WORCESTER—Dan Docimo was in the stands celebrating his birthday when the inaugural “Punch-Out at Polar Park” boxing show was held last August at the home ballpark of the WooSox.
The show was scheduled for Aug. 4, his 36th birthday, so he decided to go. It was postponed by rain until the next night, but Docimo still loved it.
“If you told me I’d be making my pro debut a year from that day, I would have never believed you,” he said during a break from training at Camp Get Right last week. “I never thought it was possible.”
But it’s true. Docimo will make his pro debut in “Punch-Out at Polar Park II” on Friday, Aug. 9, in a welterbout bout against Tracey Coppedge (0-3) of Wilson, N.C. The rain date is Aug. 10.
This will be Docimo’s first bout since he fought as an amateur from age 16 through 20. The 5-foot-8 Docimo has lost 51 pounds since Thanksgiving weekend to get down to 147 pounds.
“I got on a scale at my grandfather’s house after eating macaroni and meatballs,” he said. “I saw 198 and I was like, ‘Time to make a change.’”
After he began losing weight, he saw some welterweights make their pro debuts at a boxing show at the Palladium on Dec. 9.
“I told myself, ‘I can get off the couch and whoop some of these guys,’” he said.
Docimo has trained on and off over the years, but he’s been in the gym steadily since February. He credits his trainer Owen Minor, who he grew up with, with believing in him more than he did in himself. He said he had been drinking heavily and partying for 10 years, but Minor got him back in the ring and helped him lose weight.
“He saved my life in so many different ways,” Docimo said.
“He’s more than a coach to me. He’s like my dad in a way. He’s always on top of me. He’s so hard on me. He gives me a compliment once a month and when he does it makes me want to cry because I want to make him proud.”
Docimo said he was so out of shape, it took him 2-½ months to last two rounds in a sparring session. He trains in the gym five nights a week.
Docimo grew up on Grafton Hill in Worcester and lives in Shrewsbury with his fiancee, Laura Abasciano. Their second son, Dante, was born on Saturday. Dante’s name and the name of their first son, 4-½-year-old Luca, are tattooed on his arm. He also sports a “G-HILL” tattoo on his arm and calls himself the “Favorite Son of Grafton Hill.”
Docimo has worked as a locksmith for the state for the past 17 years, mostly at the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital. He knows a lot of people. He has 22 sponsors and he’s sold 150 T-shirts and 180 tickets to the boxing show.
“Just making my pro debut alone is a lifetime dream of mine,” he said. “I love boxing. I watch it all the time.”
Coppedge has lost by first-round TKOs in each of his three pro fights, but Docimo refuses to take him lightly.
“He’s a pro fighter,” Docimo said. “Six months ago, I wasn’t. He fights tough guys to pay the bills. I don’t underestimate anybody.”
Nevertheless, Docimo predicted he would knock out Coppedge in the first or second round.
The WooSox celebrate Italian Heritage Day on Aug. 3, when Docimo throws out the ceremonial first pitch.
Two other local boxers are scheduled to make their pro debuts on Aug. 9. Millbury middleweight Justin Laporte will battle Tymar Miles (0-3) of New York and Worcester junior middleweight Jhon Devers will oppose Igor Santos (0-1) of Woburn.
Laporte, 24, lost a split decision in the inaugural “Punch-Out at Polar Park” last year as an amateur welterweight.
“It’s a pretty surreal feeling, it’s really exhilarating,” he said. “You’re walking out there and you see everybody, but the moment I step into the ring I feel like all that noise and everything kind of goes black and I get really locked into that moment. It’s a pretty crazy feeling because after the fight I looked around and I didn’t realize there were that many people there.”
This will not only be Laporte’s pro debut, it will be his first bout as a husband. He married Milena Rogalski on June 26 and they live in Millbury. Laporte predicted he’ll record a first-round KO against Miles.
Laporte is a realtor for Property Investors & Advisors and he’s a sophomore finance major at Nichols College.
After graduating from Shepherd Hill in 2018, Laporte spent 3-½ years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He injured his knee, shoulder and back falling down a mountain and was discharged from the Marines late in 2021. A few months later, he began training at Camp Get Right with Sean Fitzgerald.
“I’m so excited for these three who are making their pro debuts,” said promoter Chuck Shearns. “It will be an experience like they’ve never had.”
Shearns is promoting the seven-bout show with Kendrick Ball Sr., owner of Camp Get Right.
The ring will be located at home plate.
“The energy, the ambience of being outside, being under the lights,” Shearns said, “it’s just something that we don’t normally do. Boxing is usually in smoke-filled club arenas or these big, huge shows in Las Vegas that don’t have anywhere near the same feel as outdoor boxing under the lights with a bunch of people and families and kids all having a good time.”
Another Worcester boxer, junior middleweight Keno Luna (2-0, 2 KOs), a four-time New England Golden Gloves Champion, will face Izaiah Vargas (1-10) of Seattle. All four of the aforementioned bouts are scheduled for four rounds.
Josniel “TG” Castro (12-1, 8 KOs) of Boca Raton, Fla., will face Jerry Bradford (9-2, 5 KOs) of Tarzana, Calif., in a 10-round main event for the WBC USA super welterweight belt. Castro scored a second-round KO in the first “Punch-Out at Polar Park.”
In an eight-round junior featherweight bout, Maureen “The Real Million Dollar Baby” Shea (30-2-1, 13 KOs) of Delray Beach, Fla., will take on Beata Dudek (4-2, 4 KOs) of Hungary. Shea is a former World Boxing Council (WBC) Interim World Featherweight and International Female Boxing Association (IFBA) World Bantamweight Champion.
Heavyweight Kevin Nagle (8-0, 7 KOs) of Scituate will take on Jose Humberto Corral (20-33) of Mexico.
Shearns is working on adding an eighth bout.
Bouts are subject to change.
Tickets are available at the Polar Park box office, by calling the box office at (508) 500-8888 or visiting at polarpark.com/boxing.
Tickets cost $205 around home plate on the field level with access to a field level bar, $125 on the third-floor DCU Club with access to an indoor area with a bar, $105 for the first four rows in sections 6-11, $75 for seats in rows five and up in sections 5-11, and $55 for seats down the first base and third base lines. A family four-pack costs $165 for four seats down the first and third base lines.
Shearns said last year’s show drew more than 2,000 fans and he’s hoping for at least 3,000 this year.
Gates will open at 5 p.m. and the first bout is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Greg Hill Foundation, which has donated more than $20 million to local families in need. Visit www.thegreghillfoundation.org for more information.
The morning after the show at Polar Park, Ball will fly to Las Vegas for Khiary Gray’s super welterweight bout against Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) of Cleveland at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Ball manages Gray, who is 18-6 with 13 KOs. Gray expects Conwell to underestimate him.
“I have nothing to lose,” Gray said. “I’m going in there with everything to gain.”
Gray won his last fight on Dec. 9, a unanimous, six-round decision over Jimmy Wilson (18-13-2) of New Haven at the Palladium. The 31-year-old Doherty High graduate lives in Leominster.
Bill Doyle has been a professional journalist for 47 years, most of them as a sports writer for the Telegram & Gazette. He covered the Boston Celtics for 25 years and has written extensively about golf, boxing and local high school and college sports. He also worked for the campus newspaper when he attended UMass-Amherst. He can be reached at billdoyle1515@gmail.com
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