Automatic episode summary
Episode 5 of Still Strong brings host Keith Vance together with Marcus Willis, the professional boxer and coach who has trained him for years. Keith opens not with a resume but with his own read on the man. In the gym, when a movement would not come, Keith kept bracing for his coach to lose patience with him, a reflex he traces back to childhood nights over times tables with a good father under pressure. Marcus never did lose patience, and patience is the word Keith settles on. The formal introduction follows: a professional since 2009, 125 amateur fights and 33 professional fights, owner of Assassin Fight Club and Assassin Fight Gear, and above all a mentor. Marcus gives Keith a shirt he says he reserves for his own fighters.
Marcus traces his wiring back to a home he describes in one word, safe. Third of four brothers, he grew up with parents who worked, said goodnight every night, and ate dinner as a family, a household he compares to the Huxtables. They also handed the boys shovels and set them digging trenches for no reason other than to build them. Both parents were pillars in the community. His mother worked at the Stars Complex as sports director and manager, raised up kids in the Dunbar community, and started a community choir called the Singing Stars. His father coached at the Fort Myers Rebels, started a boxing program at the Fort Myers Housing Authority, ran the Police Athletic League program, and by Marcus's account was a phenomenal football coach. Family legend says his father took up boxing after a girl bullied him in middle school, and he made sure his boys would never get beaten up that way. Marcus was in the gym in diapers, doing contact work at five, and competing at eight, the legal age.
The conversation then goes inside the ropes. Marcus describes his second professional fight in West Palm Beach, a chapter of an unfinished book he titled Welcome to the Pros. He was caught on the chin in the second round, fought through what he calls an out of body experience, and only learned in the dressing room that the bout had been scored a draw. He does not remember the decision, and looking back he believes he was concussed. Later he walks through a Telemundo title fight when he was 17 and 3, a bout that he says would have put him in line for a top fifteen world ranking. He was outboxing a bigger, slower opponent and taking repeated illegal shots to the back of the head in the clinches, which he says went uncalled. In the sixth round his legs gave out, he reached for a clinch with his hands down, took an uppercut, rose at nine, and watched the referee wave it off. He calls it one of his two or three lowest moments, and he was back sparring two weeks later.
After the break the subject turns to adversity outside the ring. Marcus speaks openly about 2024, the year he made the most money he had ever made and lived in a friend's garage, then a trailer, while waiting on a place that was not ready. He moved the gym from Broadway to a much larger space, watched much of that money go into it, and carried the weight without letting clients see it. His aunt died of cancer at the end of October, and he says the landlords, who were pastors, answered word of a family loss with a three day notice, then called him about vehicles behind the gym while he was out of town at her wake. Keith draws the line back to the fights: people get the call wrong, and the decision that remains is whether to grow bitter. Marcus is now at a new gym on Fourth Street in downtown Fort Myers, hosted by Titan Contracting, and gives the credit away: this was not me, this was God. The episode closes with gym culture, a walk through a class, the 100 mile run Keith finished alone, and Marcus's word to anyone at their lowest.
Speakers
- Keith Vance host
- Marcus Willis guest
Chapters
- 0:25 The coach who never lost patience
Keith gives his own take on Marcus before the formal introduction, describing how he kept waiting for his coach to get frustrated with him and never saw it. He connects that fear to learning times tables under pressure as a boy, then introduces Marcus and trades gifts with him.
- 6:40 Raised safe by community pillars
Marcus describes a home he sums up in one word, safe, as the third of four brothers with parents who worked, loved openly and taught hard work. He explains how his mother served the Dunbar community through the Stars Complex and the Singing Stars choir while his father coached boxing and football across Fort Myers.
- 11:47 How the Willis brothers learned boxing
The family legend of a father who took up boxing after being bullied, the coaches who shaped him, and Marcus in the gym in diapers, sparring at five and competing at eight. Keith and Marcus also cover his brothers, his football years, and the speed that ran in the family.
- 23:38 Welcome to the pros
Marcus walks through his second professional fight in West Palm Beach, the difference eight ounce gloves make, and the right hand that put him in what he calls an out of body experience. He does not remember the decision, learned in the dressing room that it was a draw, and now believes he was concussed.
- 37:27 Emotion, faith and the book of Job
Marcus admits he cried before and during fights until he was fourteen or fifteen because he had not learned to channel the emotion yet. That opens into the seasons when his faith was challenged, including his parents divorcing and career outcomes he could not control, and why Job became one of his favourite books.
- 48:04 The Telemundo title fight
Round by round through the biggest fight of his career, with a win that he says would have put him in line for a top fifteen world ranking. He describes repeated uncalled shots to the back of the head, the reach that cost him, the count that started at four, and the stoppage he still disputes.
- 1:06:06 The year in the garage
Marcus opens up about 2024, the year he made the most money he had ever made while living in a friend's garage and then a trailer. He also moved the gym into a much larger space, watched a lot of that money go, and names the lessons he wants to hand to the people coming behind him.
- 1:24:43 Grief, landlords and a three day notice
Marcus describes being ready to give up last year under pressure from landlords he says were pastors, while his aunt was dying of cancer. He tells how they pressed him about vehicles behind the gym while he was out of town at her wake, and Keith works through what to do when God's people get it wrong.
- 1:33:42 A blessing on Fourth Street
Marcus describes the new gym in downtown Fort Myers, hosted by Titan Contracting, and the people there who have looked out for him. He refuses the credit for it and says plainly that this was God, not him.
- 1:38:54 Who a boxing gym is for now
Marcus explains how boxing has gone mainstream and who trains with him now, from women and young girls to people using it for aggression release and Parkinson's therapy. Keith and Marcus then walk through a class, from jump rope and push ups to bag work and the dreaded deck of cards, and cover what membership costs.
- 1:51:23 The hundred mile run
Marcus tells the story of training with Keith for a 100 mile run, including a 22 mile run at ten at night, and why it still hurts him that he could not be there. Keith recounts locking up at sixty miles, the stranger on a bicycle, and the support that got him to the finish.
- 2:00:55 Storms end, the sun still shines
Keith asks Marcus what he would say to someone at their lowest point. Marcus answers that the sun shines more than it rains, that rain is good for growth, that storms end, and that the thing he would tell himself right now is not to forget God.
Key takeaways
- 26:35 On being ready: Marcus says he and his brother Quentin were always in camp, so his father never had to push them to train, only to slow them down. There was no scramble to get ready for a fight because he was already ready.
- 32:35 Marcus was upset about the draw because he believed he had won, but he says he was not consumed by it. Keith names that as the life lesson: not everybody will get the call right, and it is not your job to make them.
- 51:01 Marcus says someone counted 17 illegal shots to the back of his head in the title fight and that the referee never took a point. His response was to keep fighting, because complaining does not change anything in the fight game.
Pull quotes
Marcus gives Keith an Assassin Fight Club shirt with a back print he says he only gives to his own competing fighters, telling him he is a fighter in every sense of the word.
"I like to be a beacon of light for people... because you never know what somebody's going through." Marcus says he will not let situations change who he is at the core, so he gives people the best of himself even when he is holding all his own weight.
Keith says Marcus could have taken the safe route and gone to work at Publix, and Marcus laughs that he used to work at Publix as a baker. The exchange lands on purpose: when you find it, the hard parts do not feel like work.
On the new gym: "I ain't do this, man. I didn't do this... this was not me. This was God." He adds that in a time when his faith had not been as strong, God showed him.
"The sun always shines more than it rains. And rain is good for growth. But those storms end." Marcus's closing word is to find your faith, find your purpose and not give up.
Scripture & context
- 2:00 Keith's word for Marcus, chosen before the formal introduction, is patience. He says he kept waiting for Marcus to lose patience while teaching him movements that would not come, and it never happened.
- 6:40 Marcus describes his upbringing in one word, safe. He says he can count on one hand how many times he saw his parents argue, and that both of them were pillars in the community through the Stars Complex, the Singing Stars choir and his father's boxing and football coaching.
- 41:18 Marcus names his favourite scripture, which he used to put on his fighting trunks: "The Lord prepares my hands for battle." The chapter and verse he speaks is garbled in the transcript and should be confirmed with him before it is printed.
- 43:30 Marcus says the book of Job is one of his favourite books because of everything Job went through while keeping his faith, and that he feels it is a depiction of his own life. Keith answers with Job's wife telling him to curse God and die.
- 46:33 Keith grounds the purpose of the podcast in Genesis: God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him, we are made in his image, we live and share what we have learned, and we return to dirt.
- 57:32 Marcus calls the stoppage one of his two or three lowest moments, and says he does not remember being sore or injured afterward because he was too upset and hurt to feel it. He was back sparring about two weeks later.
- 1:42:17 Marcus says girls were not really allowed in boxing gyms back in the day and that the sport has become far more inclusive, naming Tiara Brown, a WBC world champion from Fort Myers, and her cousin, who was ranked number three in the nation.
Questions answered
- Who is Marcus Willis?
- Keith introduces him as a professional boxer since 2009 with 125 amateur fights and 33 professional fights, and as the owner of Assassin Fight Club, where he coaches, teaches and mentors, and of the apparel line Assassin Fight Gear. He was 39 at the time of recording. Keith says what defines him most is that he is a mentor who shapes people rather than only teaching skills. jump · 4:00
- How did Marcus get started in boxing so young?
- His father boxed and then coached, so Marcus was in the gym in diapers and there are pictures to prove it. He started contact work at five years old and was ready to compete at eight, which he says is the legal age. Early on he sparred foster kids that his father's coach, Joe Cloud, brought to the gym. jump · 14:43
- What happened in his second professional fight?
- It was on a golf course in West Palm Beach against a fighter he describes as good, in negotiated eight ounce gloves. He was caught on the chin with a right hand in the second round and describes parts of the fight as an out of body experience, and he does not remember the decision at all. In the dressing room his brother told him it was a draw, and looking back Marcus says he is pretty sure he was concussed, though he did not know it then. jump · 28:44
- How does he handle it when the officials get it wrong?
- He says he was upset about the draw because he believed he had won, but he was not consumed by it. Keith turns that into the lesson of the episode: sometimes the person making the call gets it wrong, and the choice left to you is whether to become bitter or to get back to work. Marcus adds that even after losses his instinct was always to get right back in the ring. jump · 31:23
- What was the Telemundo title fight and how did it end?
- Marcus was 17 and 3 and fighting for an interim title that he says would have put him in line for a top fifteen world ranking. He was outboxing a bigger, slower opponent, but in the clinches he was hit repeatedly in the back of the head, which is illegal and which he says was never punished with a lost point. In the sixth round his legs gave out, he reached for a clinch with his hands down, took an uppercut, rose at the count of nine and walked to the referee, who waved the fight off anyway. jump · 51:01
- What did Marcus mean by living in a garage?
- In 2024 his apartment lease was not renewed because the landlord wanted to remodel, and a friend offered him a place that then took much longer than expected to be ready. Rather than sign a new lease, he stayed in a friend's garage for most of that year and then a trailer, with his dog, internet and electricity, while making the most money he had ever made. He says he could have left at any point but chose to stay locked in, and only a select few people close to him knew. jump · 1:07:31
- Did he ever wake up in a panic over the risk he was carrying?
- Keith asks directly, and Marcus says oddly enough no, because he believes in himself, believes God made him who he is, and believes in his purpose. He says he never had a fear of failing, only a question of whether all the physical wear was worth doing again. What re-energised him was a kid smiling because he learned something new, or one of his fighters getting his hand raised. jump · 1:19:00
- What happened with his former landlords?
- Marcus says the pressure came from landlords who were church people and pastors, and that while he was communicating with them about his aunt's illness they told him her situation was not their issue and gave him a three day notice. The day before her funeral, while he was out of town at her wake, they were calling him about moving vehicles from behind the gym for an event. He told them he had found a place and would be gone as soon as he got back into town. jump · 1:26:29
- Can boxing help someone with Parkinson's disease?
- Marcus says there is a large community using boxing as therapy for Parkinson's, and points to Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao's trainer, who has Parkinson's and does not shake much when he is holding mitts. He describes dedicated classes built for it. Keith mentions a friend, Tom Vargas, who was diagnosed a year or two ago and asks Marcus to send him anything he has on it, so this is a lead to follow rather than a medical claim. jump · 1:39:50
- What does a class look like and what does it cost?
- Classes run about an hour to an hour and a half and start with four rounds of jump rope with 25 push ups after each round, where finishing the push ups faster is the only rest you get. Then stretching, roughly eight rounds of bag work with mitt work in between, and abs, a run, or a deck of cards conditioning game. At the time of recording group sessions were $125 a month with the gym open Monday through Friday plus Saturday open gym from 11 to 3, and one on one sessions were $75 each. jump · 1:49:57
- What does Marcus say to someone at their lowest point?
- He says the sun always shines more than it rains, that rain is good for growth, and that storms end. He tells listeners to stay positive, find their purpose, and remember who they are doing it for, because there are people rooting for them. For himself right now, he says the word is not to forget God, because he had reached a point of feeling like he was doing it all himself. jump · 2:00:55
Helpful links
other
- Assassin Fight Club Marcus Willis's boxing gym, now on 4th Street in downtown Fort Myers, offering group classes and one on one training.
- Titan Contracting The Fort Myers contracting company, run by Clint Green, that hosts the gym's current space and that both men describe as community minded.
product
- Assassin Fight Gear Marcus Willis's apparel and fight gear line, mentioned in the mid episode sponsor read alongside the gym.
verse
- The book of Job Marcus names Job as one of his favourite books of the Bible and says it depicts his own life.
- 2 Samuel 22:35 The verse behind the line Marcus put on his trunks about the Lord preparing his hands for battle; the spoken citation is garbled and needs confirming.
- Genesis 2:7 The passage Keith paraphrases about God forming man from the dust of the ground and breathing life into him.
- Proverbs 27:17 The iron sharpens iron proverb Keith invokes in the opening minute to describe his friendship with Marcus.
Full transcript
Keith Vance: I learned the hard way, nothing's overnight, some days you lose, some days you survive. Still Strong, even moving slow, every step counts more than you know I found more than Marcus Willis, welcome to the podcast.
Marcus Willis: Yes sir, yes sir. Thank you for having me.
Keith Vance: Yeah, Marcus, I couldn't sleep last night. Anticipating having you here, man. I'm excited. You and I have had many a conversation after training. Yep. And you know those saying, iron sharpens iron? Yep, definitely. You have sharpened me, brother. Yeah. And I hope that through this podcast, someone else be sharpened through it. Definitely. But Marcus, I have a, I have a, I got an introduction for you here. But before I give you this introduction, I want to give you my own personal take on you. Mm-hmm.
Keith Vance: Hmm.
Keith Vance: In anticipation for having you here, just thinking about the relationship that you and I have had. Mm-hmm. You're a boxing coach, you're a boxing teacher. You know, it's at your wheelhouse. And what stuck out in my mind was when you're, when you're teaching me certain movements and I wasn't, it wasn't natural to me. Mm-hmm. It wasn't coming across. It wasn't easy for me. I found myself, I found myself worrying about you. Like, am I, I wanted to please you. Mm-hmm. I felt, I was feeling bad that I'm not catching it fast enough. Mm-hmm. And I was waiting for you to lose patience with me. Yeah. And you never did. Mm-hmm. You never lost patience with me. Um, they say that, um, what makes a person like the hard wiring, what makes a person is between just like ages zero to like seven, five or seven, what hard wires you. Mm-hmm. And, um, I think, I think that fear that I had was waiting for you to lose patience with me was, uh, when I was growing up, um, am I, I got good, I got a good dad. Yeah. I got a good dad. But when I wasn't, when I wasn't catching on fast enough and my dad was, I'm sure had responsibilities on him. Mm-hmm. For instance, I was struggling in math. Yeah. My times tables. Okay. My times tables. I still, if I see, if I see, uh, times tables cards to this day, I get anxiety. Yeah. I get anxiety because when my dad was trying to teach me and I wasn't getting it, um, that frustration came out. Yeah. And I learned under pressure. I learned, I learned how to perform under pressure. Mm-hmm. Like something flips in your brain when your dad's across from you. Yep. And he, it's, and he, and, and tears are coming down. And I'm, I'm trying to learn. 12 times 12. Ooh. You learn, you figure out how to learn. Yeah. And I was waiting for that to happen with you when I wasn't getting it. And it never happened. You continued to be patient with me. Mm-hmm. And I, I still learned. Yeah. I just learned in a different way. Yeah. So when I think about Marcus Willis, um, I think patience. Appreciate that. I think patience. My own personal take. I appreciate that. Yeah. All right. Marcus Willis. Hmm. Professional boxer since 2009. Yep. You've had 125 amateur fights. I want to hear about those fights. The good ones and the bad ones. Yeah, definitely. Uh, 33 professional fights. Mm-hmm. Um, you are the owner of Assassin Fight Club. Yep. Where you coach boxing, you teach, you mentor. Yep. Right. Yes, sir. You also own Assassin Fight Gear, which is apparel. I have some of your, your shirts. Yep. Um, apparel. And again, fight gear. Yep. Um, what I think, um, defines you the most is that you are a mentor. I've watched you. Yeah. I've watched you. You use, you use, not. just teaching the skills, but you're shaping people. I've watched you, and I admire you for that. I've watched you. And then, last but not least, you're 39 years old, brother. Getting up there. 39 years old. I noticed a little gray. Yeah, yeah.
Marcus Willis: I was just in the bathroom, and I'm like, hold on, where did he come from?
Keith Vance: I wasn't there the last time I saw you. So, Marcus, everyone that comes on the show gets a Still Strong hat. These are Richardson 112s. My kids tell me they're the best, so I want to give that to you. Cool. Thank you. You can represent us.
Marcus Willis: I got you something, too. You can take that out. Yeah, man. You have a few Assassin Fight Get shirts. This one is Assassin Fight Club shirt, but on the back, I only give these to my fighters. Oh. You know? So, these are only for my guys that compete and that fight. And I thought this was special because you are definitely a fighter, you know? And in every sense of the word, you're a fighter. Yep.
Keith Vance: Well, thank you. Yes, sir. I appreciate that. So, good deal. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. All right, Marcus. I told you that we're going to go. We're going to just take a ride down this road and where it goes, where it goes. But I told you how we're hardwired. Like, most of our hardwiring is in those early years. Yeah. So, I just want to start there. Yeah. Just take our time. The man that you are today, looking back at those early years, can you kind of trace that back to how you were, your environment you were raised in, how you were, like those early molding years. Yeah. Can we just talk about that for a while?
Marcus Willis: Man, I was born and raised in a very, very good family. I could say a word to describe it as safe. You know, my mom and my dad, they worked. You know, they definitely, they put a lot of effort into what they did and to provide for us. We were definitely brought up with a lot of love, a lot of care and a sense of self, you know. So, I'm the third of three or four brothers, you know. My oldest brother is seven years older than me. I have a brother, Quentin, two years older than me. And then my younger brother, Leighton, he's 11 years younger, you know. So, all four boys, you know, but we had very, very good parenting. I could count on one hand how many times I've seen my parents argue, you know. Every night we went to sleep with them, you know, telling us goodnight. They love us, they kiss us and everything. We ate dinner as a family together. Like, my family was like the Huxables. My family was like the Huxables, you know. But we, I mean, we definitely knew what it was to work, you know. It wasn't, we weren't fed on a silver spoon or anything like that. We knew the value of hard work, definitely. Like, we were out there digging trenches. I think my dad would just give us shovels just for no reason, you know. Like, just to build us up, you know. Like, what are we digging a trench for? What are we out here digging for? You know, but we were taught, like, hard work. And both my parents were pillars in the community, too. So, just the loving family, you know. Came up with the loving family and a lot of values and everything that I still hold on to this day.
Keith Vance: You said your parents were pillars in the community. Let's talk about that.
Marcus Willis: So, my mom, she worked at the Stars Complex. Before that, she worked at, I can't remember. There was another after school program that she was at before the Stars. Okay. But she's always been in the community, you know, just raising up a lot of the kids in the Dunbar community. She was a director and, like, she was, like, the sports director and the manager at the Stars Complex. Okay. And she also, my mom, we grew up in church. My mom sang and she started a community choir called the Singing Stars, you know. Nice. So, you know, I was in that choir, too, you know. Right. But, like, me and my brothers, we were in the choir and a lot of the kids in the community that could sing and some that couldn't, you know, were in the choir. But my mom, she gave a lot of herself, you know, to the community with that choir and, you know, with Raising Kids at the Stars Complex. My dad, he coached at the Fort Myers Rebels back in, I think, he started in the 80s, you know, late 80s. He started at Rebels. And he fought, you know, in Milwaukee. From school up until high school and everything. Well, right before, I think he stopped when I was two years old. He stopped fighting. A year or two years old. But he used his knowledge to give back to kids. He was at the Fort Myers Housing Authority first. He started a boxing program there. And then the Fort Myers Powell Police Athletic League, my dad, ran the program there. Okay. But, and, you know, he was a stellar football coach. You know, my dad was like, he was a phenomenal football coach. A lot of his kids went to national tournaments. He, you know, he's had, my dad had, I think they traded a rule on my dad because he would run up the score. Like his kids were so talented. And he was a mad scientist when it came to the playbook, man. He was a really good coach.
Keith Vance: He gave it everything he had. He was, he was eating it up. Definitely. Nice. Definitely. Yep.
Keith Vance: It, your proper introduction I gave you, one of the last things I said was you were a mentor. Yeah. And you just described your parents. Exactly. And so when I said, hey, most of the hard wiring that happens is early on in life. It's no surprise to me that you are a mentor yourself from watching your parents. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's.
Marcus Willis: Definitely. Yeah. It trickles down, man. My, my, my oldest brother, Larry, he was ranked number three in the nation before he went to the army. Hold on.
Keith Vance: He was a fighter as well? Yeah.
Marcus Willis: Yep. Yep. Yep. Okay. So all three of us fought. The only one that didn't fight was my little brother, but he can't fight, you know, he never competed, but he could fight. Larry. Larry.
Keith Vance: So let's, let's talk about that. Yeah. How did, how did the, the three boys get in the fighting? Obviously your dad taught you like, let's, let's, let's, let's talk about that for a while.
Marcus Willis: Well, legend tells it. My dad used to get beat up. He's get bullied in middle school. And this girl used to beat my dad up. Oh my God. So, so like my, my dad, he tells a lot of stories. Like sometimes, you know, like he can fabricate a story, you know? Okay. Um, he tells a story about when this girl, you know, beat him up and, or, or they, they get ready to fight and his sister comes out with the chair. So he's thinking his sister is going to help him. And, uh, she has popcorn. I'm like, most fights don't last that long. How she had time to pop popcorn and grab a chair. But, uh, my dad fabricates a lot of stories, but, uh, this girl used to beat up, like she terrorized the neighborhood, you know? So, uh, so he wasn't the only one that got beat up by her, but he tells a story. Like, you know, the reason I got in spite was cause you know, this girl used to, you know, beat me up and I wanted to protect myself. So he started boxing, you know? So. Was there a, a, a local gym that he was going to, or how did. So when he started boxing, I believe he started boxing with coach, um, coach John Doherty. Okay. Uh, John Doherty is an Irish guy. Um, he passed some years ago, maybe five years ago. Uh, coach John was a really like really cool, you know, just Irish guy, old school, um, Catholic, you know, always had rosary bees and, you know, but, um, he was, you know, stern, you know, like there were, there was no, there was no bullshit with coach John, you know? Um, he, he didn't let anybody like slack off, you know, um, structure. Yeah. Very. Yeah. So my dad box with coach John, and then he started boxing with the guy by the name of, uh, coach Joe cloud. Cloud, Joe cloud was one of the world renowned amateur boxing coaches. Um, and you know, I don't know exactly where Joe is from, but I remember him. I was four or five years old. Got it. Um, when, when Joe was around, was around here, but Joe was, uh, I think a two or three time Olympic boxing coach. Uh, and I know the last maybe.
Marcus Willis: 25 to 30 years, he's been in Thailand, you know? So he's been, you know, living over there, training fighters over there. He's still, he's still, he's in his eighties now and he's still moving around. Nice. Yeah.
Keith Vance: So your dad was getting bullied by a girl. Yep. Learned how to throw hands. Yep. And apparently stuck. Yeah. Yeah. Cause he passed it on. He passed it on to us.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. He was like, my boys ain't never going to get beat up like this, you know? So yeah, he passed it on to all of us, you know? Um, was your dad, your boxing coach for a while? Yeah. Okay. Yep.
Keith Vance: What time did you start fighting?
Marcus Willis: So I was in a gym and diapers, you know, uh, there's pictures of me in the gym and diapers, you know, uh, my brother, Larry Jr. Uh, I think he started fighting when he was like maybe nine, eight, nine or like eight, nine or 10. Uh, And so when I was when I was one, Larry was eight at the age, you know, he was able to fight. So, yeah, I started boxing. I started doing contact when I was five years old, you know. So I was like, you know, ready to fight at eight years old when that's the legal age to compete. But at five years old, I was already, you know, like sparring and everything. So let me ask you a question.
Keith Vance: I don't imagine that there's very many five year olds that are in the boxing community. So at five years old, who are you sparring against?
Marcus Willis: Well, Coach Joe, Coach Joe Cloud had some foster kids that he had and they were around my age. So he brought them to the gym and we would beat each other up. You know, I have very vivid memories of us. Like just sometimes we would just go at it without the gloves, you know. But yeah, there were some other kids that were my age that, you know, were at the gym, too. You know, not a lot. But they kind of like, you know, fills it off a little bit. And then I was sparring kids that were, you know, like my age or older. Like I was seven, eight years old and there were a lot of kids that couldn't compete with me. So like, you know, it was kids would be there and they would be gone. And for a while, I didn't have a lot of sparring partners or it changed a lot.
Keith Vance: The reason why I asked is my brother is about five years younger than me. And, you know, brothers wrestle. We were just always, you know, wrestling. Yeah. And so he was used to going up against me. So when we moved to Florida, there was a local freestyle wrestling place that we both joined. Okay. And my brother just, dude, he just dominated. And the reason why he dominated was he's like, oh, you're the same size as me. Yeah. And he was used to wrestling me. So when he saw somebody his size, there was something unlocked in his brain. Dude, he was just good. He just dominated. And so I was curious, you know, five years old, if you were, you know, like boxing people bigger than you. And now you're, I was just curious. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Yeah. I didn't start. So my brother, Quentin, he's two years older than me and Quentin is bigger than me. I, I tell people Quentin is more athletic to me. Quentin is the more athletic out of all of us, out of all the brothers. And I didn't start sparring with Quentin until I think I was maybe 13 or 14 and it hurt. It hurt. Quentin, he can punch, man. He could punch. Always.
Keith Vance: It's funny you say that because, uh, I remember talking to your dad one time and your dad said, Marcus is good. He's a quick, quitting hits hard. Yeah. So.
Marcus Willis: Yep. Yeah. Really hard. Really hard.
Keith Vance: You, one of the, talking about your brother, one of the first times that I came to take a class with you, um, I was warming up and, uh, your brother came in, you know, with his long, long hair. Dreads. Yep. He just kind of, you know, he was, he was nice, introduced himself, real cordial. Mm-hmm. And, uh, he grabbed a jump rope and he just was over there warming up and I'm in pretty good shape. Mm-hmm. But that man was on that jump rope and just was going forever, brother. Yeah. He was going forever. Just boom, boom. Just like natural. It was going forever. I was like, hmm, okay. There's a, there's a whole nother level here. Yeah. There's a whole nother level here. So that's, well, that's what I remember about Quentin. Yeah. Was he was on that jump rope, dude. Just long time, long time. Not even slowing down. Yeah. That's crazy. Um, all right. So can you describe for me, like what it was like for you in school? I think you played football, didn't you?
Marcus Willis: Yeah. I played football. I played football from, you know, five years old up until, uh, my, junior year in high school. I believe I stopped playing football. Okay. Yeah. Um, but yeah, uh, we were really good athletes. You know, um, I was scoring 20 plus touchdowns a season. Uh, always like the top dog on my team leader, uh, captain and everything. Um, play both ways, you know, um, offense and defense and special teams. I even played kicker, you know? Wow. So I kicked there. There, there is, uh, I would kick the ball. I'll, I was a kicker for kickoff and I had, I had a kick. I would kick it past the 10 yard line, you know, at nine, 10, 11 years old, you know, and kicking it. I would be the first one down there too. Wow. And get the tackle. You know? Yeah. So the speed. He came. The speed was in our family. You know, my dad was fast because he had to run from that girl that beat him up most of the time. And my mom was my mom ran track, too. So we had speed in our family, you know. Got it. Yeah. So and, you know, like I wouldn't say all of us fast. My brother Larry wasn't the fastest, but he was quick. You know, he played linebacker. Me and Quentin played receiver running back. I played a little bit of quarterback and defensive back, you know, so we're all over the field.
Keith Vance: Listen to you talk. Well, man, kudos to your parents for investing in you boys. Yeah. Like your work ethic, your talent. Sounds like all of that was not by accident. Yeah. That was an intentional investment by your parents. Yeah. Poured into you. Mm-hmm. And that's good to see, man. Definitely. Yeah. I love your dad. Yeah. I've only met him a few times, but he just like I vibed with him right off the bat. Mm-hmm. Just a humble guy. Yeah. But you could tell, even in his older age, you could tell he could get with it if he did it too. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: He still got it. He still got it, man.
Keith Vance: Marcus, I'd like to... I could go two ways with this. Mm-hmm. I could go two ways with this. All right. Let's do this.
Keith Vance: The name of the podcast is Still Strong. Mm-hmm. Okay. Still Strong, my demographic. I just turned 50. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? But not done yet. I still got stuff I got to do. I still push myself. I still got boundaries I'm trying to push. I haven't given up yet. So, Still Strong in my demographic. But also, Still Strong after life adversities. Yeah. After overcoming a hardship. Mm-hmm. Okay. So, I kind of want to do two things right now. Mm-hmm.
Keith Vance: I want you to describe for me... You pick whatever fights you want. Amateur fights, pro fights, I don't care. I want you to describe for me maybe a couple different fights. Maybe one that turned out where you're on top and one that you lost. Mm-hmm. I'd like to know... I'd like to get an inside view from a fighter. Not just the physical training, but what goes on emotionally. What goes on mentally. Take me through the process of a fight. Okay. So, I'm going to have a fight X amount of days or months out. What's the prep like? What's the anticipation like? Stepping into the ring as the rounds go and it's the adverse... Like, I'm getting it, but then I just got a blow that I wasn't expecting. And now I'm dealing... You follow me? Mm-hmm. Take me through this and then however the outcome was after the outcome, the days after the outcome. Yeah. And then what I would like to do is maybe tie in some life challenges and equate life challenges to a fight. Yeah. And try to draw those connections. So, let's just take our time and work our way through this. So, you pick. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: Just pick whatever you want. Man, I have a lot of fight stories. I actually started writing a book quite a few years ago. I haven't gotten around to finishing it, but...
Marcus Willis: There was a fight... And I titled this chapter, Welcome to the Pros.
Marcus Willis: It was my second fight. And I had already had 125 amateur fights, you know, 108 wins, 17 losses. Wow. My first fight, I beat some guy that shouldn't even been in the ring with me. Wow. You know. My second fight was down in West Palm Beach. And... There is a weight, you know, where you can fight in 8-ounce gloves or, you know, 10-ounce gloves. If you're under 150 or 151, you can negotiate and fight in 8-ounce gloves. Okay. You're normally not supposed to fight in 8-ounce at 147.
Keith Vance: So, describe to me, for people who may not know, what's the difference between an 8-ounce glove and a 10-ounce glove? Like, what's the... Why is that significant?
Marcus Willis: 2-ounces make a big difference, you know. Why? Because there's, you know, smaller gloves, so less padding. So, you're feeling... Faster hands. You're feeling more fists, you know, than padding, you know. Okay. Yeah, and faster hands. The punches definitely come a little faster. Um...
Marcus Willis: I was, uh... In... Always in great shape. And... This fight... So, the first time I fought was in a middle school. Um... The second time I fought was on a really nice golf course in West Palm Beach. Lights, it was all done up, all the glitz and glamour, big stage, nice crowd, everybody dressed up to the tee. I don't remember what fight I was. I was maybe like a second or third fight, and four-round pro fight is my second fight, and I fight this Spanish kid, and I'm excited. I'm ready.
Keith Vance: Hit the pause button. Yeah. Are you going eight-ounce gloves or ten-ounce gloves? These were eight-ounce gloves. Eight-ounce gloves. Yes, so this fight was eight-ounce gloves. So, you negotiated for eight-ounce gloves.
Marcus Willis: I was cool with it. Yeah. Brazil, you're good with it. Yeah, I'm like, I'm ready. You know, like, I already know who I am, what I've done in the amateurs. I'm like, I know what I'm about to do in the pros. I'm ready. Like, so it don't matter who's in front of me. You know, I'm ready. You're dialed in. Yeah. Yeah. You've got a positive mindset. Yeah, definitely. Focused, you know. You're a good war. Yep. So, training has been good, you know. Did all the work, and getting there. How long did you prep for this fight? Oh, man. So, back in this time, I was always ready. So, it wasn't like, we were already. You're a warrior. Always prepped. Listen, you're a warrior.
Keith Vance: You're always prepped up. You're always ready for battle.
Marcus Willis: So, we were pretty much always in camp. Got it. Like, so there wasn't like, okay, Marcus, you got to fight. Let's get ready. No, Marcus is ready. You can fight right now. I love that. So, we were always. I mean, you don't have to get ready if you stay ready, you know. I love that. So, we were like, we were always ready. Okay. Like, we never had an issue with my dad. Or my dad never had an issue with us telling us what to do. Like, he had an issue with us slowing down. Like, he had to slow us down because we worked. Like, me and Quentin, we went to work. He never had to get on us to get us to do what we needed to do. We were already doing it. So, we were always ready. But this fight, you know, like, I came out and it was a good fight. I get in there. I'm doing my stuff. And this kid was good. I'm like, okay. Like, it's a fight. And he cracked me in the second round with the right hand. And I'm like, oh, okay. I feel that. Welcome to the pros. Where did you hit you? Where did you get hit? He caught me right on my chin. Yeah, right on my chin. And there is a lot of moments in the fight where I felt like it was an out-of-body experience. Where I could see myself. Like, it was a movie, you know? So, hold on a minute.
Keith Vance: So, when you're having that experience, how do you feel about that? Was it scary? Was it like, what's that emotion like? It wasn't scary. I was, like, in tune. So, things are slow motion. Okay. So, you're almost like, almost like you're playing yourself a video game. It's a video game. Exactly. Got it. It was definitely like that. You're so dialed in that you're, like, in the slow motion. You're watching. Okay, understood.
Marcus Willis: Yeah, it was like going from first person to, you know, aerial view. It was like, so it was. And this is the first time having that experience? This is my first time having that experience. This is the only time having that experience. Okay.
Marcus Willis: And there is parts of the fight where I don't remember. I remember the crowd going crazy. I remember, you know, like, doing my thing, catching this kid, like, cracking him. I remember parts of the conversations in the corner with my dad and my brother, you know. I don't remember the decision. So, we get back to the dressing room. And I'm talking to my brother. I'm like, I won that fight, right? He's like, yeah, I thought you won it. I'm like, no, I won that fight, right? Like, he was like, yeah, I thought you won it. I'm like, no, bro, like, I don't remember the decision. Like, I got the win, right? He was like, no, it was a draw. I'm like, are you serious? It was a draw. Like, I won that fight. Wow. And I'm trying to, like, everybody's cheering for me. Like, people screaming my name. And I know I fought my ass off. And it was a good fight. It was a good fight.
Marcus Willis: And I definitely, I'm pretty sure I was concussed, you know. Oh. And, you know, just like having moments like that. Happens in boxing, where a lot of fighters, we get hit in the head for a living. So, that brain gets rattled, and there's moments where you probably don't hear a lot about it, where fighters talk about it or are open to really share a lot of the experience that happened with the dangers of boxing. You know, but that was one of my, like, I was like, okay, welcome to the pros. Like, that was one of my, like, you know, I guess impactful moments in the pros. It was my second fight and everything. But my third or fourth fight, I fought on ESPN, Friday night fights and everything. So, hold on a sec.
Keith Vance: Your second fight, you don't remember the decision. Yeah, it was very spotty. It was a draw. You came to the conclusion that you're concussed. And this is your profession now, and it's only your second fight. So, that had to, hmm, got it.
Marcus Willis: Well, I didn't know I was concussed then. But looking back. Looking back, I know I was concussed, yeah. Got it. Mm-hmm. I was like, I just got hit hard, you know. You know, it happens, you know. So, got rattled a little bit, got hit hard, and, you know, this is, this is, this is where I'm at. This is the life that I've been dealt and everything. This is what, this is the profession that I'm living in. So, this is, it comes with it. It comes with the territory. Mm-hmm.
Keith Vance: And you love that profession. Definitely. Yeah, I can tell. Yeah. So, your brother says it was a draw. Mm-hmm. You gave it everything you had. Mm-hmm. You were anticipating the win. It wasn't a loss, but it was a draw. Yeah. So, it was almost like, well, I don't want to put words in your mouth. I would, if it was me, I'd be like, well, that was a waste of effort. Mm-hmm. I went through all this. Just, like, give me the, if I'm, give me, at least, if I lost, I lost. Like, now it's just a, like. Yeah. It's a letdown. It's a letdown. It's a letdown. So, okay. Can you describe, was that, what kind of emotions were there? And then how long did those last? Or did you just, did you just bounce back up and move on to the next thing? Or was it, were there some emotions there?
Marcus Willis: I think with, with, with the draw, it's not, it's not that heavy. I'm like, you know, in the moment, I'm like, well. Got it. You know, got to get back, do it again, you know.
Keith Vance: But it's also a reflection of your record.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. But it's better to have a draw than it is a loss. Sure. Got it. So, I wasn't, I was upset about it because I knew it should have been a win. But I wasn't. Oh, man. I wasn't consumed in it.
Keith Vance: Got it. Yeah. What you just said, and like I told you, you just hit something heavy, brother. Mm-hmm. You just hit something heavy.
Keith Vance: You said I should have won.
Marcus Willis: Mm-hmm.
Keith Vance: Sometimes, sometimes the man that's making the call doesn't get the call right. Yeah. But he's the one making the call. Mm-hmm. And now you got a decision to make. Am I going to let this, am I going to become bitter about this? Mm-hmm. Am I going to go after this guy for not making the call? Am I going to just dust myself up and get back and go again? Sometimes people get it wrong. Yeah. It hurts when people get it wrong, doesn't it? Definitely. It hurts in life when people judge you, they characterize you a certain way, and they get it wrong. Mm-hmm. But you just said I didn't get consumed with it. Yeah. That's important. Mm-hmm. Because I think we can get consumed with it. We can get caught up in the emotion of the draw, how that wasn't right, and play the tape over and over and over again and get stuck in that cycle of that. Yeah. But at the end of the day, we got work to do. We got to move on. Yeah. I appreciate that. That was a good, I'm glad you brought that up. Yeah. That's a life lesson. Yeah. That's a life lesson. Yeah. Not everybody's going to get it right, and it's not my job to make sure they get it right. Yeah. Okay, God, God, you allowed that to happen. Mm-hmm. I'm going to take it that that was what I needed in life. Yeah. I'm going to learn from it. I'm going to get ready for the next one.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. That was a good lesson. Yeah. No, definitely. Even with losses, I was the type of fighter like, if I got a loss, I'm like, no, I need to get right back in there. You know? So let's talk about a loss.
Keith Vance: Yeah. Tell me about another fight. Walk me through a process of a fight that you can remember where you got the loss. I mean, dang, you had 125 amateurs, 30, 30-something. You got a whole bunch to pick from. Yeah. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: I would say a notable loss. I have notable fights that shaped me and kind of, you know, like. You look at the sport differently. Okay. It made me stronger because they should have weakened me. Let's hear it. So I was, I believe, 17 and 3 at the time. And I had a fight on Telemundo. It was for, I think it was an N-A-B-A or W-B-A interim title. And I can't remember the guy's name. But big, you know, I think his last name was Melendez, something like that. But big junior middleweight, tall. He's like 6 foot, you know. And we looked him up, you know. He could punch, but he was slow. Oh, you're doing homework.
Keith Vance: Yeah. Oh, you're always. Always. You're doing homework on your fighter. Always.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. I would never take a fight without looking at who I fought. Got it. You know. But, yeah, he was a big puncher, you know. Tall dude. Massive, you know. But he wasn't the skilled fighter that I was. He wasn't fast. He wasn't, you know, he was just strong, big and strong. And that's never been an issue with me. Like I told you, like, Quentin could crack, you know. So, I was used to power. You're used to it. I was used to power. This was, I believe, an 8 or 10 round fight. And winning this title would have gotten me ranked in the top 15 in the world. Wow.
Keith Vance: So, there's a lot of pressure.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. A lot of pressure. But, like, I wasn't. I was cool with pressure. You weren't feeling the pressure? Yeah. No, I never did. I was always, like, locked in on whether there was a crowd or not, there's going to be a ring. And I'm going to do what I have to do in that ring. I didn't care what was outside the ring.
Keith Vance: You not feeling that pressure had to have gone back to you putting on a set of gloves and a diaper. Yeah. It's just your environment. Yeah, exactly. This is what I live and breathe. This is normal to me. Yeah. That's a good skill set to have.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. I would say I was nervous up until I was maybe 14, 15. You know? Like, I would cry before fights. You know? You know, like. You would cry? I would cry, yeah. Like, from. I would cry in fights. You know? While I'm beating somebody up, I would cry, you know? But, like, from 8 to 14, maybe 15, I was nervous, you know? So, hold on a minute. I want to get.
Keith Vance: You just said something interesting. Yeah. You're beating somebody up and you're crying. Yeah. What is that?
Marcus Willis: Just some raw emotion coming out? Yeah, I guess because you're fighting, you know? Like, I mean. Wow. You get in a fight and you're like. Like, so it's all of your emotions, you know? All of your emotions. So, when you're young, you don't really know how to channel those emotions. Oh, that's good stuff, man. So, it's like. So, it's like. I'm in a fight, you know? Like, it's competitive. I'm like, you know? Like, this kid's trying to hurt me. I'm trying to hurt him. Like, it's more. It's more emotions in it because, you know? I think there's a fear. And. There's a maturity or immaturity with emotions at that age, you know? I think with the. I was 14, 15. I think I had maybe like 50, 60 fights. Wow. So, by that time, you know, it was like. Okay. Like. I've been doing this, you know? For a while. I went on a 30 fight win streak, you know? I was still nervous for a while, you know? But. I want to.
Keith Vance: I want to get back to this fight. That we're talking about. But you're hitting some good stuff. And I don't want to lose. Yeah. I don't want to lose my thought. Mm-hmm. You said. At 14, 15 years old. You're crying while you're fighting because of the emotion. You don't know how to channel that emotion yet. Mm-hmm. And it took several fights for you to learn how to channel that emotion. Yeah. If you translate that to real life. Mm-hmm. Oh, man. You translate that over to real life. When you look back at times of adversary, times of hard times. There's a whole bunch of emotions. Yeah. There's fear. There's self-doubt. Especially, you know, my wife and I were married real early on. I had babies right off the bat. Mm-hmm. And then life hits. And there's that. Man, this is all riding on me. Yeah. You know, like a whole bunch of emotions. But sitting where I'm at now at 50 years old. Like the stuff they used to... freaked me out when I was 19. It don't even, it ain't even a blip in my heart rate. Like, I've been in some dogfights. Yeah. I've been in some dogfights, and those hard times,
Keith Vance: they refine you. They forge you. They make you harder. Man, they're so good, aren't they? In the time, we just want out. Yeah. But as we persevere and get through it, it does something to you. It hardens your metal. Yeah. And then you find that, you know what, it's just another day in the life. Yeah. If I made it through that, I can make it through the next one. And then you throw in on top of that, as a man of faith, that whatever comes into my life is filtered through the hands of a loving God who knows me, who made me, and is trying to forge me and make me into something. Yeah. And that is going to be okay. Yeah. Because, God, you got me. Yeah. I can't see that. I can't see how this is going to end up good. But you haven't let me down yet, and you're going to let me down in the future. Yeah. So what you just said, dude, that's why I want to bring these fights and stuff that you've been through, translate them over to real life. Yeah. And when you say something, I'm just going to say, hey, dude, that's good. Definitely.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. So one of my scriptures, my favorite scripture was 2 Samuel 20 to 135. The Lord prepares my hands for battle. Nice. And my hands strong enough to leap tall mountains. Yeah. I would put it on my trunks, you know. And my faith has definitely been challenged, you know, later on in my life. And, you know, towards the end of my career and everything, there's a lot of things that happen in life that kind of, you know, like, made me question a lot of things, you know. Let's see.
Keith Vance: I want to get back to this fight you lost. Yeah. But since I want to hear about this. Yeah. So since I kind of made that little segue, let's stick with it.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. So I would say, like, during my career, like, I was, like, well, from. When you said your faith was challenged. Yeah. There's a lot of things that happen, you know, with my parents divorcing and things in my career that I couldn't control when I knew I did the work. Yeah. And I was, you know, like, in my Bible, I was in the church. And, like, so I was doing the things that I thought I was supposed to be doing that God, you know, asked me to do as well. Yeah. You know, and certain things didn't go my way, you know. So I'm like, why? You know, like, I'm doing what I need to be doing. I'm putting the work in. I'm living correctly, you know. And.
Keith Vance: And from your perspective. From my. Yeah. From your perspective is not paying off. Yeah. The way that you would anticipate. Exactly. Got it. Yeah. So let's. Let's.
Marcus Willis: So. Um. And I'm getting to a point now to where. I'm accepting, you know, like, or I'm I'm learning that. Uh. God has a different plan or, you know, things don't always work out the way that you think they are, you know, going to going to go, you know. Uh. So I'm just trying to like always be the positive person I am no matter what comes about, you know. And. The book of Job is one of my favorite books. Really? You know, because everything he went through and to continue to have the faith, you know, that he did. But I feel like that's a depiction of my life, you know.
Keith Vance: That takes maturity to get there. Yeah. It takes maturity to get there. To quit beating your head against the wall. Yep. And say, okay, God. Yeah. What's the plan? Yeah. And man, you mentioned Job. I mean, Job's own wife turned against him. Can you imagine that? Yeah. Hey, why don't you just curse God and just die? Yeah. Can you imagine? Yeah. Like, um, I know you're not married, so maybe you can't relate to this, but what's kept me in the fight? And again, God, God has a way of putting people in your life to keep you where you're supposed to be. Yeah. And, uh, the world can be against me, brother. I can go outside these walls, put on my battle and do whatever I got to do. The world can be against me. But I come home to my wife who loves me. That's amazing. And, uh, I need that. Yeah. Because that's where I find a lot of my stability. Um, I need that. Yeah. That's been God's grace to me. Yep. But listen to you talk about that maturing process. And it is a process, isn't it? Yeah. But, would you give it up?
Marcus Willis: No. No. No. I think what I've been through has definitely made me the person I am. Yeah. And to be able to give the knowledge back to these up-and-coming fighters. And I think that that's where I'm at now, is realizing that the things that I've been through, you know, like, with fighting, you know, I tell people, like, my goal has had an expiration date, you know, when it comes to fighting. So, now, what I live for is helping protect these up-and-coming fighters, or people that just, you know, want to learn how to box, or just need that mentorship. Helping them dodge, you know, all the adversities, or whatever life throws at them. But to give them the tools to fight, you know, when it comes to, like, life situations, and letdowns, or just to steer out of the way of, you know, all those problems.
Keith Vance: That's good, because what is a mentor? A mentor is a navigator of a ship. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? You're navigating. And how are you such a good navigator? Because of the stuff that you've been through.
Keith Vance: And that's, thank you for sharing that. Yeah. Because I've said it several times on this podcast, and that's why I think this is meant to be. I think God has something in this space. Mm-hmm. Because, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. We come from dirt. Mm-hmm. God formed man from the dust of the ground. He breathed in his life, and man became a living soul. Mm-hmm. When he breathed into us, we became something special. You know, we're created in the image of God, and then he gives us a life. He gives us a life that has purpose and meaning. Mm-hmm. And when we can share that with others. Mm-hmm. When we can just be...
Keith Vance: Let people take a look inside. Let you see my chinked up armor. Let you see my scars. That has an effect on someone else. And then, you know what? We live this life. We share our experiences with others, and then we go back to dirt. Mm-hmm. We go back to dirt. Yeah. So, to be able to share and mentor and what you've learned to pass it on and to encourage and to, again, I'll go back to what you and I talked about. Walk away sharpened after being around Marcus or being around Keith. Let's get after it. Yeah. Let's get after it. I appreciate that about you, man. Yeah. All right. So, we went off a little rabbit trail, but it was good. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Telemundo. You're fighting a guy that got long reach, and you did the work on him. He's a heavy hitter, but he's slow.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. So, first round, somebody, like, pretty much, after the fight was over, they translated what the commentators were saying for me because I wasn't avid in Spanish. Oh, wow. You know? So, I knew I was winning the fight. First round, you know, I'm out boxing him, you know, like, just feeling him out. And I'm like, yep, he's slow just like I thought. I see everything coming. And I was touching him. Pop, you know? Like, just seeing what was open and, you know, what I had access to. And he couldn't touch me. And I was, like, cracking him. Second round, same thing. But he slipped in a nice little right hand. He caught me with the right hand. I'm like, oh, okay. There goes the power. I feel it. You know? He caught me with a nasty right hand. But I recovered, got back to boxing and, you know, touching him up. Second round could have went to him because of just that one right hand. Other than that, I won the round. Now, from there, third round on to up until, like, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, I was just blasting him. You know? He couldn't touch me. Like, I was, like, flashy. I was, he couldn't touch me. I'm cracking him, touching with everything I'm throwing, you know, my speed. Like, I'm a pretty fast fighter, you know? Yeah. And I was, so I was catching him with a lot of stuff and everything. And I'm coming back to the corner, like, I'm about to win this title. I'm about to win this fight. I'm finna have a belt. I'm finna be ranked. You can taste it. Yeah. You can taste it. I knew it. I felt so good.
Marcus Willis: And during the fight, every time we got in close on a clinch, he would hit me in the back of the head. You know? Like, overhand right, like, right to the back of my head.
Keith Vance: And again, for someone who doesn't know a lot about fighting...
Marcus Willis: That's illegal. That's illegal. Yeah.
Keith Vance: And it wasn't getting called?
Marcus Willis: It wasn't getting called. It was not getting called. Okay. Do you think there was a bias there? Yeah. Definitely. Black fighter fighting on an all Latin network. There's definitely some bias, you know, but it's fighting, man, you know. And again, you can't control a bias. Exactly.
Keith Vance: You can't. You can't hit the pause and say, hey, committee, he's sitting me in the back of the head. It is what it is, and you've got to adjust and deal with it. Exactly. Exactly. Life is not fair. Yeah. What are you going to do? Yep. So, what did you do? So, you got hit in the back of the head. I kept fighting. You kept fighting.
Marcus Willis: You're going to fight about it or complain about it. You know, the complaint ain't going... It won't... It's not going to change anything when it comes to the fight game.
Keith Vance: You already know that the narrative is against you. Yeah. Yeah. But, in spite of that, you're winning.
Marcus Willis: I'm winning. So, sixth round, I come out and my legs are like jello. Why? I got hit in the back of the... Somebody counted... They said they counted 17 times. I got hit in the back of the head. Wow. So... So, hold on a minute. You got hit 17 times in the back of the head? The ref never took a point. Probably gave him maybe one warning.
Keith Vance: And your corner, there's no... There's... Your corner's not... Like, they're just not listening. Yeah. They just don't care.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Okay. Well, not my corner, but... No, but I'm saying the ref. The ref. The ref just doesn't care. Yeah. So, I come out in the sixth round and my legs are shot. You know? Wow. Like, after... I wouldn't say it was a tough fight up to this point. Because I outclassed him. Right. The only tough part was getting hit in the back of the head during clinches.
Keith Vance: Okay. This is another... And I'm sorry to keep doing this to you. But this is good stuff. Yeah. So, you're outclassing him. Mm-hmm. You're a better fighter. Yep.
Keith Vance: The narrative is against you. You're in a different territory and you're the outsider. And it sounds like the only way that he can keep up is to cheat. Yeah. So, he's... There's a lot at stake here. Mm-hmm. He got away with one back hit to the back head. Nothing really happened. And you said 15 times he hit you the back head and they lost a point or something like that.
Marcus Willis: No, he never lost a point. He never lost a point. Never lost a point. 17 times. Somebody said he counted. 17 times. Yeah.
Keith Vance: So, the only way he can keep up with you is to cheat. Yeah. And the only thing that you can do is to keep going. Mm-hmm. Yep. So... Again, it goes back to real life. Yeah. So, keep going.
Marcus Willis: So, sixth round, my legs are, you know, shot. And I'm still moving, boxing. You know, I'm winning the round.
Marcus Willis: And he steps back. I go to grab him. Cardinal mistake. You know? He throws an uppercut. While I'm reaching out, catches me. I go down. The uppercut that he hit me with wasn't as hard as the right hand he caught me with in the second round. Can you describe to me or explain to me why that's a cardinal mistake? Well, anytime you're reaching and your hands leave your face, you know? Like, your hands should never leave your face to go grab a guy. Right. You know? Because now you're exposed, you know?
Keith Vance: You've taught me that a few times. I did. You had pads on. Yeah. But you still, you say, hey, hands back, hands back, hands back. And I think you got tired of saying hands back. You just went. I'm like, oh, that's why. And then I brought my hands back. Yeah. So, sometimes you just got to, like, pop.
Marcus Willis: Definitely. I've been through it. So, why were you reaching for him? I was going. Like, I was. My legs were shot. You're a little tired. I was going for a clinch. You know? Got it. I was going for a clinch. You know? Trying to buy time. Got it. And reached out and got cracked with an uppercut. And like I said, the uppercut didn't have as much pop on it as that right hand he caught within the second round. But from getting hit in the back of the head, you know, from, you know, like, all the abuse taken back there and then, like, the length of the fight, you know, that uppercut mattered. Right. At that time. I went down. As soon as I went down, I looked to my dad, let them know, hey, I'm good. You know? Which I was. The referee starts counting.
Keith Vance: Can I ask you another question? Yeah. That's got to be hard for your dad. Like, I got boys. I got boys. Yeah. And if I see my boy be mistreated, not treated very well. Really? That's got to be hard for a dad. I feel emotion for your dad right now, because when you said, I'm on my knees, I look over at my dad. If you were my boy, I'd jump in there and start, I would cause some havoc. So, that's, hmm. Your dad must have been feeling something, huh?
Marcus Willis: There has been some times, man. There has been some times where he's flipped out. All the cops called on him. Good. Good. Yeah, so there's been some. We've had some times where things didn't go the way that they were supposed to go when he's flipped out and lost it. But yeah, man, this fight, I went down. On your knees, you look at your dad. I look at them just, hey, I'm good. Good, dad. Good pops. And the referee starts counting at four. I'm like, what happened to one, two, and three? So, I get up at nine, and I walk to him. My legs are good. I walk directly to him. And I know this ref, too. Yeah. And he waves it off. Really? I'm like, what? I'm winning this fight. I'm good. But I got upset. I was mad. I'm like, I'm good. Look at me. I'm walking right to you. I'm winning this fight. What are you doing? And that fight, man, knowing I was winning that fight. If that fight would have went on, I probably would have stopped this kid. Really? Because his nose was bloody. His eye was swollen. His lip was busted. You see the picture of us after the fight, you're like, yeah, Marcus won that fight. I look unscathed. Wow.
Marcus Willis: And that one, it really messed me up because I have the opportunity to be ranked in the top 15 in the world. It could have changed your whole life. It could have. It could have. Like, I could have had my first title, you know? This is what I've been working for all my life, you know? So to take that away from me, you know, that was, it was devastating, you know? So in your fighting career, was this one of your lowest moments? Yeah, I would say. Yeah. Probably top, yeah, top two, top three. Yeah.
Keith Vance: So how long did those, how long did those emotions last? How long did it take the bounce back and then describe to me those emotions? Were you bitter? Oh, yeah.
Marcus Willis: Yeah, I was.
Marcus Willis: It was tough. Like, I was ready to fight again, you know, right away. But it was tough accepting defeat when there shouldn't have been defeat. Yeah. You know, knowing that, you know, like, I was winning this fight and watching it quite a few times because, you know, it was on television, you know? So people saw it. And everybody sharing with me like, hey, the commentator's like, yeah, Marcus is too fast for him. He's beating him. He's winning every round. The commentators were, in Spanish, they were on my side. You know, they had me winning. They were explaining that my talent and my skill set was too much for my opponent. And that the only way that he could win was to be able to knock me out. And it came fraudulent. But it was still a knockout, you know? And I should have won this fight. So it definitely, like, you know, like, to... It's hard to accept defeat when you know you've done everything you're supposed to do. Yeah, I can imagine. You know? I can imagine. Yeah. And at that stage and everything and what was riding on it, you know? The opportunities that would have come after it, you know? It definitely, it hurt me.
Keith Vance: How long did it take you to physically recover from that fight? Like, after a typical fight, your body's taking some blows. How long did it take your body to recover from a fight?
Marcus Willis: I was young then. So I was young and I was upset. So I don't even think I... I don't remember being in pain after that fight. I was too upset and hurt to, like, really feel pain after that fight.
Keith Vance: You're just a freaking... You're a warrior. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. I was ready to go again.
Keith Vance: So the physical stuff, it was the emotion. Yeah. Yeah. And the unfairness.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think I was back sparring or back in the gym two weeks after that fight. Wow. I don't remember being sore after that fight. Wow. Like, I can't place a memory on being injured after that fight.
Keith Vance: Let me ask you another question.
Marcus Willis: But there are some where I was like, you know.
Keith Vance: I want to hear about those. I'm going to ask you another question about this particular fight. You said you're back in the gym like two weeks later sparring.
Keith Vance: Your mindset. Did you use that loss as fuel? Did you ever feel like giving up? Like, man, I came so close. Like, what were those emotions in the weeks and months afterwards?
Marcus Willis: No, I was ready. Like, I was like, there was no sense of giving up. I'm a warrior. I'm a fighter, you know. So, like, there's no giving up. You know, I've been through the adversities in the amateurs, you know. Right. Like, I've gotten dealt. Like, even though I had 108 wins and 17 losses in the amateurs, I would say half of my losses should have been victories. And on the big stage, you know, like, to where I should have won national tournaments and everything. So, like, I've dealt with the adversity. So, it didn't hinder me, you know. I was, well, this is what it is, you know. I have to, like, just get back up and do it again. Get ready for the next one. Yeah. So, what's next, you know.
Keith Vance: So, you. Okay. So, you just kind of, like, shook it off. And on to the next thing. Mm-hmm. You didn't necessarily use that loss as fuel for the next guy. You know what? Or you're always fueling up, right? Yeah. Got it. Got it. Marcus, I drank, like, a pot of coffee this morning. Mm-hmm. And it ran through me. Ha. So, I need to take a break. Okay. Has that ever happened in a fight? Have you ever, like, in the middle of a fight, just had to go pee real bad?
Marcus Willis: Not to me. I've had to use the bathroom before a fight. Yeah. And it's too late, you know. So, you just got to suck it back up. I was curious. But the nerves, they take it away. They take it away. You know, but I've seen somebody take a dump in a fight before. A long time ago. Like, somebody let one go. In some amateur fights, like, a long time ago. Yeah. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Well, I'm not going to pee my pants on my own podcast. Go ahead. Do what you got to do. Let's take a break, and we'll get back after it. All right. All right, brother. This part of the podcast is brought to you by Assassin Fight Club and Assassin Fight Gear. If you're in the Lee County area, you want to step up your fitness, learn a new skill, or purchase some apparel or gear, check out the link in the bio. Now let's get back to the show. All right. We're back from the break.
Keith Vance: Marcus, we talked about adversity in the ring. We talked about some fights and that emotional roller coaster. You know, your dad watching you when life wasn't fair and things that you should have won and didn't. Yeah. Um, I want to transition over to life adversities that you've gone through. Mm-hmm. And let me just set the stage with some things that I know about you. Mm-hmm. Um, on my, in my fitness journey, I heard that boxing is good cardio. You know, learning a skill. I heard that as you age to, to fight off, um, mental paralysis, let's just say. You know, men, we get older, we have our routines. Mm-hmm. You get in these routines. And so in a way to, to fight that, I wanted to learn a new skill. Mm-hmm. I went online, saw a couple places, but you vibed with it. You, you're, you vibed with me the most. I walked into your place over on 41 next to the hospital. Mm-hmm. And, uh, the place is packed. Bags hanging, air conditioning off. It's a sweatshop in there. Men getting after it. Kids in there getting after it. Women hitting that bag. Like, it just, it felt gritty. I was like, mm, I want to do this. You walked over, that big old Marcus smile, introduced yourself. And, um, you started training, man. We were doing private classes, right? From there, you jumped to another place. Mm-hmm. The reason why you left that place is because I think there's a, there's a car or something hit the. building, then they found out there was asbestos in the building. So you had to leave. You went to a different place. You were there for a while. And you moved to another place, and now you're at a different place. Through the time I've known you, you've moved, I think, three or four times. For a while, you were coming to my place because I think it was COVID or something was going on, so you had to adapt to that. You were doing outdoor classes. The other thing I know is we had some hurricanes here. And for a while, you're doing screen work and you're helping the community and you're working. Your work ethic, we know where you get that from, your family. I get the impression from you that whatever needs to be done, you get it done. You're not afraid to adapt. You don't lay down and give up. You aren't only a fighter with the gloves. You are a fighter in life. Yeah. Okay. Let's talk some life challenges outside the ring that you've been through. And let's speak to that for a little while. And you can pick up wherever you want.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Shoot. I would say here recently, the last two years, 2024 was...
Marcus Willis: one of my...
Marcus Willis: best and most challenging years too. I made the most money I ever made in 2024. Like, life-changing money. Nice. Um... And this is without taking punches, you know. But, uh... Made a really good amount of money in 2024. And... I was actually in a transition of, like, moving, you know. Um... So... I lived in not the most comfortable place that year, you know. Uh... But... I could have left at any point I wanted to because I was making a really good amount of money. But I was, like, you know, locked in on what I was doing. So I'm like, I'm in the trenches now. And if this is what I have to go through to, you know, make it happen like this, I'm cool with it. Explain that to me. So...
Keith Vance: What do you mean by not living in the most comfortable place?
Marcus Willis: So I was living in a friend's garage. Um... I had, you know, so my... My lease was up at the apartment I was at for a few years. And the landlord wanted to remodel and everything. So he didn't, you know, extend the lease because he was trying to remodel. Um... And... So... I was looking for a place. And I was about to, you know, like, you know, sign the lease. Uh... And in that time... Um... Uh... Another friend of mine... Uh... He was like, I got this place and I'm getting ready. You know, if you want to come and... Understood. You know, stay out here or whatever. Like, this place will be ready in, you know, this amount of time. I'm like, alright, cool. Like, I was just about to sign this lease at this new place. But, you know, like, if I'm saving money and it's you, I'm comfortable or whatever. So... The place wasn't ready, you know. Uh... It... It... It... It went through a lot of, you know... Um... Um... I guess, you know, obstacles with this place getting ready. Okay. So, in that time, I'm like, you know, living in a garage, you know, just waiting. But, continuing to, like, you know, go to the gym. A lot of people don't know this. So, this is like, you know, uh... Me... Me shedding a lot. Um...
Keith Vance: And listen, I appreciate that. Yeah. It... It takes humility and it takes courage to... Yeah. ...to do that. And thank you.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. So, I, uh... Was... Was... Emotional that year because, like, you know, moving places and then, uh... The woman that I was, you know, talking to, like, we had kind of, you know, like, you know, went our own ways. So, dealing with that emotional stuff and then just, you know, like, the gym is, like, you know, kind of new to me still. Right. Um... This is, like, when the gym had started, like, you know, like, picking up when I was on Broadway. And, uh... Things were going good. You know, like, from the outside looking in, things were going really good, you know. Um... And a lot of people didn't know, uh, my living situation. But, like, you know, I didn't show anything. I still, like, I was in a good place mentally. I was in a very... I think I... Because of that, I... I was in a very good place mentally. Just me and my dog in a garage. And, you know, like, but I went, I grinded. Like, I had internet. I, you know, had electricity and everything.
Marcus Willis: But I wasn't, like, you know, it wasn't the most comfortable situation. But I was comfortable, you know.
Keith Vance: I get the impression that you can be comfortable anywhere. Yeah. Just because of how you were built. Yep. Like a fighter can adapt to anything. Yeah. So I get it.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. So, yeah, I've been in some situations where, you know, like, people wouldn't. Like, because a lot of people think that, you know, like, I have it all. I don't, you know. And.
Keith Vance: That's another thing. Thank you for saying that. Because it's human nature for us to put our best foot forward and our best face forward. But none of us got it all together. Yeah. And to have the humility and the maturity to say, I ain't got it all together. Yeah. Because I don't either. Yeah. And it's, it's, there's a certain level of. To be okay with it. Yeah. Nobody's got it all together. Yeah. And it can be like binding to act like you do. Yeah. Yeah. It's freedom to be like, you know what? Yeah. You know what, guys? I've been living in the garage the last few years. It's liberating freedom to not have to. Oh, yeah. Pretend. Exactly. Or make sure everybody sees me a certain way. That comes with maturity. Yeah. It comes with maturity. And to be able to talk about it. Yeah. Listen, there ain't nothing about me that I'm, that I'm ashamed of. I'm an open book. Yeah. That's liberating. Yeah. That's liberating in that. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: There were a select few people that knew where I was at and everything. A lot of people that were close to me. Understood. Yeah. But, I mean, so I was in the garage for most of the year and then in the trailer, you know, while the place was still getting ready for the rest of the year. But, you know, like I was financially doing really, really well. Yeah. And then moved from the gym on Broadway to Fowler because, like, I was leasing space from another gym, you know. Understood. And we outgrew that, you know. And part of ways. On Broadway. On Broadway. On Broadway. Yeah. Yeah. It was. I remember when you were there. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Yeah. And I got the feeling like this is too small for you. Mm-hmm. And you blew it up. Exactly. You blew it up.
Marcus Willis: Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So found a bigger space and all the money that I made, well, not all the money, but a lot of the money that I made just disappeared, you know, dwindled.
Keith Vance: It dwindled in that new space?
Marcus Willis: In the new space and, you know, some investments, you know. Okay.
Keith Vance: Because when you went into the new space, you were so proud of it. Yeah. And I was proud for you. Mm-hmm. But I also had fear for you. Yeah. Because this is the biggest space you've ever been in. I've been in two other spaces. Yeah. Yeah. And this place is a lot bigger. Yeah. And I see all this work that needs to be done. Mm-hmm. And you're saying, hey, I'm wanting to do this. I'm wanting to do that. And I'm excited for you. But at the same time, I'm seeing dollar signs. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm trying to support you. Mm-hmm. But there's a side of me like, man, I hope he's got this figured out. Yeah. Because this could be really great. Or it could be. Yeah. I felt that anxiety for you. Mm-hmm. And I hope that you didn't feel that anxiety. I hope I covered it well. Because I wanted to support you. You didn't feel that good. No, I really. I wanted to support you. I wanted to support you. Yeah. But I had anxiety for you. That place is huge. Yeah, it was. It was big. Yeah. And when you told me what the rent was, it put a knot in my stomach. So.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. But the thing is, I was making that rent money for seven years. Right. Straight. Yeah. So I was making more than that rent money for seven years. Understood. So I was. It still came with a lot because it's all on me. Right. And outside of that, I'm moving. I'm moving to a really nice place. And now I got this rent plus the gym rent, you know. So I'm putting out a lot of money, you know, monthly. So I had the money to do it, you know. Yep. I wish I would have. And these are the lessons that, you know, like when it comes to like steering the ship, these are the lessons that I can pass on to people behind me, you know. And how old are you right now? I'm 39. Yeah. You got time. Yeah. You're good. Yeah. So. I wish that I would have done things differently, you know, because I had a vision of, you know, this is going to happen in this time. Like I'm mapping things out. And listen, everything is a risk. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Don't be afraid to take a risk. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. And I'm that guy.
Keith Vance: Sometimes it pans out. Sometimes it doesn't. But I'm telling you, at 39, you still got time on your head. You still have time on your side. Yeah. You're good, brother. Yeah. You're golden.
Marcus Willis: Thank you. Yeah. So. So, yeah, things were like really, really hard for me. Uh. The. The. My landlords. Um. They were a piece of work. Yeah. Uh. So just just dealing with a lot of adversities, um, and issues with them and then like, you know, having to put on a good face for everybody. Understood. Um. Be there all day, you know, training people, giving, giving my best, you know. Um.
Keith Vance: Hey. I appreciate that about you. Yeah. I've never seen you in a bad mood. Mm-hmm. Like, what you guys are seeing right now is what I've always seen. Yeah.
Keith Vance: And then to have to carry that weight. Mm-hmm. And that struggle. When somebody's paying for your time and you're giving them your best every time. Because I made this commitment to you. Yeah. That is, that says a lot about your character. Mm-hmm. And I'm glad you shared that. Yeah. And I love you for that.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm, I'm big on, you know, like. I'm not going to let situations change while you're at the core. Uh. No matter what I'm going through, you know. Um. And I like to, to be. A beacon of light for people, you know. Um. Because you never know, like, what somebody's going through. Mm-hmm. So, if a positive conversation or a positive interaction with someone, um, could help them have a better day. No matter what I'm going through, I'm going to do it, you know. Yeah. So, I like to give the best of myself no matter what, you know. So, even when I'm holding all my weight, um, I still try to present myself as the person that I am at my core. Yeah. You know.
Keith Vance: And you've done that. Yeah. I've never seen anything but this. Mm-hmm. And maybe, maybe, um, at the end of the day, whatever happens to this podcast, maybe if the only thing happens is you and I become better friends. Mm-hmm. Or you can help me carry some of that load. I want to carry some of that load. Maybe that's all, maybe this is all that's meant to be. Yeah. But you can't carry it all yourself. Like I told you, I got a wife that backs me up. Everybody needs to have a. Yeah. Have somebody. Definitely. You can't carry all of it. Yeah. So, anyway, your landlord, your pressure, your landlord's, you said it's a piece of work and you're feeling the struggle. Mm-hmm. People come in, they get the best version of you every time. Yeah. Mm-hmm. So, keep going.
Marcus Willis: So, uh, I mean, just a, it was a trying year. You know, like, I'm just trying to figure it out. And I'm like, I should have it figured out. Like, I got money that I can't touch right now that should have all the disc coverage where I should be good. And, um, just, uh, scraping the bottom of the barrel, but still making it work. Yes, sir. Um, and, and, and, you know, like, it was just a lot to deal with, you know. So, uh. Uh.
Keith Vance: Can I ask you another question? Mm-hmm. What about when you're laying in bed at night? Do you ever, did you ever wake up in a panic? Like, a sense of fear? Like, oh my goodness, I just got myself in. Like, what did I do? Did you ever backtrack? Like, when it's quiet and you're laying in bed, did you ever, like, have an overwhelming sense of panic or fear?
Marcus Willis: No. Oddly, oddly enough, no. No. Um, I believe in myself and I believe that God made me, you know, um, to be who I am. Yeah. You know, uh, and I believe in my purpose. Good.
Keith Vance: You know, so. The reason why I ask is because I have. Mm-hmm. When I've maybe tried new ventures and there's obstacles that seem to be overtaking me. And it could go one of two ways. This guy could hit it big or this could be, ugh. Mm-hmm. It seems like the fear hits me when it's quiet. Yeah. When the, when the household's sleeping. Mm-hmm. And I'm just laying there and there's this over, this, this rush of panic. Mm-hmm. This. Fear, this immobilizing fear will rush over me. I'm just curious. But you're a fighter. You don't lock up. You keep moving. You keep going.
Marcus Willis: I don't think I ever had a sense of or a fear of failing. I never thought that I would fail. And if I did, I would always get back up and fight. So, I was never worried about, okay, this is... Well, I wouldn't say that because I was like, you know what? Maybe because all the physical work, I'm in pain from 158 fights in years and years of the abuse, all the physical labor that comes with preparing for fights. And now, I'm back in it, you know, with the physical labor of catching punches, holding mitts and everything. Like, is it worth it? Like, why am I doing this? Like, I've already put in the work and beat myself up. Why am I beating myself up again? And, you know, like, it was like, I'm not making anything right now, you know? So, that was one of the thoughts, you know? Okay. But I would always get re-energized when a kid is smiling because he just learned something new. Wow. Um, one of my fighters is raising his hand in victory and his family and everybody, the whole team's cheering for him. So...
Keith Vance: So, you're getting little glimpses of the fruit of your labor. Yeah. And it's worth it. Yeah. Got it.
Marcus Willis: So, I think that's what drives me to keep going is because I see what I'm doing for other people, you know? Yeah. The knowledge and the care that I'm giving, you know, I know it helps somebody. Yeah. And it's, I'm helping people achieve their goals and become better people. So, that's big to me. And I think that's, you know, my parents, that's, you know, why they did it, you know?
Keith Vance: So, a thought that I just had.
Keith Vance: You could, you're a smart guy. You're strong. You could choose the safe route. You could, you know what? You could go get a job at Publix. You could go get a job doing whatever. Yeah. But you ain't built for that, man. Like, your purpose is this. Yeah. And like you said, when it gets hard and then you find your purpose and that kid's smile or like what you just described, that keeps you in the fight, that keeps you going. Yeah. You wouldn't be happy working at Publix. Listen, you wouldn't find satisfaction doing anything else but what you're doing.
Marcus Willis: That's funny. I used to work at Publix. I was a baker at Publix. Were you? Yeah. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Did you beat that bread? I had. Did you pound that dough, buddy? It probably made your hands so hard. But I like that because I found my purpose in life and it's not easy all the time. A lot of times it's hard. It gets difficult. But I wouldn't do anything else. Yeah. Because when you find your purpose, it's really not work. It's what you're made to be. Yeah. Yeah. It's what you're made to be. And God has. God molds us and makes us into what he wants us to be. And when we do what we're supposed to, even when it gets hard, that's what keeps us in the fight. Yeah. And you are custom built for what you do. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen you interact with people. Yeah. You're good at it.
Marcus Willis: You know, I enjoy it. I enjoy it. And this place that I'm in now, man, it's a blessing. And it's such a blessing. And I was honestly ready to give up last year. Really? Like I was at a point to where I'm like, you know what? I'm done. You know? Why? Because it got hard. It got hard. It got hard. Not only it was hard dealing with the pressure from, you know, my landlords and then just trying to figure everything out. And did they not want you there?
Keith Vance: I don't understand. What was the pressure from? If you can't talk about it, I can't talk about it.
Marcus Willis: I really don't want to talk about it, but like they weren't the. Oddly enough, they're church people. Wow. They were pastors, you know? Wow. Wow. And they were just different, you know. Making your life miserable. Yeah, it was. And my aunt, she has the same name as your wife. She passed away. Yeah. She passed away the end of October.
Keith Vance: Mm-hmm.
Marcus Willis: And she had a battle with cancer.
Marcus Willis: And just like rapidly, like she had a rapid decline. Luckily, I was up in Orlando when she was in the hospital, I guess randomly. And my family told me, hey, you know, she's. Nothing's random. Well, yeah, by God's will, you know. Yeah, no, I get you. So, I was up there for a movie premiere of Christy Martin. Okay. And I got in trouble with my family. And, you know, I always hit my family up when I'm around. You know, like, you need to come to the hospital, you know. Auntie Karen's in the hospital. It's not looking good. I'm like, why y'all just not telling me? Yeah. So.
Keith Vance: So, you're already feeling your own pressure. Yeah. And now this is on you. Yeah. So, you're feeling. Yeah. When's it going to end? Yeah. And I. Job sitting around the fire. Mm-hmm. When's it going to end? Yeah. So, you're feeling that. Exactly.
Marcus Willis: Got it. Exactly.
Keith Vance: And you're on the cusp of quitting right now. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Okay. And I'm letting them know, you know. Hey. Like, things are tough right now. I'm dealing with family situations. And, you know, like, I'm going to be late, you know. And, you know, like, they, they're like, well, that's not our issue, basically, you know. But, like, condolences to you. Like, we hope, you know, we'll pray for you. And, you know, but I'm going to give you this three-day notice, you know. Hold on.
Keith Vance: Well, I didn't understand what happened. Did your landlords give you three-day notice? When you're in. Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, you told them this. Yeah. Oh. Got you. So, uh. Got it.
Keith Vance: So, the ones who are supposed to exemplify the character of Christ. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Are the ones that you're not getting that from. Yeah. And that's a whole nother level of pain. Yeah. I understand.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. And I'm like, you're, you're, you're supposed to be, you know, a man of the claw. Yeah. Got it. And, and this is, this is not, this is not God-like. Okay. The way that y'all are present. I mean, or. Let me tie something together. Mm-hmm.
Keith Vance: Let me tie something together. So, you described a couple fights that you were in.
Marcus Willis: Mm-hmm.
Keith Vance: Where one guy was cheating and got the win. Mm-hmm. The odds were against you. You got the win. Another guy, um, you were winning, should have won the fight, and it went the other way. Mm-hmm. Um. Um, just because those ministers, they should have exemplified the character of Christ, showing you some love and grace. Yeah. That's what we should have done. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Didn't go that way. Again, human beings are, at the end of the day, are human beings. Yep. They are responsible for their actions. Mm-hmm. But you have a decision to make. Just like in those fights, you could have been bitter. Mm-hmm. This isn't right. Yep. I would say that the way that they treated you, especially. In that time. The ministers of the gospel. Was not Christ-like. Yep. But now you have a decision to make. Mm-hmm. Don't be, get bitter against God. Exactly. Because of God's people. Mm-hmm. You got a decision to make. There's, there's things that aren't fair and aren't right, and hey, you're supposed to be exemplifying this, and you're not. And we can point fingers and say, and make excuses of why I'm not, why I'm, why I don't get to do what I'm supposed to do, because they claim to be this, and they're not doing that. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. So that's a little, that's a little lesson. Yes, sir. Yeah. That's a little lesson. So, and that, but I, I feel that. My dad's a Baptist preacher. Uh-huh. I feel that. Yeah. They should have been your, your strongest. Yep. Support. You should be able to go to them, prayed with them. Yep. Hugged you, loved you. Hey, brother, what do you need? Yeah. You weren't getting that. Yeah. But, at the end of the day, you got three days to go. Yeah. I can complain about it. I can be bitter about it, or I can, I can quit. Yeah. Or I can keep moving. So you decided to. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: I mean, so like I. Yep. Made ends meet regardless. And, um, but you know, like when, when my, my aunt passed, uh, the end of October, she passed, um, uh, I think the third week, the third week of October. Um, we, we buried her the, the weekend of, uh, Halloween. Uh, they, they had an event, I guess, like a back to school or some kind of like, you know, trunk or treat, uh, event that they did, um, at the church. And, uh,
Marcus Willis: I'm out of town for my aunt's wake and they know, you know, like, so I've been communicating with them throughout, you know, the whole process of mine getting sick and everything, uh, or, or, or, you know, um, being sick, you know, uh, in, in the last, you know, few days, you know, of, of her life. Um, and the day before the funeral, um, you know, I'm out of town in clear water and at the wake and they are blowing my phone up about, Hey, there's some vehicles behind the gym. Um, we need to move, uh, because we have an event going on and blase blase. And I'm like, you know, where I'm at right now. Um, and you knew you had an event. How long ago? Right. If you would have told me this weeks before time or a week before, I already got to move, you know? Uh, but for, for you to, to, to, it doesn't even matter what religion you are, but just to be just humanity. Right. Knowing that someone is going through, um, the loss of a loved one. Yeah. And you're blowing them up about something. Moving a vehicle out of the way. Yeah. It's like, who are you? You know, like, so it was a very upsetting and, and heartbreaking, you know, time. Uh, so I'm like, yeah, I'm like, y'all don't have to worry about me being here anymore. Wow. I found a place. And as soon as, you know, I get back in town, like all my stuff will be gone. Yeah. And where I'm at now, uh, it's a blessing. It is a blessing. And people have, um, hold on a minute.
Keith Vance: Yeah. What you're talking about, man. Sometimes at your lowest, the best is right on the cusp, isn't it? Yep. And now God works. Yeah. He brings us to a spot like that. He brings this thing in our life where I'm treated unjustly unfair. Mm-hmm. And then to describe the place where you're at now as a blessing. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Sometimes a blessing is just on the other side. Yeah. Yep. And listen, what would have happened if you got caught up on this bitterness and everything, this lowest point in your life? You said, you know what? I quit. I'm just going to give up. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But you're telling a whole different story, man. Definitely. Yeah. You're telling a whole different story.
Marcus Willis: The thing is, man, I have somebody that wants me to be there. Like, they, and we talked early in the year, you know, about me looking at that spot. And it just took time, you know, because they're waiting for somebody to move out and everything.
Keith Vance: So, describe to me where you're at. Describe to me this blessing.
Marcus Willis: I'm on 4th Street, downtown Fort Myers. And it's over in Titan Contracting. They have.
Keith Vance: Oh, I know Clint Green. Mm-hmm. I know Clint.
Marcus Willis: So, Clint's an amazing guy, man. He's a good dude. He's an amazing guy.
Keith Vance: Him and his brother. Yep. I'm good friends with him. Yeah. They're good people.
Marcus Willis: So, they, man, they, because I trained Clint's nephew sometime a couple years ago. Okay. And, man, they have been, they have been a blessing. They're community people. They're all about the community. They're really good.
Keith Vance: The Lahan's in North Fort Myers, somebody drove into the gas station. Uh-huh. And Clint and the boys got over there and put that place back together quick. Yeah. Clint and those guys, they're good people. Yeah. They're solid.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. They're good. Yeah. So, man, he's been looking out. Um, and, and all, all of their employees, man, like everybody that, that worked for Titan, uh, they, they've been nothing but amazing. Yes. Um, nothing but helpful. And, um, like people like, you know, come to me and they're like, man, Marcus, you're doing so good. Like, like you're working hard. Like what you like, look, look at what you're doing. Look what you built. I'm like, I ain't do this, man. I didn't do this, man. I didn't like, uh, there's a lot, there's a lot that I will. Um, Yeah. Take claim for, but this was not me. This was God.
Keith Vance: Isn't that comforting? Isn't that comforting? Yeah. You just kind of stick with it, do your part, let God do His part, and then you can say, hey, you can give Him some glory. Say, this wasn't me. This was God.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. In a time where my belief, my faith has been not as strong, God showed me.
Keith Vance: You're strong now, though, isn't it? Yeah. You're His boy. You got you, man. Yeah. That's good. It's comforting, isn't it? Yeah. Sometimes it takes the darkness not being able to see Him, that when He turns the light on, we appreciate something and learn something about Him that we wouldn't have appreciated without the hardship and the darkness. Yeah. He works like that a lot. Yeah. That's good. I'm glad you shared that story. So, where you are now, you're growing the business?
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Are you in a good spot? Yeah. Man, I'm in an amazing spot, man. I'm glad. So, yeah. Things are going really well. The gym is huge. The members are growing. Got two rings up. Got the cage up. Got a bunch of heavy bags up. Man, I got some equipment in there. Nice. And, like, everybody loves it. And, you know, like, people can see that I'm in a better place than I was last year. You know, like, they're like, man, you're happy. Good. Like, you were happy. Like, you're always happy, but, like, it looked like some weight's been lifted. Good. You know, and it definitely has, you know. So, like, I'm in a much better mental space. I don't have to hide, you know, anything, you know. So, like, I don't have to, you know, put the face of a clown on, you know. So, like, I'm honestly, truly, like, in a very, very good place. I'm proud of you. I'm glad. Yeah.
Keith Vance: I want to make a transition. I want to make a transition here. We're talking about your new space. Okay. Let's make a transition here.
Keith Vance: When I had a mental picture of what a boxing gym was like, and I only know your gym. I only know you. You're the only trainer I've had. You're the only dude I've hung with. So, I don't know about the other. I don't know the other. I don't know anything else I'd like.
Keith Vance: Depending on your skill set and what you want to do, if I wanted to be a professional fighter, you have the skill set to do that and train and go. But you don't just have young 20-somethings who want to be professional fighters in your gym. I've seen young girls, elementary school age, come in after class. Yeah. I had my daughters come in for a while. You got an old guy like me. When I was coming in, there was a guy before me that was, I think, a few years older than me that you were training. So, you have this wide spectrum. You got a lot of women in there. You got this wide spectrum. So, let's speak to, has the, and again, I only know you, so I'm going to ask the question. Yeah. Has the mindset of a boxing gym evolved? Has it become more inclusive? From what I see at your place, I see all different nationalities. I see all different genders, different, you know, the two different genders, not all different genders, two genders. I see two different genders. I see all age spectrums. Yeah. And it just feels, it feels fun. Yeah. I'm learning something. Mm-hmm. So, someone who, who might want to challenge himself, take up, maybe wants to just get healthy, wants to move the body. Mm-hmm. Let's speak to that for a while.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. So, yeah, boxing has definitely gotten a lot more mainstream. Like, you see it on commercials now, you see it, you know, like on a lot of advertisement and, you know, like big businesses are marketing, you know, boxing now, you know. Um, so I think it's gotten away from it being this, um, this, this sport where you only see, you know, like ego, just not, not just ego, but just like, just men that are just like, just grimy or gritty or, you know, it's not just a man's sport. It's not just, you know, a sport for fighters. People are using it, you know, um, for aggression release, like mental therapy. Yeah. Um, you see it's big in Parkinson's and everything. Um, there's a lot of, there's a lot of healing with, with Parkinson's disease, uh, from boxing. Um, so you have your, your, your, your steady. Rock, you know, classes and everything for Parkinson's. Describe that for me. I didn't know this. Describe that for me. So, there's a big community that, I mean, Freddie Roach is Manny Pacquiao's trainer. Amazing trainer. He has Parkinson's. You don't see him shake a lot when it comes to, like, him holding mitts or boxing and everything. Okay. So, there's a lot of people that use boxing for therapy that has Parkinson's, you know. So, and other than that, you know, like, it's self-defense, you know. Like, there's no greater confidence in knowing that you can protect yourself and protect your family, you know. Like, I tell people, like, most rooms that I'm in, like, I feel like I can, you know, take anybody, you know. But I don't present that. Like, I'm the nice guy, you know. You're the nice guy because you can be nice. Because you can flip a switch. Exactly. Exactly. But there's a confidence that comes with, you know, knowing how to protect yourself and not having to. Got it. And for women, I think, you know, women definitely need it, you know. Like, young girls and women need it, you know, just to make sure that they have that extra safety guard. A skill set. Yeah.
Keith Vance: So, they're not a victim. Yeah. A skill set. Exactly. I felt, you know, I was training with you for a while. And my daughters were talking about it. They're 15. And at the time, they're 15 and 17. Mm-hmm. But I felt totally comfortable having my girls in your space. Yeah. It's a safe space. It's inviting. I trust you. Mm-hmm. Like, I was just curious how it has evolved, you know, because I don't think it's always been that way where, you know, some, but it has. Yeah. I don't know if you're unique to that or if the space has evolved. But for me, a protective dad, hey, let's roll to Marcus's place and be good with it. Like, it's inviting.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I would say back in the day, girls weren't allowed in the gym. Okay.
Keith Vance: So, it changed a lot. Yeah.
Marcus Willis: It's changed a lot. You know, girls weren't really allowed in the gym. I mean, we did have some girls that fought. You know, Tiara Brown, who is a WBC world champion from Fort Myers. Her and her cousin. Her cousin came before her. She was ranked number three in the nation, you know. But when it comes to, like, girlfriends or wives, like, that was frowning upon, you know. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like, you don't bring your girls to the gym. This is a space where, you know, we go to work, you know. Got it. And there's no distractions, you know. Now, like, women are starting to learn how to fight, you know. You see a lot of women that are starting to train. Like, I've seen some women that can hold some pads really good. Wow. You know. And it's definitely more inclusive.
Keith Vance: What I like about your place is that you can be as hard as you want to be or as soft as you want to be. Yep. And you just let that person take the lead and adapt. Yeah. I like that there's a spectrum there that you don't have to be hard to be here. Mm-hmm. If you just want to get some exercise in and learn how to throw some hands at the same time, what do you want to do? Exactly. And you adapt to it. And it's, I enjoyed it, man. I enjoyed it. Yeah.
Keith Vance: I got a friend of mine. He's going to be on next month. His name is Tom Vargas. Mm-hmm. He's a year younger than me. Mm-hmm. He got into fitness a few years ago, almost several years ago now. And he and I kind of like helping each other. A year or two ago, he got diagnosed with Parkinson's. Mm-hmm. So there's things that he used to be able to do that he can't do now. Yeah. Some will relay the message. Okay. And if you have any science behind this, shoot it my way. Yeah, definitely. I'll forward him. Definitely. He found out that he had Parkinson's. He was doing a workout. He was trying to jump rope. He just couldn't do it. Mm-hmm. He did the thing. He's taking some medication for it. It's early on. Yeah. I guess there's some medication that kind of stave it off a little bit. Mm-hmm. But anything that's like this that will help, I need to turn him on to it. So that's cool. Thanks for sharing that with me. Yeah, definitely. We'll make one more transition here, and then we'll either shut it down or keep going if we come across something. Yeah. But I told you, I looked you up because I wanted to expand my fitness. Mm-hmm. And to be honest with you, I just want to know how to, if I had to do work on somebody. Yeah. I want to know how to do it and look good doing it. Yeah. To be honest with you. Like I just want to be like you said, pop, pop. You know what I mean? I'm going to be able to know how to pick my shots and look good doing it. If I'm being honest. Yep.
Keith Vance: The warm up. I thought I was in shape. And I am in shape. Yeah. But when you, we set a clock. Okay. And you can walk me through this. You set a clock and you're, you're jumping rope for, I think around like it was what? Three minutes. You're jumping rope for three minutes. And Hey guys, three minutes don't sound long. And I'm in shape, but three minutes on a jump rope will wear you out. Yeah. It'll wear you out. So three minutes on a jump rope. Then you're down with a 15 pushups. Right. 25. You've been cheating. I can't remember 20. It's 25. It's 25. Oh, so when you were turning around and looking, I cut 10 on. 9, 25. And then the bell rings, I think of what? 30 second rest.
Marcus Willis: A minute rest.
Keith Vance: A minute rest. And you do three rounds of that. Yeah. For someone who wants to get fit, you don't need a whole bunch of equipment. A jump rope, brother. Yeah. A jump rope will light you up. Yeah. And then even that's a skill set. Because I'm trying to skip like you and you make it look easy. Yeah. But even that's something you can learn. That footwork and whatnot. Making new tributaries in the brain. Learning something. A jump rope is cheap. It's something you can do. Yep. The other thing that you did that I learned, and thank you for this, is after you did three rounds of that, there were these cane poles. You grab one and you put it across your shoulders and you put your arms on it and you would get in a fighter stance and you're doing this rotation. I found them real tight on my rotation. So you're doing this rotation a certain way because you're those movements, right? Yeah. And I realize it. It's these movements. But I was real tight on that rotation. And then you do another one where your feet are planted side by side and you lean over and you're doing the same thing, the rotation. Yeah. What I found is, and I picked that up in my own fitness. Mm-hmm. What I found is in most training, like most weightlifting training, it's like lateral movements. Your bench, your squat, it's lateral. Mm-hmm. Rotational stuff is important. And I picked up rotational stuff in my workout. It just felt good. I did the twist and my spine would go click, click, click, click, click. Like those are those rotations. So I've been doing lateral movements, waking in those muscles up. Yeah. And rotational things. Mm-hmm. Um, I wouldn't have learned that had I not been with you. Yeah. So let's just walk through a class. Mm-hmm. I come in. You hit that rope. You do the 25 push-ups.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Yeah. So, um, we start like, I mean, the guys that, um, have already been doing or know what they're doing, you know, uh, once they're in it, uh, it's four rounds of jump rope for classes, 25 push-ups, um, after every round, uh, the quicker you get those push-ups done, the longer you get to rest, you know, uh, my fighters don't get to rest. They do the push-ups, get right back to jump. Wow. You know? Um, and, and then we stretch, uh, we'll stretch as a group or everybody stretches on their own. Right. Um, and then they get to bag work, you know, so they get to, you know, like maybe eight rounds of bag work, but in between those eight rounds, they're doing mitt work with myself or one of my other trainers.
Keith Vance: Got it.
Marcus Willis: Uh, after that, we'll, um, depending on the day, cause there, there's different things, you know, sometimes I'll come in and I'll be, I'll mix it up with them, but, um, we'll do abs as a group or we'll go for a run. Uh, sometimes I'll just come in and I'll like, I have a deck of cards, you know, and they hate the deck of cards because that deck of cards, you know, uh, they don't know what they're going to get.
Keith Vance: The deck of cards is going to dictate your misery. Yep.
Marcus Willis: So there, there's, and, and, and they're working for a three, four rounds, you know, nonstop and like the King is mountain climbers, you know, and it's on me to, you know, like tell them when to stop. And sometimes I forget, but, uh, we got, you know, like, you know, a joker is like dealer's choice, you know, so I'll have them doing burpees or, you know, like mountain climbers or, you know, duck walks or whatever comes to mind, you know, his random stuff. So, uh, I try to mix up the workout sometimes to where it's not always the same thing. And, uh, yeah, it keeps it fun. They're getting a workout from it and it's not Monday, you know? Um, so like, but the, the, the base of most workouts, you know, is heavy bag work, uh, starting off jump rope, stretch, um, mid work, heavy bag abs, you know, and, uh, running or whatever.
Keith Vance: How long is an average class?
Marcus Willis: Like an hour, hour and a half. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Hour and a half. Yeah. Um, I know you have group sessions, right? How much, how much does a group session cost?
Marcus Willis: Uh, so our group sessions, we are. Charging $125 a month for classes, for group sessions. Our personals, our one-on-ones are $75.
Keith Vance: $75 a month? $75 a session. $75 a pop for a session, one-on-one. How much was it for a month for the group? $125. $125. How many sessions do you get?
Marcus Willis: We're open five days a week. It's up to you to come.
Keith Vance: Come as many times as you want?
Marcus Willis: Come as many times as you want, five days a week, Monday through Friday. Actually, on Saturdays, we have open gym. Open gym, we have sparring. I'll invite other gyms to come over and spar. We're open from 11 to 3 on Saturday. Guys go there and either hit the bag and work or watch the sparring. Some of the guys get in there and mix it up. The gym is open six days a week. Outside of that, I do personal training every day. Got it. I live in the gym.
Keith Vance: Got it. Yeah.
Keith Vance: Any personal stories about me and my...
Marcus Willis: Man. Yeah. Yeah. So... I mean, we've had some great talks, man. You're definitely one of my favorites. And we've had some nice sessions and everything.
Marcus Willis: One, I guess, particular, I guess, time or conversation that I want to bring up is... And this is why your brand, Still Strong, and that shirt, Fighter, it's you. Mm-hmm. Uh... We were getting ready for that 100 miler. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We were getting... Like, he... Like... Keith, you're amazing. You know? Um... You have... So, hold on a minute.
Keith Vance: For people who don't know about the 100 miler, catch him up. Yeah. I'm going to let you tell the story.
Marcus Willis: Catch him up. So... Keith just... He wants to, like, challenge himself. And... He's like, man, I think I'm going to do a 100 miler. You want to do it with me? And I don't know why. I was like, yeah, let's do it. I'm like, okay, I'm down. You know? So, we start warming up and, you know, like, getting ready. We're running from my gym to down past Aliko. It's like 20-something miles. You know?
Keith Vance: We ran 20 miles at 10 o'clock at night. Like 10... Yep. That felt so good.
Marcus Willis: Man, it was amazing. It was such a good feeling. 22... It was 22 miles. It was 22 miles. You know what I felt good about it is?
Keith Vance: Nobody else was doing it but us. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody's living their life doing their own in-the-box thing. Yeah. And you and I out there running down freaking 41 at 10 o'clock at night. It just felt like liberating. Yeah. And to do it with somebody, it was awesome.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. It was... Man, I felt so good. I felt so good. It was... It's so peaceful running. And normally, I don't run with a partner. But running with you and we kept a nice pace. Yes, sir. And it felt good. Yes, sir. It felt good. Yes, sir. The weather was nice. It didn't even feel like... Normally, I ran a half marathon, the Hooters half, some years before that. And I was in pain. Like, the next couple days, my legs were hurting. Right. But, you know, we just coasted and, you know, had a nice little... Conversation. Yep. Conversation, talked, and, you know, took our breaks when we needed to. And it was just such a good feeling, you know?
Keith Vance: Do you remember we stopped at that gas station? Uh-huh. And that cop came up and said, what you guys doing? I said, man, we're just going for a run. He's like, oh, that's good. Keep on rolling, man. Keep on rolling. Yeah, yeah. He's wanting to know what we were doing on foot at that time of night.
Marcus Willis: For real. Yeah, but you had all the gadgets, man. The water pack and all the, you know... Yeah. The rehydration stuff and everything. So, you came prepared. And, you know, like, I was looking forward to that 100 miler. And then you got sick. Right. And when we were supposed to do it, you got sick. And then the gym just started getting busy. I remember. And when you were, like, when you got back well and everything, you know, like, I couldn't do it. I didn't have the time. I'm like, man, I wanted to do it so bad. And then when you went and did it, I was like, man, I want to be there with him. So, like, it hurt me not to be there with you. Yeah. It hurt me not to be there with you. I was like, man, I wish I wasn't so busy at this time. I wish you didn't get sick. Yeah. And I wish I was there with you. And I know you had, like, some adversities going through it. You got, like, halfway through. Like, you started kind of, like, you know, like.
Keith Vance: I was locking up. Yeah. I was locking up.
Marcus Willis: So, I was like, man, I wish I was there with him. And. I was like, man. I envision that run. I visually envision that run with you. I think I'm going to challenge myself to do it still, but man, kudos to you for pushing it. 100 miles is crazy. It's crazy. But you, man, you have the will of a champion and a warrior, man. It speaks in volume of who you are. You're going to get it no matter what.
Keith Vance: Thank you for sharing that, because when I talk about my purpose, my family is my purpose, man. And I need to be everything I can be for them. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, all of it. And I was looking forward to run that with you, too. It didn't work out. Like we said, nothing happens by accident. I learned a lot.
Keith Vance: I learned a lot. Being by myself, that wouldn't have learned but you. I grew a lot. I had to do it by myself. Some things unlocked to me that wouldn't have unlocked if you and I were just having a good time together. Maybe we do it again. Maybe we do it again. But that one was meant to be. You talked about I was 60 miles deep. I was in North Fort Myers like 2 o'clock in the morning. And, bro, I was locked up. I couldn't even bend my legs. I was locked up. I felt like my legs were like sticks. I couldn't bend my knees. My fingers swollen up. Some freaking homeless dude comes out of the woods riding his bicycle behind me. I'm thinking, this is it. I won't be in the newspaper. 48-year-old guy gets raped by a homeless guy in North Fort Myers. I'm thinking, this is it. I can't even get away from him. But he was a cool dude. He like rode us back real slow and we like, we talked and stuff while I was going. It was what I needed. Like this homeless guy comes out of the woods and it was what I needed to keep going for a little bit. Yep. But I got to a point where I literally couldn't go. I called my wife and said, hey, baby, I made it 60-some-odd miles. I can't go anymore. She's like, can you just sit down? I said, baby, I can't even. If I sit down, I can't. I'm telling you, if I sit down, I can't get back up. That's how bad I was. I said, I've gone as far as I can go. She picks me up, takes me home. I'm telling myself, well, you've gone as far as you can go. Like I'm telling myself it's okay. All right, it's okay. You text me. How's it going, buddy? And I threw the phone down because I didn't want to tell you I quit. I threw the phone down. I didn't want to tell you I quit. Of all people, I can't tell you I quit. I can't tell you I quit.
Keith Vance: So I got up and just started walking around my bedroom. And things started loosening up. I said, man, I think I can do this. Yeah. But there's a part of me that doesn't want to do it. Mm-hmm.
Keith Vance: But I got back after it. Yeah. You texted me. I got back after it. I said, honey, drop me off. She dropped me off. And instead of running the whole thing by myself, I said, do me a favor. I said, this backpack, it was wearing blisters on my shoulders. Mm-hmm. I said, I don't want to carry this anymore. Can you just carry it for me? Can you put it in the truck and carry it for me? And dude, it felt so good to get that backpack off. It felt, okay. You know when you have me boxing with weights? Mm-hmm. And then you put the weights down. Yeah, yeah. Your hands feel so much. It just boom, boom, boom. It just boom, boom, boom. That's what I felt like. I felt like it was on air. Okay. So for that last 40-something miles, my wife would drive five miles out. Mm-hmm. And I would just run to her. Yeah. Five miles at a time, buddy. Nice. And you were doing security or something. Mm-hmm. And you're texting me. Yeah. I said, hey, dude, I got 15 miles to go. And you being invested in that, it kept me going. I was so proud of you. It kept me going. So it wasn't, I had to do it myself, but I couldn't have done it myself. Yeah. Without my wife. Yeah. Without you, like support. Yeah, man.
Marcus Willis: Man, a homeless guy, man. Hey, angels come in odd shapes, man. You know? Yeah.
Keith Vance: Thanks for reminding me of that.
Marcus Willis: Yeah. I don't know how you forget that.
Keith Vance: Yeah. Those emotions were.
Marcus Willis: Man. They were strong. Yeah. And I prayed for you, man. I was proud of you. I prayed for you, man. It was, yeah. And I was. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be there. And I was like, man, this dude, he's the man, you know.
Keith Vance: And then I think it was like, what, three or four days later, I was in the gym. Yeah, yeah.
Marcus Willis: I'm like, dude, you're not hurting? Like, what, bro?
Keith Vance: We got a picture together.
Marcus Willis: I would have been laid up for a week after 100.
Keith Vance: Three or four days later, I was in the gym with you. Yeah. Yeah, good stuff. Well, Marcus, I think this is a good note to end the dong. Just your life story is a testament to just not giving up. Yeah. Just getting after it. Yeah. But I give the guest an opportunity to speak to someone at your lowest point. Mm-hmm. You kind of like relived that. I felt you getting emotional about it. Yeah. If you were to speak to yourself or to speak to someone else who felt that way, what are some words of encouragement that you could give to someone that might, this might help them?
Marcus Willis: Yeah. Yeah, something I've always told people, you know. The sun always shines more than it rains. Hmm. You know? And rain is good for growth. There you go. Rain is good for growth. But those storms end. There you go. Those storms do end. And the sun is always going to shine more than it rains, more than it storms. So no matter what you're going through, you know, like just try to stay positive. Find your purpose. You know, you got people that are rooting for you. You got people that care for you. So like when things get low, man, just, you know, like remember who you're doing it for. And know that there is something worth getting to on the other side, you know. And, you know, right now, I guess in my, in this time right now, for me, it's like don't forget God, you know. Because I was at a point to where like I was doing it all myself, you know, like I felt like I was doing it all myself. And God took a lot away from me. And, you know, like I've started thanking him, you know, for everything, you know. And now I'm at the point to where like, you know, like I know that God is still there. Well, I know that God is God is there with me. So find your faith, find your faith and find your purpose and don't give up, you know, because it's. No matter what we go through, it's worth it to get to where we need to be.
Keith Vance: Marcus, I appreciate you, brother. Appreciate your time. I know you're busy, man. Thank you for taking time out to be here with me. We're going to leave it on that note. I love you. Love you too, man. Appreciate it. Definitely. Bye, buddy.