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Tahdooahnippah: "They're going to say ‘who is this guy?' and the worldwide audience will say, ‘hey, I like this Indian guy'."'Photo courtesy www.comancheboy.com

'Comanche Boy' Makes a Name for Himself

By Christina Good Voice

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — George Tahdooahnippah appears to lead the life of a regular 29-year-old Native American guy.

Although he does lead a normal life complete with living in the country with his family — including two sons and one due in November — he also leads the life of a boxing champion who has a right hand that could knock a house down.

Tahdooahnippah (pronounced TAD-un-apper) is Comanche and Choctaw and a professional boxer. With a record of 15-0-1, 14 of those wins are knockouts.

In a Sept. 20 fight, Tahdooahnippah got a first round KO.

Reigning Native American champion

Going by the ring name "The Comanche Boy," Tahdooahnippah is the reigning Native American super middleweight champion.

At 5 foot, 10 inches, the Lawton, Okla., native frequently travels around Oklahoma fighting for sellout crowds and has acquired quite a fan base among Native Americans across the state.

"Out here in professional sports there aren't very many of us, so I'm just trying to keep myself unique, at the same time trying to be superior at what I do," he said. "And I'd like people to know that Native athletes are real."

As a high school student, Tahdooahnippah excelled at baseball, football and wrestling.
By the time he was 23, he focused on amateur kickboxing and won the North Texas Light Heavyweight title and was the Runner-Up at the 2002 Sansho-Kickboxing World Championships. 

After that, Tahdooahnippah returned to Lawton to fight in the Original Toughman competition. He won the light heavyweight championship and found his calling as a boxer.

"I love to fight," Tahdooahnippah said. "I want to actually train and eat right. I want to stay on what's going to better my boxing and body and health. With other sports I didn't want to do that."

As a child, Tahdooahnippah would play fight with his brothers and sisters, and it was something he'd always kept with him.

"Boxing fires me up," he said. "I have this almighty dream and I'm taking steps toward it. Each time it feels like I'm getting closer. I love to fight and box."

His manager saw talent right away

Bobby Dobbs, Tahdooahnippah's manager, met him in early 2004 when a company Dobbs was working for put on an event in Lawton, Okla., that Tahdooahnippah fought in.
It was Tahdooahnippah's second pro fight, and Dobbs set his sights on having him as a client.

Dobbs, who is vice president/matchmaker for Holden Productions, said managing a Native fighter was something he'd wanted to do for a long time. "I had always wanted to manage and promote a Native American fighter that I could feature at Indian casinos throughout the state," Dobbs said. "George was perfect: a good-looking, talented and marketable Native American boxer from Oklahoma."

Dobbs had to pursue Tahdooahnippah for a long time before finally getting him to sign. "But, it is a relationship that has worked out great for both of us," Dobbs said. "He is definitely a pleasure to manage and work with and brings excitement to every show he is on."

Some of that excitement for fans includes Tahdooahnippah's showmanship before and after a fight.

"I'm a good fighter," Tahdooahnippah said. "I'm fast, I've got power and I knock people out and people like that. But what separates me from other fighters is that I'm a performer."

An entertainer as well as a fighter

After he knocked out an opponent in one of his first fights, he started doing a war dance around the ring in celebration.

"I'm unique," Tahdooahnippah said. "I'll do my war dance around the ring. When I first did that people liked it and they cheered so I said ‘I'm going to keep doing this.' Every time I go into the ring I act like a wild Indian."

Another aspect of Tahdooahnippah's showmanship is the way he enters the ring.
Before each fight he brings in two fancy dancers who dance to a drum, but then he mixes it up with some modern music by playing Native American hip hop.

"They'll rap and I use the traditional and the modern day and I go in there and do my thing," Tahdooahnippah said. "I want people to know that Indian people are for real - especially in this boxing business."

In addition to his performing skills, Tahdooahnippah has power.

"George is a murderous puncher," Dobbs said. "He is also a well-disciplined fighter that understands the importance of eating properly and training hard to prepare for a fight. Every time I think I have found an opponent that will give George a test, he annihilates them."

The trainer sees his personality

David Vaughn is Tahdooahnippah's trainer and has been training him at Mad Man Boxing Center in Elgin, Okla., for about two years.

"He's a very respectful young man," Vaughn said. "He's one of those fighters you can get along with."

Tahdooahnippah is a good fighter because of the way he boxes, Vaughn said.
"The way he puts his combinations together, by throwing a hook and following behind with a right hand or throwing an uppercut," Vaughn said. "He has a very strong right hand but his left hand is just as strong as his right. It's just the combinations and the looking of the body and firing an opening on an opponent that he can work with and work his punches off of."

For now, Tahdooahnippah plans to take some time off to get ready for the arrival of his next son in November, but will begin fighting again in January.

Eyes on the prize

As for future plans, he has some goals in mind.

"It'll probably another one to two years, but my goal is I'm going to knock somebody out on HBO and then they're going to see that war dance on TV," Tahdooahnippah said. "They're going to say ‘who is this guy?' and the worldwide audience will say, ‘hey, I like this Indian guy.' Not just my Native people, but everywhere."

Dobbs said he believes Tahdooahnippah will have reached major milestones by then, too.
"In five to seven years, he will either be a world champion or a retired world champion," Dobbs said. "George is going all the way in boxing and will not be denied. It is impossible to stop a freight train rolling downhill and that is what he is. Any fighter that tries to stand in his way is going to get run over."

Vaughn has high hopes for Tahdooahnippah, too. "With his determination and hard work, I'm thinking he can be the Super middle weight champion of the world," Vaughan said.

 

Christina Good Voice, Muscogee (Creek), Choctaw and Rosebud Lakota, is a reporter at the Cherokee Phoenix tribal newspaper in Tahlequah, Okla. She is a member of the board of directors of the Native American Journalists Association. A 2001 graduate of the American Indian Journalism Institute, she had reporting internships at The Associated Press bureaus in Columbia, S.C., and Oklahoma City. Good Voice has writen for reznet since 2002. She writes about fashion, daily life, kids, family and the economy.

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