By James Stillerman – WBC US heavyweight champion Steve “The Gentle Giant” Vukosa (13-1, 5 KOs) hoped to land a significant fight after he scored an upset eight-round unanimous decision win over Joe Cusumano in August 2019, and he was pretty close to getting his wish twice, only to have both bouts fall apart at the last minute.
“After my fight with Cusumano, I had a signed contract to fight [former IBF world champion] Charles Martin but, instead, he fought on the undercard of the Fury vs. Wilder II bout [he defeated Gerald Washington],” said Vukosa. “Later on, I was supposed to fight a[n undefeated] Kazakhstan fighter [Zhan Kossobutskiy] for the IBO/WBA Intercontinental heavyweight belt, but the bout was canceled on the day that I was to going fly to Germany because Germany closed its borders and was not letting anyone enter the country due to COVID-19.”
So, rather than wait for a significant fight, Vukosa scored a first-round technical knockout over Alando Pugh last November, and now, he will box against the reigning USA New England heavyweight titleholder “Fly” Mike Marshall (5-1, 4 KOs) in a ten-round main event this Saturday, June 26th for the vacant NABA United States heavyweight title.
“I saw Marshall fight in his last outing [third-round technical knockout win over Tracey Johnson] and he looked really impressive. I want good, tough bouts and he looks like he can push me and move me around and give me a good fight, so I took the fight,” said Vukosa.
“Breakout” is promoted by Granite Chin Promotions from the New England Sports Center in Derry, New Hampshire, as part of a day-night doubleheader (separate admissions), headlined by Vukosa vs. Marshall.
“I will do the best I can and move around and whatever he gives me, I will take,” said Vukosa. “If he gives me his head, I will take it, if he gives me his body, I will take it, and hopefully, I will get the victory, whether it is a knockout or it goes the distance.”
The six-foot, five-inch southpaw from Quincy, Massachusetts has been training nonstop at the nearby Grealish Boxing Club in Dorchester with Jimmy Farrell (longtime trainer) and Mike Beverly (conditioning coach) ever since his win over Cusumano. He scored the lone knockdown of the fight in the third round via a counter-right hook on Cusumano, whose last twelve wins came via knockout. He also obtained the vacant WBC US heavyweight belt. Vukosa has won three in a row and six of his last seven bouts (dating back to 2014 when he resumed his career following a twelve-year break), in large part due to his strong defense, and awkward fighting style that frustrates his opponents.
Marshall has won two in a row since his lone loss, a first-round knockout to Luther Smith. During his current winning streak, he defeated Justin Rolfe via an eight-round unanimous decision for his title.
Even if Vukosa defeats Marshall, he still might retire after fighting on-and-off for the past twenty years because of his lingering health issues to his back, left knee, and hands, and difficulty in obtaining good opponents to fight for the last several years.
“I am forty-four and my body is falling apart and everything hurts and aches, so it is probably a good time to stop,” said Vukosa. “It does not look like I can get big fights. I talked with my manager and he told me promoters do not want to use me because I am too old. If I beat their fighter it is bad for them because they invested a lot of money in their fighter who lost to an old guy and if their fighter beats me, then they just beat an old guy. It might be the end of the road for me because I do not want to do any more club fights.”
When Vukosa came out of retirement in 2014, it took him over a year to get a good opponent who would fight him, which ended up being former world title challenger Jason Estrada. Vukosa scored the biggest win of his career with an eight-round majority decision over Estrada and obtained the vacant USA New England heavyweight title. He took the bout on only a couple of weeks’ notice.
Four months later, he won a six-round unanimous decision over Solomon Maye, and then he was selected to participate in ESPN’s 2015 Boxcino Tournament. During this tournament, he sustained his lone loss, a fourth-round technical knockout to the eventual runner-up Donovan Dennis, in the quarterfinals.
In addition to his boxing career, Vukosa works a fifty-hour a week job at the Mass Bay Transportation Authority, where he has been employed for the past fifteen years. He starts work at 4 p.m. and finishes up around 2 a.m. He also has three children with his wife, whom he met a couple of months after he retired from boxing in 2002.
“It is difficult to train, work full time, and raise a family. It is extremely hard and stressful, but I try to make it work the best I can,” said Vukosa. “I run after my shift is over and I do the majority of my boxing workouts and sparring on the weekends for a couple of hours. I also do core workouts and shadowboxing when I have a break at work.”
Vukosa had a pretty good amateur career (65-5 record) and was a two-time national champion. He won the 1997 National PAL championship, and the 2000 National Golden Gloves (both in the super heavyweight division), the first New England fighter to do so in forty-five years. He had a perfect 8-0, 4 KOs record in his first two years as a professional fighter. During this time, Vukosa gained invaluable boxing experience by being trained by Hall of Famer trainer Freddie Roach at the famed Wild Card Boxing gym in Los Angeles, California, and while he was there, he sparred with several world champions: James Toney, Evander Holyfield, Wladimir Klitschko, Lamon Brewster, Francois Botha, Michael Moorer, among others. Nevertheless, he blew the cartilage in his left knee, which led to two surgeries. He also constantly broke both of his hands and had bad back pain, all of which became too much for him to overcome, so he retired.
If Vukosa decides to retire again, he can take solace in the fact that he accomplished a great deal, despite all the obstacles that he faced throughout his career.
“In 2002, when I got hurt and I had to call it quits, I accepted it, but I was hurt and sad, but I tried my best to moved on and when I fought again, I felt great and wanted to continue to fight,” said Vukosa. “I am very happy and very proud with everything that I have accomplished in my career, even if my career ends after my next bout.”
He also has proven a lot of people wrong, in particular, the individuals who told him early on in his amateur career that he would not amount to anything in boxing.
“Jimmy Farrell believed in me when no one else did. When I went to the gym, everyone laughed at me and said I do not have anything, but Jimmy was the only one who believed in me and saw the potential in me,” said Vukosa. “After my first amateur fight in Maine, it was sloppy fight, but I won and the guy who was running the show told my trainer never to bring me back and Jimmy told him that I would be a world champion, and the guy said no I would not, but I won two national titles. I have a lot of love for Jimmy because he was the only one who believed in me and at that time in my life as a nineteen-year-old kid, I needed someone to believe in me and tell me that I was good.”