Ric: Ric moved page Human:77533 to Victor Branson

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Ric moved page Human:77533 to Victor Branson

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	Timber Tiger keeps on fighting		<human>77533</human>
			''Timber Tiger keeps on fighting''

	By MORGAN RYAN Of the McMinnville,OR. News-Register Published: June 21, 2003		By MORGAN RYAN of the McMinnville,OR. News-Register Published: June 21, 2003
	http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=167537		http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=167537

	Victor Branson stood in the changing room of Chinook Winds Casino on Friday,�June 13, with sweat pouring down his bleach-blond hair onto his freshly blackened eyes and swollen face.		Victor Branson stood in the changing room of Chinook Winds Casino on Friday, June 13, with sweat pouring down his bleach-blond hair onto his freshly blackened eyes and swollen face.

	The 39-year-old from Willamina had just exchanged punches for six rounds with Billy Thompson, a promising 26-year-old from Lubbock, Texas. It was the 11th fight of Branson's professional boxing career and his main concern was when he'd get back in the ring for No. 12.		The 39-year-old from Willamina had just exchanged punches for six rounds with Billy Thompson, a promising 26-year-old from Lubbock, Texas. It was the 11th fight of Branson's professional boxing career and his main concern was when he'd get back in the ring for No. 12.
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	Until then, Branson said he's content living in Willamina with his wife, Colleen, and making payments on his Chevy truck. He also has a 19-year-old daughter and a son, who turned 15 on Wednesday.		Until then, Branson said he's content living in Willamina with his wife, Colleen, and making payments on his Chevy truck. He also has a 19-year-old daughter and a son, who turned 15 on Wednesday.

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Unknown user at 00:00, 1 January 2005

2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

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Timber Tiger keeps on fighting

By MORGAN RYAN Of the McMinnville,OR. News-Register Published: June 21, 2003
http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=167537

Victor Branson stood in the changing room of Chinook Winds Casino on Friday,June 13, with sweat pouring down his bleach-blond hair onto his freshly blackened eyes and swollen face.

The 39-year-old from Willamina had just exchanged punches for six rounds with Billy Thompson, a promising 26-year-old from Lubbock, Texas. It was the 11th fight of Branson's professional boxing career and his main concern was when he'd get back in the ring for No. 12.

"I hope I can get another fight in two weeks," Branson said after being told that the blemishes on his face weren't serious enough to keep him out very long. "I want to keep it going. I'll have to go back to work if I can't get another fight. Gotta keep the paychecks coming in."

Branson, known as the "Timber Tiger" in boxing circles, was fighting Thompson in a rematch of a fight held in Portland's Rose Garden. His employer, Risseuw Logging, had given him the week off to get ready for the fight and by the time it was over, the energetic, middle-aged man looked like he was ready to go another six rounds.

Branson lost the match by unanimous decision, but still earned $1,000 for his effort. He later conceded that Thompson was probably the better fighter. Branson wasn't convinced after Thompson won by split decision in the Rose Garden. He wanted to be sure.

Neither the bruises nor the loss seemed to have had much impact on Branson's upbeat demeanor. He was having a good time in the dressing room, smiling and joking around with his loyal entourage and anyone else who approached him.

"I don't care what they say about us fighters, we're not all mean and angry," Branson said. "It's a sport just like one-on-one basketball or tennis.

"Like me and Billy. We'll see each other later on tonight and he's not going to be mad because I punched him in his face. And I'm not going to be mad because he punched me in mine. That's the name of the game."

Branson has come a long way to get to this point.

He was released from the Oregon State Penitentiary, Salem, three years ago, following a 13-year stay behind bars. Since then, he has held a steady job in the logging industry and, in his spare time, worked his way into professional boxing.

"Vic has really turned his life around," said manager and longtime friend Rocky Jayroe. "He's completely rebuilt himself. He works everyday and takes good care of his daughter. He has done everything he can to help other people out. It's something to see, the way he's turned it around."

Early beginnings

Branson started fighting at a very young age, taking on any and all comers. He likes to say that he started his amateur boxing career in the third grade.

After a few informal matches as a youngster, Branson went a few rounds in the VFW Hall in Willamina as a freshman in high school. It was his first organized fight.

But it wasn't until a few years later that Branson's professional career began to take shape. That's when Jayroe stumbled upon the lively 19-year-old, who was doing backflips and other acrobatics off picnic tables in Willamina's Blackwell Park.

Jayroe was a devoted Tough Guy fighter at the time who had converted his garage into a training facility.

Branson described that first meeting like this:

"(Rocky) came up to me and said, 'Hey, you're in pretty good shape. You ever do any boxing?' I said, 'Yeah, a little bit.' He said, 'You ever do it for money?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'Do you want to?' I said, 'Yep.' So he gave me his phone number and address and told me to come work out."

Branson took Jayroe up on his offer. He trained with Jayroe and in less than two weeks he was in the McMinnville Armory, fighting in his first tough man fight against another 19-year-old.

The winner of the fight got $100 and the loser $50. He won the fight.

It was the start of an unrelenting brotherhood between Jayroe and Branson. One that has endured to this day.

"Rocky has been a good uncle to me," Branson said. "He's been a father figure in my life. He's always been there."

School of hard knocks

Fighting the tough man matches with Jayroe at his side was a brief respite for Branson from a lifestyle spiraling in the wrong direction.

Branson dropped out of Willamina High School at the age of 16. He said he was getting into too much trouble and the suspensions kept piling up. It became easier to just drop out.

"It was just being young and not having any goals," he said of his school troubles.

Branson continued to associate with the wrong people and it started to catch up with him. By the time he was 23 he had been accused of robbery in four counties.

He was arrested in 1987 and eventually convicted, in 1989, of armed robberies in Lane and Polk counties. That landed him a 20-year sentence.

"I needed someone to spank my bottom," Branson said. "Prison picks you up like a newborn baby and spanks your bottom. It showed me that I was an adult now and I needed to do adult things.

"I went through the school of hard knocks. Prison probably saved my life."

Doing hard time

Branson started boxing as soon as he got into prison. OSP provided the venue for organized boxing and he was eager to get involved.

The prison system took over where Jayroe had left off with Branson's development as a boxer. Branson took to a regimented training program and quickly became successful in the ring.

He absorbed what the other, more experienced boxers had to offer and parlayed that into his own fights. He fought his way through the super middleweight class, eventually becoming unbeatable at that weight.

Branson moved into the open class to find more competitive fights. That's where he caught the eye of Wally Jorgenson, a trainer out of Salem.

Jorgenson, owner of Wally's Gym, used to visit the prison regularly. He'd bring in sparring partners from his gym and put on exhibitions to teach the prisoners the technical aspects of boxing.

"Vic always impressed me," Jorgenson said. "There was enough of us that cared about him to see that there was something there. He's a good guy."

Jorgenson wrote letters of recommendation for Branson to the parole board. The first letter Jorgenson wrote was not accepted, but the second helped Branson get parole.

"(Vic) will be the first one to tell you that he didn't get put in there for nothing," Jorgenson said. "If anybody's learned their lesson, he has. It was just too long before he got out. I wish they would have cut him loose sooner."

Branson was released from OSP with credit for 13 years served, seven years earlier than his 20-year sentence.

A changed man

Branson emerged from prison a changed man. He took advantage of the educational programs in OSP and came out with a high school GED and vocational welding certificate.

Branson reconnected with his old friend, Jayroe, shortly after and the two started hanging out again. They went fishing and did other such activities while Branson recovered from a broken collar bone.

"I figured the guy deserved a second chance," Jayroe said. "I knew he was a good kid. He was just being dumb.

"He's a good man. He's got a heart the size of the ocean."

Jayroe helped Branson find a job as a logger. Branson was starting to patch his life together and working a steady job put him on the right path.

After a year passed and his collar bone healed, Branson was feeling the itch to get back in the ring. The only thing holding him back was the high cost of the extensive physical examination required to become a professional boxer. He just didn't have the money.

Hearing this, Jayroe stepped right in and paid for the physicals. He also signed on as Branson's manager.

Branson passed the physicals and went to a promoter in Portland to prove that he was worthy of professional status. The promoter set up a sparring match with Mark Gumag, the super middle weight champion of Canada.

Branson lost the fight to Gumag, but lasted the scheduled six rounds against a guy known for his early knockdowns. Branson's showing impressed the promoter.

His career as a professional boxer was launched.

Old school style

Since turning pro, Branson has fought 11 bouts - taking him east to Denver, south to San Jose, Calif., and north to Rochester, Wash.

He has a 4-6-1 record with two knockouts. Two of those losses have come against Gumag and two more were to Thompson. Another loss came against Ricardo Cortez, an undefeated boxer out of San Jose.

Branson went the distance against each of his younger and more promising opponents, showing his ability to take punch after punch and fire back with unexpected combinations.

"He's an interesting guy to watch," said Bob Oleson, the main matchmaker for casinos and hotels in the Pacific Northwest. "He's got a tough mentality. If you tag him, he's going to tag you back. He reminds me of the old-time fighters.

"He's just got that style that makes for a good fight. He makes the other guy fight by putting the pressure on."

Branson said he revels in fights against the toughest competition. He wouldn't have it any other way.

"I don't take easy fights because they don't do anything for you," he said. "I like the crowd-pleasing, hard-hitting - they make you look better when you win and when you lose, too.

"I'm a come-to-ya fighter. I don't sit out and wait. I always go with a refuse-to-lose attitude."

Just one birthday shy of 40, Branson is often fighting against opponents 10 or more years younger. Still, his tireless training puts him in a position where the longer the match lasts, the better chance he has of coming out on top.

"He's like an old racehorse," Oleson said. "Just when you count him out and think he's beat, all of a sudden he gets you. He's the type of fighter where the further the fight goes, the better he'll be."

Branson thinks his experience allows him to match up against the best his competition has to offer.

"Thirteen years in prison - that's 13 years of experience," he said. "You can give up weight, but you can't give up experience."

Despite Branson's advanced age, Oleson contends that he still has value as a fighter. And will for some time. Oleson said that with the way boxing works, a hard-training boxer like Branson could catch a break at any time and find himself in a high-profile match.

"At his age, what he's done is a remarkable accomplishment," Jayroe said. "He's fighting a lot of guys on their way up - all the high-caliber fighters. If he keeps up his training like he has been, he should be able to keep going for a while."

Oleson said that he is always on the lookout for fights for Branson.

Planning for the future

Branson realizes that his boxing career won't last forever.

Three days after the fight against Thompson, Branson was taking the written portion of the test to get his Commercial Driver's License. He passed the 50-question test with flying colors.

"I'm looking for my retirement job," Branson said. "It's almost time for me to sit down and start enjoying the ride."

Branson said that another fight would free him up enough financially so that he could take the time to ride along with another truck driver for experience. He could log time in the passenger seat and learn the ropes in the process.

Dan Krause of Old Time Trucking has already volunteered to teach Branson how to drive trucks, free of charge.

Driving a truck instead of laboring on a logging crew would also be less taxing physically on Branson. Thus, giving him more time to train in the ring.

Share the knowledge

After his boxing career comes to an end, Branson plans to pass on what he's learned to the next generation.

Ideally, he would like to open a gym of his own where kids would learn about the sport of boxing and beyond. Branson said he's got a lot to share.

"There's a lot of young kids around here wanting to learn about boxing," he said. "As long as you got their attention, then you can put into some of them the common sense skills, like: It's wrong to steal; everybody's got to work for a living.

"They can't really argue with me because I've been there, done that. No matter what they say, they're not going to convince me that there's a life in that kind of stuff. I've been a robber and a stealer and it's wrong. It doesn't get you anywhere."

Branson trained several boxers while in prison. He's also a regular in Wally's Gym, where Jorgenson said he is always welcome.

"He's an asset whenever he comes in," Jorgenson said. "He really helps with the other guys and with the younger kids. He's been through a lot and he's got a lot to offer the young boxers."

Branson went through youth education programs in OSP that taught him how to relate to the younger generation. He hopes to put those skills to further use some time in the near future.

Until then, Branson said he's content living in Willamina with his wife, Colleen, and making payments on his Chevy truck. He also has a 19-year-old daughter and a son, who turned 15 on Wednesday.

Victor Branson - Revision history

Ric: Ric moved page Human:77533 to Victor Branson

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Unknown user at 00:00, 1 January 2005