On Saturday, December 13th, Minnesota boxing veteran John Anthony Hoffman came out of semi-retirement to give one more fight, his best shot. Hoffman received a call to face undefeated 20 year old Anton Novikov across the globe in Chelyabinsk, Russia. Having grown accustomed to taking fights on a few days notice, the 36 year old welcomed the fight three weeks out, ignoring the fact that he was giving up age, weight, and home turf advantage to the Russian prospect.
"Both me and Patrick (Cape) have been working really hard for this trip. I haven't had the opportunity to train for a fight like this for a long time. We both plan on going to Russia and giving it our best" said Hoffman before leaving to Russia.
Local Russian Newspaper reports confirm that Both fighters did give their best. In the end however, both Hoffman and Cape were stopped, in the second and fifth rounds respectively.
" I don't regret taking the fight" Hoffman reminisced afterwards. "I had the time of my life for the week I was in Russia. I got to test my abilities, my knowledge and my strengths against another fighter. "
And that is the reason Hoffman says he took the fight in Russia. That is the reason he has been fighting since the first time he laced up a pair of gloves.
Hoffman officially announced his retirement from the ring following the fight. It marks the end of his adventures boxing around the world but a new chapter as a full time manager, trainer, and promoter.

When his gym was closed in the summer time Hoffman says he would travel to other gyms to learn different techniques from them as well. He says he worked with other key Minnesota boxing figures, most of whom are still going strong in the scene today. Guys like Sankara Frazier, Clem Tucker, Bill Kahn, Ron Lyke, and Dennis Presley
He would go on to have more the 100 fights as an amateur.

John made the decision to turn pro fresh out of highschool at the age of 19.
"I was either tough enough or dumb enough to keep on wanting to do it" he said jokingly when asked why he turned pro.
" Once I got the knack of it and started taking parts of what everybody taught me, it became the next step for me at that time. That was in 1992. I drove with Tommy Brunette and Blaine Biers to Indiana to fight in the back of a bowling alley. I fought a guy by the name of Harley Davidson Rider (aka Tony Ault). He was a local guy who is still around today. Back then he was a tough little shit. He is still tough but just not so little anymore. I made a $100 that night!"
He ended up driving Harley Davidson for four rounds, winning a decision.

Hoffman says he damaged his shoulder badly in that first fight but did his best to ignore the pain. He rattled off a few more wins before the injury prevented him from competing.
" Truth be told I threw my shoulder out in my pro debut. I fought with it my first few fights. I ended up losing a fight to Blaine Biers though in my fifth fight. I had to fight one handed in that one. I ended up getting reconstructive surgery to fix my shoulder so basically had to take three years off."

Hoffman kept himself busy during that time and also had his first experience coaching other fighters while being out of the ring himself.
"I had a baby or two during those years, bought a house and settled in that way. I was also coaching amateur boxers at the gym until I got healed up."

Hoffman began to make his dream a reality in the following years after returning to the ring in 1998. He fought all across Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and then to Canada, and even Sweden. He went 6W-5L in that stretch.
"That is what I was in the sport for and why I continue today with my promotional company Brothers Promotions. I had the opportunity to travel across the world and do what I love to do which is fight."

In April of 2002 Hoffman would get the chance to face a world rated lightweight boxer by the name of Lemuel Nelson. It was the first time he faced a fighter of this caliber in the biggest boxing place in the world, Las Vegas, NV. Tape shows Hoffman giving the slick Pensacola, FL boxer all he could handle for the duration of the fight. Hoffman moved in and out, cracking Nelson with straight lefts out of the southpaw stance. Nelson really only landed one meaningful punch in the five minutes of action. Unfortunately for Hoffman, it would be that kind of devastating punch that would change his career by hampering his ability to take a punch like he could in the past.
"Nelson was rated in the top 20 in the World at that time" said Hoffman. "I was in shape because I was actually training to fight Miguel Cotto in Puerto Rico when he was about (6-0). I got a call from Ron Peterson saying that this Cotto kid might be pretty tough and that he had a better matchup in Vegas for me that paid just as well. I felt the fight was going very well until I ran into the biggest right hand I ever took that put me to sleep for about ten seconds!(laughing). I was winning the fight and doing real well. Just living my dream until I fell into that big right hand. I spent the rest of the night in the emergency room. They diagnosed me with a full blown concussion."

Not knowing any better, Hoffman jumped right back in the ring a few months later with a Canadian by the name of Leonardo Rojas. Rojas was 5-0 at the time but not known as a power puncher. The fight took place in September of 2002 on the undercard to the first meeting between Matt Vanda and Jesus Valverde in Saint Paul. Hoffman was stopped at 1:15 of the opening round by a punch he says he normally would have walked through.
" I just wanted to fight like in the past. I thought I was ok, so I took the fight. I took a right hand right away and got knocked out again. I went down to one knee and heard a real loud buzzing noise in my ears and head. It really scared me. Bobby Brunette was the referee in that bout. I remember telling him "Bobby, I can't fight anymore. It really scared me and I retired for the first time. I knew that I couldn't take anymore shots for a long time after that concussion in the Nelson fight. I realized that it takes a long, long time to heal from something like that. I learned that the hard way. That you can't just tough something like that out. It takes time for your brain to heal."

It would be seven months out of the ring before the call to fight would be too much to ignore. The time off proved to be the start of his career in managing, training and promoting. But Hoffman would later say that he just couldn't stay out of the ring himself.

" While I was out training for the Vegas fight in Indianapolis I met a man named Ron Kern who introduced me to his tough man tournaments out there. Back home Terry Marsh had closed down the gym and I knew we needed to reopen the boxing gym. So I took the info I learned from Ron Kern and establish the Tuff-Guy tournaments here in the cities. We ran Tuff Guy tournaments and opened the boxing gym with the money that we made from it. That is when I began managing and training fighters. I took friends like Chris Holt and Marty Lindquist and other guys that didn't have a place to train and gave them a place to go. Soon after, Darby Smart asked me to manage him. Now I manage about 18 or 19 fighters. I train about six or seven of them here locally. I have continued the management side of the sport but after a while I just couldn't leave boxing. Whenever the opportunity came up to do it, I would do it. So I have taken a lot of fights, mostly on short notice or whatever but I took them because I enjoy doing it."

From after the Lemuel Nelson fight leading into the most recent fight in Russia, Hoffman's record is far from illustrious, standing at 1 win with 15 losses. Ironically, the one win was a boxing lesson handed out to one of his own fighters!
But at second glance, Hoffman never took an "easy fight" facing guys like Willie Jorrin, Dmitriy Salita, Frankie Toledo and a long list of undefeated prospects with a combined record of 270-35-11.

Final Fight in Russia
Hoffman was in high spirits during most of our interview which took place one week before his bout with Anton Novikov in Russia. We shared pizza and a few beers ( I, the writer a coke, the fighter a beer!) at Cr Billiards in Coon Rapids. To be honest the meal of choice seemed odd for a fighter being so close to fight time but Hoffman would explain that he was already on target for the contracted weight! Hoffman spoke with a calm tone about the upcoming fight despite the fact he would be staying in a region of Russia that has suffored three separate nuclear disasters and is known by western scientist as the most polluted place on earth. Not to mention he would be facing a younger, stronger local fighter.
"I have had three weeks to get ready for this kid. I'm 36 but I'm not completely dead! I feel I can still box with anybody. I box with Tony (Bonsante) Kenny (Kost) and Wilton (Hilario). Ask any of those guys and they will tell you I can still do it. I don't have the record or demand to do what I do much anymore, and the fact I am 36 doesn't help much either (laughing)"said Hoffman comically.

Hoffman's statement shows his mind is still young for such a traveled fighter but like many fighters at the end of their career, it is evident that his body can no longer do what his mind is telling him. Hoffman's bout did not go as he had foreseen as he was stopped in the second round against Anton Novikov.
"My fight ended allot earlier then I thought it would. The first round went fast. We both landed allot of jabs, but I really couldn't move him with them. I was in good shape for the fight, but he was in great shape. I only remember being hurt with one body shot throughout the fight, until a looping left hook tagged me behind the ear that I didn't see. I was knocked out for a second or two. I remember getting on all four's, and having the longest, strangest De ja Vou, I used the ropes to get up and tried to convince the referee that I was cool. He knew better, and stopped the fight.
I don't regret taking the fight. I had the time of my life for the week I was in Russia, and I was paid more in this fight, then any other in 16 years. I did however realize my head will never be as strong as it once was, and should be. I've had to many concussions, and your never really the same after a couple. So, knowing that, and realizing I've been blessed by God for 16 years, I am really going to hang them up".

John says that he has had to sacrifice a lot because of boxing. Everything from his marriage to his house, to being in debt. Yet he continues to do it because he says he loves the sport. John says that he will continue to be part of boxing in one way or the other until the day he stops having fun with it.
"I feel fortunate to be able to be part of boxing in the state of Minnesota. Even with promoters and people not always getting along, Minnesota is one of the busiest states out there because of all the hard work we all put in to it. I feel lucky to have that and I will continue to be a part of it for as long as possible. I haven't really made any money, in fact I am in debt but I will continue to do this because I love the sport of boxing. We (Brothers Promotions) had 27 Tuff Guy tournaments, with all proceeds going directly to the boxing club. 9 Pro shows, and 7 amateur shows. My days as a boxer might be done, but I will continue to be part of the Minnesota boxing scene.

In closing, John asked if he could thank some of the people that have helped him along the way...
" In preparation for this fight ( Anton Novikov) and everything I do, I want to thank Lisa Bauch at the Uppercut Gym for giving me a beautiful gym to train my guys and myself. I also want to thank the late Tommy Brunette for being there for me. I want to thank my family. I want to thank the gentleman that owns Cr Billiards, Jerry Johnson. He is a financial supporter of Brothers Promotions. He is a big part of why we continue to do this because he has a lot of money invested. It will all come back for us as long as we do it for the right reasons."

John encourages everybody, friend or foe to come visit CR's Sports Bar on January 31st to celebrate his retirement. CR's Sports bar is 3 blocks west of University ave. on 85th. ave in Coon Rapids
763-780-1585