By Thomas Gerbasi

When it comes to boxing in New York, there is no more storied place than the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. With a population of under 60,000 and measuring just 1.1 square miles, it’s hard to believe that the neighborhood has produced so many fighters of note.

The names are familiar, and you usually only need one for each: Tyson, Bowe, Briggs, Judah, Jacobs, Stevens, Jones, Gregory.

When Travis Peterkin was born in 1990, it might have been the Golden Age of Brownsville boxing, and 26 years later, he would love to bring it back for his neighborhood and all of New York.

“There’s so much talent out here,” he said of the current state of New York boxing. “Right now, I’ve got about 10-15 fighters on the top of my head that are talented and that I think are better than some of these guys across the nation that can really become world champions. Some of the guys in my division, I’ve known since I was 12-13 years old, and it’s good to see some of the guys I grew up with getting some exposure and press and just winning. And I’m gonna be the next person to do that.”

His next big test takes place this Friday night, far away from the Big Apple, as he faces Radivoje Kalajdzic in the ShoBox main event at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. Kalajdzic is coming off a split decision loss to former Olympian Marcus Browne in April that many thought he won, but Peterkin isn’t concerned about that bout, only about getting his hand raised for the 17th time.

“It’s about staying smart, sticking to my game plan and coming out with that victory however it comes,” he said. “I’m not promising a knockout. If it comes, I’ll take it, but I’m coming to win.”

That’s the Brownsville way. Boasting a slogan of “never ran, never will,” people grow up tough there, and if you’re a young man who doesn’t learn how to fight, or at least defend yourself, it’s a tough go. Peterkin learned how to fight. But at 11, he wanted to learn how to box, so he went to the best trainer he knew: his father Bernard, a former boxer who wasn’t going to take a half-assed commitment to the hardest game, even from his son.

“I was one of them kids getting in trouble on the street a little bit and I wanted to try out boxing,” Peterkin recalled. “I was watching it on TV and I wanted to see what was going on, so I said, ‘Pops, I want to box.’ He smiled at something on TV and then his face turned serious. He said, ‘There is no turning back. You’ve gotta pick it up, you’ve gotta be a man, and you’ve gotta take this as far as possible.’ Of course, I was 11 years old, and I didn’t understand what he was saying. But as I went to the gym and started training, he didn’t tell me what he meant, but he showed me a lot.”

Today, Peterkin is a father himself, and it’s his daughter that provides 99.9 percent of his motivation.

“I just want to work hard and feed my family,” he said. “My daughter is three years old, she runs around, she starts trouble with me (Laughs), and I just want to show her a better life.”

That means plenty of hustle, and Peterkin isn’t afraid of hard work. It’s why he took a gig at Barclays Center a couple years ago as a suite runner, a man behind the scenes as some of the biggest fights in the sport were taking place.



“It was definitely a big lesson for me as far as paying dues,” he said. “I was young, I had a child on the way and I had to pay bills. So I took a job the best way I could, selling franks and pretzels.”

And while he didn’t tell everyone about his other gig as a pro boxer, at times, when the fights were going on and the crowd was roaring, he would let his co-workers know that one day he would be the recipient of those cheers.

“There were so many fights going on and I was telling the people I was working with, ‘Yo, I’m gonna be up there one day. I’ll be fighting here one day,’” he laughs. “They said, ‘We’ll see about that, Trav.’ I never really spoke about boxing to them. But sure enough, that night came.”

In August of 2015, he got his shot in Barclays, battling to a draw with fellow unbeaten Lenin Castillo. He’s since returned to the win column with a shutout victory over Larry Pryor in March, and now it’s off to Oklahoma.

“Now people get to see me on Showtime, and that is a big deal because coming from where I’m from in Brownsville, there’s not too many people who get chances to make it out,” he said. “I know it’s hard everywhere, but in Brownsville, it’s different.”

It is. It’s a place that builds fighters, and if you represent Brownsville, there is a standard to live up to. Peterkin accepts that responsibility, but he won’t let it weigh him down.

“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure,” he said. “It’s just a good feeling to know. Growing up in Brownsville, some of the most famous boxers are from my neighborhood. Tyson grew up down the street from me, Briggs grew up five blocks away, and we’re all from the same area. Me, Shannon, Danny (Jacobs), Mike. I have a picture in my house of Mike Tyson when he had a big blowout afro. I don’t think nobody in this world has ever seen Mike like that.”

He laughs, a calm young man in a serious business who comes from a serious place. And he’ll be repping that place this Friday night.

“This is the biggest fight of my life, and I trained for it like that too,” he said. “I’m not gonna put too much pressure on myself because I already know the task in front of me, but I’m going to go out there and do what I’m supposed to do. There is no question. I was born for this.”