BOB AND WEAVE A FEW ROUNDS IN THE RING
Tim Taggart Jr. is passionate about the sport of boxing at all levels. He is eager to inspire young boxers and assist as a personal trainer at the District I Aquatic and Fitness Center.
Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Tournament is a step for Native boxers
By VIVIAN LaMOORE, INAAJIMOWIN EDITOR
“Any sport will teach you life lessons, but there is nothing like learning it in a boxing ring.” ~ Tim Taggart Jr.
Boxing is a highly competitive sport that requires years of training, discipline, dedication, and the ability to focus and push through excruciating pain. “When you are getting punched and frustrated you get tunnel vision, it takes a lot to focus and figure out how keep going,” said Tim Taggart Jr. “Just in like in life, if you are having a stressful day, sometimes you see tunnel vision, but you have to broaden that vision to keep going and keep pushing through the frustration. Boxing helped teach me that lesson.”
Taggart has been involved in boxing as long as he can remember. He was a “Gym Rat” tagging along to the gym with his dad at a very young age. His dad, Tim Taggart Sr., had boxed in the military and then he started a boxing club on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Taggart Jr. had his first unofficial fight at 5 years old. It was a sparing match.
“There is video showing me me crying in the corner between rounds,” Taggart said. “But then at the end of the fight when you hold your gloves up and people are cheering, you forget all of that. I remember thinking, ‘Wow! This is cool! These people are cheering for me!’”
The family soon after moved to Rush City to be closer to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis for the health care of his sister. Taggart Sr. worked at Grand Casino Hinckley and he was introduced to Harry Davis. “So, we started going to Lake Lena to Harry’s boxing club,” Taggart Jr. said.
He was about 8- to 10-years old when he started out at that club. He entered his first USA Boxing tournament around 9 years old. “It wasn’t about the cheering anymore. Now the goal was to get better than those guys,” he said. “Harry had an established club and every weekend we were going to a different place. All the credit in the world goes to Harry and his crew, Wally St. John and those guys.” He added that he looked up to the older, more established boxers in the club and dropped names of Weylin Davis, Jimmy Lafave, and George Lafave.
Taggart worked hard and totaled up 135 wins and 25 losses in his amateur career. He competed in Silver Gloves, Indigenous tournaments, USA Jr. Olympics, and one Golden Gloves tournament. After that, he entered a Tough Man contest and received cash for his participation. Getting paid for boxing ended his amateur status and ability to compete in the Golden Gloves after that.
In all of those years he said, “It was such an honor to represent the Mille Lacs Band and my Tribe as well while boxing for the Mille Lacs Band boxing club. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Harry.”
Most of his favorite memories of growing up included all of those boxing trips and training at the gym. Not to mention he has fond memories of the road trips across country with his dad. “We drove everywhere,” he said with a big smile. “My dad was my coach and he drove, so that brought us closer, too.”
Taggart entered college to study Criminal Justice and played football at St. Cloud State for 1.5 years. “While I was trying to find my place, boxing was always there. At about 20 years old I had my first pro fight. And I called Harry and asked for help.”
His professional boxing career lasted a few years as he bobbed and weaved his way through different clubs and different states along the way. He had his last pro fight in 2013 that left him with 35 stiches over his eye. “A half an inch lower and I would have lost my eye,” he said and he began to rethink his life choices. “I had just had a kid so I decided to change my career.”
He went back to college to continue his criminal justice studies. But he never really left the boxing world. He went back to Meshakwad about three years ago to help out with the boxing club.
He came out of retirement last February and entered a fight he dedicated to MMIW. With the interviews leading up to the fight, he used his voice to draw attention to the issues facing Indigenous women. He figured whether he won or lost the fight, he brought attention to the issue. “I put myself in their shoes. Rounds last three minutes. Think of what women go through, sometimes for years. I can go three minutes to bring attention to them.”
He said that was probably one of the best fights of his entire career. He won in the second round with a knockout, "Against a guy that was supposed to be way better then me with a 6-0 record," he said with a grin.
Taggart took a position at the District I Aquatic and Fitness Center where is the site manager as well as the personal trainer. He hopes to be able to start a boxing club at the center in District I.
Being part of the Golden Gloves tournaments was a huge honor he said. “I encourage people to go see at least one. I just respect the game so much.”
Golden Gloves of America Upper Midwest Golden Gloves Four Regional Tournament and Championship is coming to Grand Casino Hinckley April 14, 15, and 16. This will be a knockout event as the best up-and-coming boxers from around the Midwest will compete against each other in a three-day tournament to award the best fighter of each division the coveted Golden Gloves. Tickets can be purchased at https://grandcasinomn.com/entertainment/goldengloves/