QUINCY BUFKIN of Milwaukee


A Milwaukee resident since his birth in January of 1987, Quincy Bufkin has always been pursuing a way to be recognized. And through amateur boxing he has succeeded in doing just that.

The Vincent High School Junior came to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in April of 2003, three months after his 16^th birthday, looking for a workout and to get in shape.  That is where he found the amateur boxing program.  The Al Moreland Boxing Club trains daily in the lower level of the King Center where Quincy encountered the program for the first time.  He was always inspired by boxers since he was a child, so he was very interested to join up with the local amateurs. 

Through his time at John Muir Middle School and Vincent High School, Quincy experienced both football and basketball but never found a winning path to his goal of recognition.  But in boxing, the scrappy southpaw has now become known to people around Milwaukee.  His 7 win and 4 loss record now includes 2 state titles as the 2004 Wisconsin Novice Champion and 2004 Wisconsin Novice Golden Gloves Champion at 125 pounds.  Now with over 10 bouts experience he moves out of the novice division to pursue championships in the open division, most likely in the 132 pound class as he steps up in weight. He now has a three bout win streak going after defeating a larger and very skilled opponent in Green Bay on June 19, 2004.

Quincy experienced losses in his first two bouts in June and October of 2003.  But his work ethic in the gym stayed as strong as his confidence in his own abilities.  He came back to avenge that second loss by defeating that opponent two times in future competitions.  His only other losses were both at club shows to the very experienced Erick Cruz of Milwaukee is was ranked #4 nationally in the Junior Olympic division. 

 Those around Quincy have admired his willingness to put in the time and hard work necessary to train successfully in boxing.  He stands out from others with his positive attitude and has become an asset in the gym by his willingness to help others learn the sport.  Quincy stays self-motivated and pushes himself to train nearly every day.  He also keeps active with studies at school where he has done very well and works after school until it’s time to come to the gym for training.  This summer he also developed a landscaping business to earn extra money.

 Being active and busy between boxing, work, and school doesn’t leave a lot of time for other things a 17 year old might be doing, but Quincy feels that can be a good thing with so many negative influences that can fill up life when there is nothing else to do. He’s proud to have made positive choices on ways to spend his time.  And he has found boxing as a way to control his past aggressiveness and build his own self-confidence.  He also sees himself making more positive choices in order to stay involved with boxing.

 For the future, Quincy desires a lot more success in boxing and a lot more recognition from others about who he is.  Outside the ring, his hope is to travel the world after more education and building a career.

 In helping others that are new to the gym, he has discovered that, in life, he likes to give more than receive.  And that shows the strong character that this young man is building for himself and how amateur boxing is helping to positively shape another young life.