wasn\u2019t enough to pay the bills, so the Haitian-born Augustin found other ways to earn a living, working as a plumber, security guard and even a part-time Uber driver.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really didn\u2019t know where my career was going,\u201d he said. \u201cI was basically living out of a suitcase moving from camp to camp, hustling here and there to get a job done and get some cash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pursuing a dream, but the dream really wasn\u2019t taking me anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raised in Boston before moving to Lawrence at the age of 10, Augustin\u2019s first love was martial arts, but it wasn\u2019t \u201cphysical enough,\u201d so, on the recommendation of his sensei, he took up boxing at a local gym.<\/p>\n

\u201cI instantly fell in love with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After 55 amateur fights (49 wins among them), Augustin finally turned pro in February of 2014. The struggle to land a spot on a card in New England with other promoters \u2013 \u201cI just couldn\u2019t get a fair shake,\u201d he said \u2013 forced Augustin to remain a boxing nomad until he linked up with Verdi and Paz on the set for Bleed For This.<\/p>\n

With Verdi as his manager, Paz as his trainer, and CES president Jimmy Burchfield Sr. as his promoter, Augustin now has an opportunity to build a fan base in New England and take his career to new heights. The journey begins April 3rd in a four-round bout against New Haven, Conn., vet Solomon Maye (1-4).<\/p>\n

\u201cThings have been unfolding quickly,\u201d said Augustin, who has been training and sparring at Balletto\u2019s Gym in Providence while also working with Rhode Island-based coach Vic Fagnant. \u201cIt\u2019s not overwhelming, but it\u2019s a lot to process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just thankful for this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for Augustin\u2019s Twin River and CES debut are available for purchase online at www.cesboxing.com or www.twinriver.com, by phone at 401-724-2253\/2254 or at the Twin River Players Club. All fights and fighters are subject to change.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The phone call couldn\u2019t have come at a better time for Jean Pierre Augustin, even if he wasn\u2019t quite sure it was real. \u201cI didn\u2019t take it seriously at first,\u201d said the Lawrence, Mass., cruiserweight boxer. \u201cI thought it was a prank.\u201d But this was no joke. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12506],"class_list":["post-51908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-vinny-paz-returns-to-the-ring-breaking-boxing-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51908"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}