Why fight?
It's a question that harkens back to perhaps the animal kingdom's longest-held instinct, the life-or-death choice between running or standing your ground. And for those who choose to step between the ropes and into the Thursday Night at the Fights spotlight each week at the Egan Convention Center, it's a question with many answers.
Some fight to get into shape, others for the challenge or experience or maybe because they just like punching people -- and getting punched -- in the face. Before one recent bout, first-time boxer William Keller Jr., who said he carries logs through the woods for a living, had a bluntly honest answer.
"To get tough," he said before getting knocked down but not out in a three-round loss to fellow newcomer Junior Faumuina.
One fighter whose toughness is without question is Justin Zellweger, a 24-year-old Anchorage tire shop worker who has already fought in four main events this winter. Zellweger, who weighs 197 pounds, late last month went up against 245-pound Gabriel "The Truth" Duckworth of Kansas City, Missouri. Duckworth repeatedly landed big uppercuts to Zellweger's head and face, leaving the Anchorage fighter bruised, bloodied and on the wrong end of a unanimous decision. But Zellweger still stood tall, earning an appreciative round of applause from the crowd gathered inside the Egan Center.
Toughness comes naturally to Zellweger. He said he was one of those kids who always seemed to be landing himself in the emergency room.
"I think I had 200 stitches by the time I was 10," he said.
How does a 10-year-old find that many ways to bleed?
"Oh, I jumped off my roof, rode my bike down the basement stairs, that kind of thing," he said.
Zellweger was all smiles after the Duckworth fight, despite the larger man's dominance. He said he prefers to fight bigger boxers because of the unique challenge they present.
"I think I get more of a kick out of it with the odds against me," he said.
Zellweger's career as a fighter began when he wrestled in high school. He then took up mixed martial arts, but decided he needed to learn to box in order to better protect himself.
"I could take a punch, but it'd be better if I didn't," he said.
Zellweger contacted Jerry Miller, who trains fighters and helps promote Thursday Night at the Fights, an Anchorage institution nows in its 26th season.
"I met Jerry and we both knew I needed some work," he said.
Miller has been training Zellweger off and on for the past three years at the Anchorage Athletic Club, where Miller holds training sessions Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He said Zellweger has been easy to train.
"He's just a good, tough kid," Miller said.
For Zellweger, boxing has as much to do with faith as fight. He said Christianity is central to his life. While that might not seem to mesh with a desire to punch people, he said the two can go hand in hand.
"I don't go out to the bars or go to pick fights in the streets," he said. "It's a sport."
Boxing, he said, is a way to train his body and his soul.
"I think a lot of it has to do with the fact I like to overcome obstacles to strengthen my faith," he said.
Although he's been one of the most active Thursday fighters this season (only Orlando "Young Raw" Laws has fought in more main events), Zellweger will soon take a hiatus. He's heading to Guatemala for two weeks with a missionary group from Cornerstone Church, which will spend two weeks working in a school in the Central American country. He said he planned to use the money he earned from the Duckworth fight (winners in the main event get $250, losers get $100) toward the trip.
Zellweger is taking his grandmother, Rita, with him. He said she always wanted to be in the Peace Corps, but family obligations came first.
"I thought it would be good to take her out of the country and let her do something she wanted to do," he said.
After that, he's not sure when he'll return to the ring. He's got a steady girlfriend, a full-time job and a homestead in the Interior that's been calling his name.
"I've been contemplating moving out there, just live life," he said.
Contact reporter Matt Tunseth at 257-4335 or mtunseth@alaskadispatch.com
Thursday Night at the Fights
Egan Center
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., fights start at 7:30 p.m.
$16 general admission/$32 ringside