In the ’90s, if you told someone you were going to kick it at Level III for the evening, there was a chance you were literally kicking something at Level III.
Long before Andre Taylor, 62, owner of Starkville’s three-story downtown rentable party spot since 1992, got into the club business, he was guiding local kick-boxers to the top of the world rankings. And until the Air Force veteran became licensed to serve his own liquor and beer in the early 2000s, Level III was home to his gym.
As you may expect, Taylor, a native of Manhattan, has a ton of stories from his career managing, promoting and training fighters. How he helped lead former world champion Oliver Miller, now an instructor in Columbus, to a world ranking. How he and another Columbus fighter, Vinson Ballard, got robbed in a Professional Kickboxing Association super heavyweight title fight. And how he and his wife, Helen, head of the Brickfire Project in Starkville, wound up in former four-class boxing champion Roberto Duran’s after-party one night at a Mississippi casino.
But Taylor is most proud of his work with the community during his time in Starkville. He brought the National Youth Sports Program to Starkville in 1995, which allowed hundreds of children to get involved in basketball, tennis, swimming and a host of other sports on the Mississippi State University campus.
Not one to pass on telling a story, Taylor spun a few yarns for The Dispatch last week.
So you almost managed a Columbus fighter to the PKA super heavyweight title?
The champion, in my opinion, was no match for my guy, Vinson Ballard. Vinson was 6 foot 7 inches and 295 pounds. He used to play basketball at Mississippi Valley State University. He was named Rough House. Once he became a minister, I named him Rev. Rough House. As a promoter, I would tell the other camp, “We’re here to beat the hell out of you.”
The day of the fight, the champion appeared he was on something. When we entered the weigh-in, he hollered out that he signed up to fight one man, not two. And he was pacing, pacing, pacing, and that was at 10 in the morning. After the fight, we saw him in the casino and he was still pacing, and this was after a brutal whooping.
Vinson kicked the champion in mid-ring and threw the champ almost under the ropes. In my opinion the champ was out on his feet, but he spit out his mouthpiece and the ref stopped the fight (to replace the mouthpiece). That saved him that time.
After another kick, the ref told Vinson, if you do that again, you’re disqualified. Then (the champ) started hitting my guy in the groin.
Finally, in the third round, Vinson said “Sarge, what should I do?” I said, “Do what you got to do.” So the next time the champ hit him with a low blow, Vinson picked the champ up like a rag doll and bear hugged him. So we got disqualified.
Taylor also managed Oliver “Big O” Miller when he was first ranked in the Top 10 super middleweights in the world.
There was a fight in Lake Charles, La., with Gene McComb. He had a chin out to here and he was stocky, granite. He was ranked No. 1 in the world and his next fight would be for the world super middleweight title. And he wanted to use O as a tune-up.
The fight was on ESPN. Oliver was about to kill that boy. It was an eight-round fight and for seven rounds Oliver pulverized the guy and didn’t have a scratch on him.
I noticed every time Gene got ready to throw a hard right kick, which he was noted for, he would stomp his left foot. So I told Oliver, every time Gene stomps that left foot, hit him, BAM! It was murder. (McComb) was bleeding everywhere.
And at the end of the fight, two of the Louisiana-picked friends of Gene (judges) ruled Gene won. The other guy was for Oliver and the first two judges jumped on that guy.
I protested it to the PKA and they immediately ranked Oliver No. 10 in the world.
After that I started promoting my own fights and got Sqwincher in Columbus to sponsor them. (Miller would become super middleweight champ in 1984.) That’s how I brought down Joe Lewis. Not boxing Joe Louis. Karate Joe Lewis, who was the heavyweight champion of the world. He was the only guy I know who didn’t put his pants on one leg at a time. He wore tight blue jeans and he would pull them on at the same time, would jump into his pants.
Bill Wallace came to Starkville. He played against Chuck Norris in a couple movies. He was a former world champ. They both were.
Why did you stop promoting fights?
Just like everything else, you’ve got ebb and flow. Fighting took a dive. In states like Colorado and Indiana and Oklahoma it was flourishing, but in Mississippi it was a little different.
Also there was an incident where Oliver and I went to England to fight for the PKA world super middleweight belt. I saw we got robbed, but it was true.
I was PKA commissioner on duty to make sure the event goes according to plan. Make sure the doctor and EMTs are there. Make sure the judges know the rules and make sure everybody gets paid.
You were a sanctioning body commissioner for a title fight involving a fighter you trained?
Over there, yes. Normally in America I wouldn’t be the commissioner. That’s how I know they cheated.
You have to throw eight hard kicks per round. If you don’t, you lose points. The guy we were fighting against was more like a boxing match. He kicked maybe three times per round. I warned (the opponent’s) camp “Your guy has got to start kicking or we’ll penalize him.” After the fifth round I told the judges to deduct a point, but O was winning anyway.
They awarded the fight to the other guy anyway and I told them I know they cheated so they did not win the belt, but I’ll put the belt down and they can pick it up. But I told them as soon as I got back to America I would strip them of the title, and I did.
Once we got back (to America), everyone wants a winner so all these people started coming out of the woodwork wanting to manage O, which is great. O and I are still friends, but that’s basically what led up to me leaving the sport.
But you promoted other events in Starkville?
April of 2010 is the last one we did in Starkville, at the Sportsplex. There was probably eight to 10 fights on that card. Most of the kids were from Starkville or Alabama. I also helped coordinate the MSU fraternities’ tough-man contest eight or nine years ago. I was there for safety and to tell them how to do it. To make sure the ambulance was there and a doctor and judges. It worked out pretty good but it seems some agents at MSU thought boxing was kind of dangerous.
Who was the last person you trained?
Around 2002 I had 10 girls from the MSU rugby team learning how to box. If I had 100 of them, I could rule the world.
I had one girl, I don’t remember her name, but she was a real sweet girl. Big girl, 6 foot 2 inches and 270 pounds. Tough, too. One day she was jumping rope after playing rugby and she quit. And I don’t have any compassion so I said, “You can’t quit on me.” She said “I know, but you see this big toe? That one’s broken and the one next to it is fractured.” I said “Girl, go home please and put your foot on a pillow and watch some TV.”
I had another girl from Brookville Gardens (apartments in Starkville) who had a few pro fights before having a baby. Two weeks after having a baby she was right back saying she wanted to train for another fight.
Did you get your later fighters on any major cards?
I tried to get a fight on a Roberto Duran card at a (Mississippi) casino. They had to split the cards for separate sanctioning because it’s different rules. After his fight, Roberto Duran thought my wife was part of his entourage so they swept her up and we all had a good time after the fight.
Did you buy Level III planning to open a gym?
I opened Level III in ’92 because my wife’s offices at Brickfire had to move for the fourth time. I said, “From now on I’ll make sure you have a plac
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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