Some people can’t take being around their family for 28 minutes. Maliek Montgomery has had his around him for 28 years and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Now that I'm older, everything I do now revolves around my family in the sense of making a better life for them and us being able to do things and experience things that the average person doesn't get to do in his day-to-day grind. And they are my main motivation behind getting in the ring and being able to train and push through.”
For Montgomery, boxing is a family affair, with his dad Michael Sr. and his two brothers (and fellow boxers) Mikhail and Michael Jr. all being entrenched in the sweet science. It’s earned Montgomery two National Golden Gloves titles, a spot as an alternate on the 2016 U.S. Olympic team, and a perfect 17-0 (16 KOs) record as a professional that he’ll put on the line tonight against Eridson Garcia at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston.
So he’s all-in. Makes you wonder if this would have been the case if his dad wasn’t a former boxer who moved from New York City to Macon, Georgia to give his family a better life.
“I'm not sure,” said Montgomery. “I was always a multi-sport athlete. I wrestled, I played football, I ran cross country, and boxing got serious for me. Maybe when I hit 14, 15, when I won my first national Junior Olympic championship, I think that was when the flip switched. I was already in love with the sport, but it really kicked it into overdrive where I wanted to do this for the rest of my life and make a living doing it.”
The Brothers Montgomery have been at it ever since, with their success and commitment to the community leading local officials to start the process to rename their gym from the ‘Frank Ray Boxing Arena’ to the ‘Frank Ray – Montgomery Brothers Boxing Arena.’ That’s an honor not lost on Montgomery, who knows that it’s not happening just because of what happens between the ropes, but outside of them, where he’s living a life that his four-year-old son Maliek Jr. can learn from and be inspired by.
“It’s important because of how I want to raise my son as far as standing on morals and knowing that if you go for one thing, you'll go for anything,” he said. “And I want him to able to see his dad be a man, and see how he should carry himself; not by disrespecting people, but being able to carry himself to a higher standard in his day-to-day dealings and life, in general.”
But what if Junior shows up to the gym and wants to join his father, granddad and uncles in the ring?
“Unfortunately, he goes everywhere with me when he's not in school, so he's kind of caught on to it,” said Montgomery. “And now every time I'm in the gym, he's in the gym. When I leave, he's like, ‘Oh, dad’s going to work.’ And I said I was going to expose him to it, but I never was going to force him to do it. I understand the sacrifice and everything that I put into boxing just to get to this point alone. And I know that's no trivial thing to ask of anybody. And so I said I would never force it on him, but if he was interested I definitely would show him.”
But if you had your choice?
Montgomery sighs and that was his answer right there. He laughs.
“I would love for the legacy to continue with my son, but I know what my dad had to put us through coming up through the amateurs and I don't know if I'll be able to sit there and push my son to that extent.”
Thankfully, that’s a conversation father and son won’t have to have for a while, if at all. As for dad, he’s got a fight tonight, and that’s number one on the priority list. It’s also what keeps him invested in the sport, not just as a job, but a passion.
“I always want to compete in anything in life and just the fact that I'm good at what I do and the love I have for the sport,” he said when asked what his “why” is in boxing. “It's a lot of politics that go into boxing that destroys the sport at times, but when you get down to the nitty gritty of it, of getting in the ring with a man in front of me, I tell anybody, especially going into somebody else's home and fighting, at the end of the day, it is me and him tonight. And for me, that simplicity of just being able to get in the ring and fight and give my all and show what I’m made of, I think that's what motivates me to get in the gym, on top of my family and being able to support them.”