User:Usterday/sandbox/Rock Blackwell

Rock Blackwell is an American boxer. He is the current World Boxing Union novice world Cruiserweight champion.

Early life
Blackwell was born in 1986 in the city of Baltimore and raised by a single-mother after his father left the family following Blackwell’s birth. He started boxing competitively as a child.

Career
A one-time amateur winner of the South Atlantic Championship, Blackwell’s amateur record was 156-28. He turned professional in 2009, though experienced life-threatening injuries in 2009 after a botched weight-cut that saw him drop 30 lbs of water weight. He since assembled a 15-0 professional record fighting for the International Boxing League. His professional monikers include the nickname “King Rocky”, and he has fought in both the US and Europe. In 2014 he was ranked in the top ten of both the WBU and IBU as well as the number one boxer in the US by the WBU. He is the reigning WBU novice world champion. Blackwell’s trainers have included Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather, and Freddie Roach. As of 2015, Blackwell trained under Roberto Jalnaiz. In 2015 Blackwell signed a fight deal with Comcast SportsNet.

Other work
Blackwell has performed philanthropic work in inner-city Baltimore. He has also funded the building of orphanages in Cameroon, specifically the village of Muea, with the My Sister Cares Foundation. He has also attended charitable events associated with the NBA All-Star Game weekend. In 2014 Blackwell was featured in a comic book entitled Hearing the Bell.