Indigenous boxing showcased at Grand Friday Night Fights; With Tim Taggart Jr. and Marcus Oliveira
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By Darren Thompson
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Hinckley, Minn.—On Friday, February 18, Grand Casino Hinckley hosted “Grand Friday Night Fights,” a popular casino pro boxing series that has featured amateur and professional fighters since 2007. It is considered one of the best casino boxing rounds in the country.
Friday’s fight featured eight fights including two main events: Tim Taggart, Jr. (Lakota) vs. Denny Reyes and Marcus Oliveira (Menominee Nation of Wisconsin) vs. Al Sands for the American Boxing Federation (ABF) heavyweight title ).
Sands, of Duluth, Minnesota, defeated Oliveira, who held the ABF heavyweight title.
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Taggart, a local trainer who works with youth in the community, was defeated by Cuba-born, Minneapolis-based Denny Reyes in a heavyweight bout that brought out many locals as well as others from the out of state.
Joe Pecore, a former professional heavyweight boxer from the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians in Wisconsin, walked nearly 300 miles with his family from Stevens Point in support of fighter Marcus Oliveira. He told Native News Online that he had traveled the distance to show his son and nephew professional boxing at a renowned venue. Pecore, inactive like many other fighters due to the pandemic, is planning fights this summer at another Indian playing venue in central Wisconsin.
Tribal Athletic Commissions recognize that showcasing local talent not only brings the local community, but also a lot of excitement. “There’s so much energy around a show with an Indigenous fighter,” Matt Roberson said. “Indigenous fighters certainly bring in a lot of our own community that probably wouldn’t be there otherwise.”
“Hinckley was crazy last week,” Roberson said of the fights. “There really is a void like the big shows and that’s why managers fight so hard to get cards at Grand Casino Hinckley – to get them ready for the big show.”
Friday’s fights began with a flag chant by Little Otter, a championship traditional Ojibway drumming band from the Thousand Lakes Band of Ojibwe, before a crowd of at least 2,500.
“Friday’s event went very well with near flawless execution,” Matt Roberson, executive director of the Ojibwe Sports Regulations Department, Mille Lacs Band, told Native News Online. “Our team takes great pride in their work and that is why we are considered one of the best sports commissions around.”
The Department of Sports Regulations (DAR) is one of the few sports commissions in the country run by a tribe. The DAR is a member of the National Association of Boxing Commissions and the International Association of Combat Sports Commissions and only regulates professional boxing at Grand Casino Hinckley. Its entire staff is Native American, including boxing judge Tim Taggard, Sr. who is Lakota; boxing judge Eli Staples, a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe; timekeeper Leroy Day, a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe; and umpire Tyrone Roberts, a member of the Meskwaki Nation in Iowa.
According to the Mille Lacs Band Department of Athletic Regulation website, “there [DAR] licenses fighters, trainers, managers, matchmakers, ringside physicians, and officials, and also regulates combat sports on the Mille Lacs reservation in accordance with Department rules and regulations. The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Athletic Commission is a member of the National Association of Boxing Commissions and the International Association of Combat Sports Commissions and is proud that all of its staff are Native American.
Grand Friday Night Fights is promoted by Grand Casino Hinckley in partnership with Rapacz Boxing and commissioned by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s Department of Athletic Regulation.
It was the third fight event held at Grand Casino Hinckley since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the second live event. Grand Casino Hinckley’s first fight was held without a crowd and was televised on Showtime Boxing in March 2020.
On March 12, the Mille Lacs Sports Regulation Department regulates Throne MMA, an 11-fight ticket to the Northern Lights Casino owned and operated by the Ojibwe Band of Leech Lake in Walker, Minnesota. Throne MMA is owned by White Earth Ojibwe Tribal member Dean Lamb and will feature several Indigenous fighters. Tickets for the event are already sold out.
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