Antioch resident Marcel Warren is an amateur kickboxer who recently captured the All Out Battle Muay Thai Middleweight Championship belt.
Warren took up the sport recently and has an 8-2 record who one day hopes to fight professionally. He is a 2009 graduate of Antioch High School where he played football and ran track.
Warren says he is a competitor who got into the sport of Muay Thai after his football career ended because he missed competition.
“I got into the sport after working out at a gym doing some MMA stuff but couldn’t find the right guys to train with. Life got in the way and some personal things happened so I switched up my choices after meeting Dan Black,” explained Warren.
Black, who founded Team Back, is a combat sports competition team which trains a unique mix of Boxing, Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu and Kyokushin. The team has both professional and amateur fighters who fight on national and international levels, including some of the world’s top promotions such as K-1, WEC, Tachi Palace, Jungle FC.
Black says he saw Warren in a gym one day training and saw that he was a competitor, but it took nearly a year for them to connect.
“He ended up coming by and I saw some potential when I saw him spar. But I was at a point where I didn’t want to take on anymore fighters or guys wasting my time. I was dealing with fighters who wanted to go professional. I told him if he really wants to fight, there is a fight this weekend and put him in a fight. He trained for just two-weeks before the fight and told him if you show me you want to fight I’ll put effort into you and he did that,” explained Black. “He is an athlete, a competitor and everything I showed him off the bat, he picked up really quick. He had some training but never really put it together. We made the corrections and whether it’s from the football or not he can really follow a game plan. After seeing him compete, I knew he was going to be something. “
Black says in Warrens short career, it’s unheard of someone to gain a belt that quick.
For Warren, he knows it’s only going to get harder now than he is ranked No. 6 in his division in the nation. His goal is to stay motivated and keep his mind positive as it’s been a big year for him stating he found a job working as a junk hauler getting rid of peoples garbage, bought a car which is now broken down, and he earned a belt.
“I have to stay motivated because I am now ranked 6th in the nation. So now it’s really going to get tough and I have to be ready to do my thing every time I step in there,” says Warren. “Life is tough; you got life and then a fight life. You just have to stay positive, the more you struggle the more you hustle. Right now, my car is broken down and I have to bicycle everywhere.”
Warren also lives on Sycamore Drive in Antioch where he admits crime is not what it used to be, but its still motivation for him to keep moving forward.
“A lot of it is selecting the right kind of people to stay around and stay away from the wrong crowd,” says Warren. “You can feel the environment when it’s not right. When I am coming home from work I see a few people acting crazy, people playing loud music and driving fast. It motivates me to stay out of the way because I know what’s going to happen if you stay in an area and that is not good. You know when the energy is not good. The main thing that motivates me is my mom who passed. I always think about her looking down at me and being proud of me.”
Prior to moving to Antioch, Warren lived in Oakland until 7th grade. He said his mom wanted a better life for he and his brother. He says both Antioch and Oakland taught him what to stay away from and instead focus on what he can control.
“You see things what you should do and what not to do. You see people making bad decisions and some making right decisions. Living in the city being around the trouble and being able to stay away from it, you become a much stronger person to do your thing and stay out of the way. You have to surround yourself around a good crowd who want to do the same things you want to do. Work hard and grind and be the best you can be,” says Warren.
He says sports played a big role in shaping him and keeping him on the right path—football was the biggest impact.
“Football, I loved playing football and playing linebacker where I got to tackle any person with the ball,” explained Warren. “The Antioch High School football coaches, when I first tried out for football, they put the fear of god in me because they put me up against the baddest dudes on the team or the hardest hitters at their position. But I felt like by them doing that, the fear went away quickly because they taught you to get low and tackle.”
He credits them with teaching him life lessons and being supportive.
“If you go into any sport afraid, you have already beat yourself and you will not perform how you know you can,” says Warren. “It’s about repetition and you have to keep going. The more you do something the better you will be at it. If you have a good coach and a good team you are ahead of the game.”
Warren, who has a positive outlook on life even with the daily struggle, says he gets his positivity from his mom.
“It comes from my mom, she took care of my brother and I. Seeing the things she went through and still make a way, take care of two kids, pay the bills, still be happy even when going through that. Seeing her do that is what motivated me and made me understand no matter how things go, you have to keep your mind strong. Your mind is a very powerful thing. If you mind is low, going through any situation is going to make it worse. Your mind has to be up if your situation is down. It’s hard, it’s never easy but seeing my mom doing everything, that is the number one thing that keeps me motivated.”
Warren explained that even right now. He has a championship belt, but has no car since it broke down so he is on his bicycle getting around town and too and from work as well as to his training.
“I never won a championship in football or track, but to win the belt and still have something bad happen like having my car break down and no money to fix it. You have to stay positive,” said Warren. “But win, lose or draw, my coach is proud of me saying I’ve come a long way and encourages me to do my thing and go forward. When I won the belt, it felt good because when you have problems and you go through stuff, your mind kinda goes everywhere.”
He says winning the belt was like a movie because everything ended right and he kept his mind right. He now loves the sport of Muay Thai and hopes to one day be a professional fighter.
Black highlighted that because Warren is more of a kickboxing, he could have a long career since he is only 25 noting he has the potential to be not only a good fighter, but a good role model for the community.
“He is someone that people can look up to. He is someone from a rough neighborhood where life is not always roses,” says Black. “He is legitimate because whatever he is going through he still keeps it positive mindset. It’s motivational even for me as a coach because everybody in life has problems, gets down at times. Sometimes it’s good to feed off each other. He does it consistently and that is motivation for me. Ideally I’d like to see him keep winning and progressing and give him a program to help others get out of whatever they are into and into something positive whether its fighting competitively or exercise and improve the mental aspect of life.”
Warren says outside of fighting, he wants to help kids find their passion and would like to give back where possible but admits he is paying his dues right now and focusing on his next fight saying its 90% mental and 10% physical.
“Life is a mind thing. If you don’t think you are not going to perform good or beat a good opponent. If you think you’re not going to win, you’re not going to win because your mind is telling you that,” says Warren. “Once you let your mind tell you you’re not going to do good and you will be nervous, you have already lost the fight. It’s hard because you have to show sportsmanship, smile, and later on get ready to fight.”
Warren also highlighted how he hopes to bring some positive energy to Antioch and represent it in a positive light. He is not a fan of the negative publicity it often receives in the news media.
“It’s very important to me to represent Antioch in a positive light. I am an athlete living in a rough area where a lot of stuff has gone on and I try and stay out of trouble and think positive. If I think positive, good things will happen. It’s a good thing to show people that even if you are going through things and stay positive and be about yourself and do you. You will make it through. You have to have a plan on how to handle things. Situations and problems will always get to you so how you handle that is important,” explained Warren. “Giving back to the community to build it up is important to me.”
Larry Treat, owner of Delta Tactical Training Group and sponsor of Team Black, says he is impressed by Warren and his outlook on life. He says Warren’s positivity is contagious and has made him change his perspective when life gets in the way because other people have it harder than he does.
“He would show up on a bicycle. For the first dozen times and I wouldn’t say anything because I figured he was training and was hard core. He would pull out all his gear from this large backpack. I never thought much of it until one night he showed up late and knew he worked during the day. He shows up not his normal self. He told me he was harassed by a couple guys on the Sycamore corridor,” explained Treat. “He could have got off his bicycle and whooped them but he choose to instead ignore them “
Treat says he then learned at that point his bicycle was his only means of transportation and saw how hard he worked to become a better human being. He knew fighting people on the street would not be a good choice even if they deserved it, but he kept his cool and came to train.
“He would work hard all day hauling items, become exhausted, then ride his bike to train. At that moment my respect for Warren was significantly elevated. People that have it easy can’t stay focused to train at a high level like Warren does,” explained Treat. “He goes through a lot just to get to a back warehouse to train so I have a lot of respect for him.”
Warren says he is thankful for his $11 an hour job and calls it a blessing which is helping him survive. For Warren, when he goes “pro”, he says money will not nor should it be the most important thing because if you do right, the money will come.
“For me, being able to motivate others when your time is said and done is most important. You giving your kids or other youths knowledge and showing them things they need to know, being a good leader. That is what I feel like will matter,” explained Warren. “A lot of people look at the money, no, you can all the money in the world and buy things, but when your time is said and done you can’t take that to the grave. Life is about being a good person and building relationships”
He says whatever happens with his fighting career, he will try to live up to his moms expectations of him.
“Seeing what my mom did and went though, I just have to make it happen while staying positive no matter what life throws at me,” says Warren. “If I can help other people someday and I make an impact on other people’s lives, I know my mom will be proud.”
For more on Team Black, visit www.teamblack.tk
