Boxer Mark (TNT) Tucker Jr. takes a break from his workout on the heavy bag at the Athens Health Club in Sykesville. (Photography by Phil Grout)
Written By David Greisman
Mark Tucker Jr. is the sort of man for whom the axiom “actions speak louder than words” was coined. At first meeting, he is quiet, polite and reserved. But on occasion, when he first meets someone, he is punching them in the head.
There was Richard Stewart, whom Tucker defeated by technical knockout in the first round. And there was Rubin Williams, the former world title challenger whom Tucker outpointed over 10 rounds. In all, Tucker has defeated 13 since he entered the ranks of professional pugilism in 2008. Seven have failed to last the distance.
Stewart and Williams were contenders in two of six boxing matches with Tucker that have taken place at the Danele Shipley Memorial Arena, part of the Carroll County Agriculture Center in Westminster.
The arena is the perfect place for this budding prospect in the “sweet science.” He is an Eldersburg resident, a 22-year-old country boy nicknamed “TNT,” who has drawn upwards of 3,000 people in a county where the only boxing cards that have taken place since 1916 are the ones with Tucker, according to the BoxRec.com online boxing encyclopedia.
“The people around here look forward to being able to support someone from their area,” said Tucker in an interview one afternoon before lifting weights at the Athens Health Club in Sykesville.
“Mark’s modest in speech but superior in action,” says Tucker’s father, Mark Tucker Sr. “Mark’s in exciting fights. Word gets around.”
Tucker is a light heavyweight, a division in which fighters may weigh no more than 175 pounds. As of mid-February, he was not ranked in the top 15 by any of the sport’s major sanctioning organizations, each of which has its own championship belts. The fringe International Boxing Organization, which compiles impartial, computerized rankings, ranks Tucker as its No. 49 fighter.
But he sells more tickets than the top-ranked fighter in his division.
Chad Dawson, 27, is the consensus No. 1 light heavyweight. Twice he faced former undisputed light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver in Las Vegas. Their first bout drew 911 paid attendees. Their rematch pulled in about 2,100 people, but only 1,426 tickets were sold. Another 1,309 tickets went unsold.
“The fans love Mark. He has drawn close to 3,000 people for his last two bouts in Westminster, and it is a very vocal fan base,” said Gary “Digital” Williams, a correspondent for FightNews.com and longtime expert on boxing in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Tucker sets his goals beyond being a local attraction. He wants global recognition.
“I’d like to be a world champion,” he said. “Stay undefeated, move up [in the rankings], get TV fights and just build a bigger and bigger fan base.”
There was a time when he was not even allowed to box.
“I boxed a little bit, had some bags in my basement,” says Tucker Sr. “He bothered me. He played baseball and football. For three years I said no.”
But the elder Tucker figured his son could use boxing as a way to improve his hand-eye coordination. “He started and got kind of hooked. I got him a fight. He did real good.”
That was February 2000. The teenager started concentrating more on boxing than on his other athletic pursuits. An individual sport was all the better.
“I don’t have to worry about a bunch of other people messing up on the team,” said Tucker Jr.
A graduate of Glenelg High School in Howard County, Tucker remained an amateur boxer until a little more than two years ago. When he is not boxing, he works in construction as a mason and an equipment operator. He also works a snowplow. For fun, he takes to trails in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, riding dirt bikes and driving his truck.
He describes his style in the ring as “boxer-puncher.” His father says he has “a super jab, excellent defense, super speed. But he needs to be more vicious.”
Early in their careers, boxers are often learning on the job.
Williams, the boxing writer, offered an informed, objective appraisal of Tucker: “He has grown steadily. When he first started, he was a wild child in the ring. He has settled down on his punches considerably in his last bouts. Mark has good power, but he is still learning the sport and getting fooled by veteran tricks.”
Tucker fought six times in 2008 and seven times in 2009. In a 10-month period, he went from fighting a six-rounder early on a card (in Las Vegas) to going 10 rounds in a main event in Westminster. All but three of his fights have been in Maryland. As of press time, he had a 12-round bout scheduled for April 23.
“Mark has come a long way in a very short period of time,” said Williams. “He still has a way to go, but the fact that he has faced a lot of veteran competition will only help him.”
