Another former Barstow student to pro's

Brian Gordon fights at the U.S. Olympic Trainning Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. at the U.S. Amateur Championships in 2001. Gordon will make his professional boxing debut Thursday night.

Gordon is ready to make pro boxing debut after two stints in Iraq

By MATTHEW PETERS Sports Editor BARSTOW - When you cross over into Iraq from a surrounding country, there's a sign - just like when you cross over into another state in the U.S.A. As armed guards checked soldiers into the country, Brian Gordon took one look at the sign and saw death. "It was an out-of-body experience," Gordon said. "I looked at that sign and lost it for a second or two. I don't know, it was just weird feeling." Gordon spent two terms in Iraqi for a total of 13 months as a member of the United States Army. Each day was a battle, often one for his own life. Thursday night will be another battle for Gordon - the kind he prefers. Gordon will make his professional boxing debut against Brian Cummings in the junior welter weight division at the East Meets West fight at Tachi Palace in Lemoore. The first fight begins at 6:30 p.m. Calling Gordon was a multiplesport athlete at Barstow High School, but boxing was always his calling. When he was a little kid he told his mom, Diane Gordon, he wanted to be an Olympic boxer. She was impressed by his lofty goals and bought him gloves and a bag. "No kid ever came up an told me that," Diane said. "He was serious. I said, 'This boy is going to be a boxer.' " Brian describes himself as "a little wannabe knuckle head" during high school. He used to set up fights after school and find other fights around Barstow. "He was always boxing," said friend Derrick Davis. He was a ringleader. He would set them up and duke it out. I ain't never seen him lose." When Gordon and Davis tired of playing video games after school, they'd roam Barstow and sometimes find more fights. "Growing up in Barstow, we didn't have nothing to do," Davis said. "We talked with our hands, but we didn't pick fights. It's not like we were walking around looking for fights." The two earned a reputation around Barstow High School and often had a following of people waiting to see what might happen. (Read more..)