Photo by Keystone Boxing
Yes. Indeed.
“My father sat me down and explained to me “Michael, this is gonna be hard… but you’re not going to quit. Do you really want it?”
A conversation between a young boy and his father over 10 years ago set in motion a path of triumph and success, providing proof that with hard work you can overcome adversity.
Mike Reed is a D.C. born professional boxer and a highly-touted prospect from Waldorf, MD with a decorated amateur background. Reed, a Silver Glove champion, Jr. Olympics champion, National Golden Gloves champion (2011), Olympic trials Semi-finalist, and new Top Rank, Inc. signee, has a bright future ahead.
It seemed that Reed was destined to be a boxer, even before he knew it. His father and trainer, Michael Pinson (Dream Team Boxing Gym/Clinton, MD), realized his own talents for training early on after a short stint as an amateur.
Reed’s older brother also picked up the gloves, prompting a nine year-old Reed to take notice of the sport. Mike decided to try boxing, after seeing his brother fight, figuring it was easy and he’d be better than his sibling. Mike’s older brother tried to warn him that boxing was extremely hard, but Reed figured his brother was all talk and set out to prove his own point.
Pinson took Reed to Hillcrest Boxing Gym in Hillcrest Heights, MD where Mike began training and learned the truth.
“I soon realized boxing was hard. Two weeks maybe? Yeah, two weeks into it. I wanted no parts of it, but my dad, he kept me in the gym,” Mike proclaimed through laughter looking back at his start in the sport.
“I was 10 years old. I was a fat kid. I didn’t… ya know, I was lazy. I didn’t know real work ethic. I was naturally gifted, but I didn’t wanna work hard. And if he would’ve let me, like I told you, I would’ve quit within two weeks, if my dad would’ve let me.”
The rest is history.
Because his dad wouldn’t let him quit, based on an agreement they made with each other, Reed soon learned the importance of work ethic in regards to his success. It is one of the things he quickly picked up on that has helped him in his transition from amateurs to the pro game.
“I had to work hard in the amateurs, because like I told you, I was a little fat kid… and I had to work hard to get fights, you know, to stay at a certain weight. I also learned to remain calm. Throughout all of my amateur experience I learned to remain calm.”
Remaining calm and maintaining a good work ethic really helped Mike hone his skills. Those two factors helped him capture the Silver Gloves at 12 years old and the Golden Gloves at 18 years old. But it was at 16, in the 2009 Jr. Olympic tournament that Reed realized boxing was his calling.
“I won the Jr. Olympics and that was a big tournament for me. You only get two years to fight in the Jr. Olympics [before you have to] go to the nationals. And I was ranked No. 1 in the nation at 16 years old. So it was cool, and I understood there that I was different from my peers. I was very different. I had a God given gift. From that point on I had made up my mind I wanted to be a professional boxer.”
It was around that same time that Mike Reed acquired the “Yes Indeed” moniker. A substitute teacher overheard a conversation between Reed and his friends at school and started asking questions about his talent.
“I really don’t talk too much. I don’t talk a lot of trash. Even in school, I really didn’t talk a lot. I was popular, I had a lot of friends, but you wouldn’t catch me running around the hallways showing off and carrying on. The people that knew me knew that I boxed. And even at 16 they never knew the level that I boxed at, ’cause I really didn’t talk about it,” recalls Reed.
“One day we were in class, we were just speaking about [my boxing career] and the substitute teacher, he overheard us and he was like, ‘Nah, you don’t box. Are you good?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m good.’ [The substitute replied], ‘I don’t believe you.'”
“So I brought in some tape and from that point, [the substitute teacher] was like, ‘Oh wow.'” So I impressed him and he was like, ‘We gotta get you a nickname.’ At 16, I wasn’t really thinking about a nickname, I’m just doing it. We threw ideas off the wall. We had a couple [of ] names, some of them stuck, but didn’t really stick. The sub was like, ‘I got one.’ I was like, ‘What is it?'”
“‘Yes Indeed'”
And it’s been his name ever since.
With such a highly decorated amateur career and amassing a perfect record (12-0, 6 KOs) as a professional, the sky seems to be the limit for Mike “Yes Indeed” Reed. Reed has some particular career goals in boxing with the level of success he’s already experienced. Winning world titles are definitely a part of the plan, but more importantly, his main goal is fighting the best at the weight class he happens to be in at that time, and setting up financial stability to provide for his family’s future.
Reed is driven by competition. It is what he loves most about the sport. Well, that and the traveling. Boxing has given him reasons to travel domestically and abroad, where he acknowledges that most of the places he has been he would never have visited without being involved in the sport.
“Boxing opens up a lot doors for me, as far as traveling goes. My last fight was in Nebraska. I don’t think I have family down there, so I don’t think I would ever have a true reason to go to Omaha, Nebraska other than boxing.”
Photo by Craig Matthews
As a new Top Rank fighter he was featured on the Terence Crawford vs. Ray Beltran undercard, coasting to a unanimous-decision victory in his first eight-round fight, over the formerly unbeaten Oscar Valenzuela.
Reed also spoke of how he had to become a student of the game. Because he started so young, he grew into a student by learning to love the sport.
“You have to be submerged in your job, you have to learn the history of your job, in order to be great at your job. That’s what I’m in the process of doing now. I’ll go through old fights and read old stories to learn anything [I can].”
His favorite fighter, is Diego “Chico” Corrales. “People look at him and they ask me, what made you like Diego Corrales so much? I just respond his heart. He had no quit in him. The fight that made him my favorite fighter was when he fought [Jose Luis] Castillo the first time. For him to show the guts, to get up from the beating he was taking was amazing. It goes deeper than him having guts. He showed his skill sets and his smartness inside the ring to be able to drop his mouthpiece and then find the shots to knock Castillo out.”
It’s safe to say, that Mike Reed is one of those fighters who will be a fan favorite. He’s accomplished, he’s not too big on talking trash, he is all about work ethic and dedication, and he’s motivated by his family. Seeing his parents struggle in order to make things happen pushes him to succeed, so he can be able to give back to them for all their support through the years. Coming from a family with five siblings, he one day wants to have a big family himself.
Reed also had a message for the fans that he wanted me to pass on.
“Thanks for the continued support. I have an amazing fan base. Whenever I fought in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia), they always came out to support and I appreciate them for that. Because without them, I wouldn’t be here where I am now.”
He also had a message for the boxing world: “I am 12-0 now, coming up on my second year as a professional fighter. The sky is the limit and I’m coming. I’m looking to get some TV time come 2015 and continue to dominate my opponents and become a household name very soon.”
Yes indeed.
Header photo by Craig Matthews
