First Fight at Forty

Zac Marti's professional boxing debut might not be coming with a huge amount of hype or a big payday.

The Tenino man and co-owner of Full Impact Fitness in Chehalis will step into the ring for a middleweight undercard bout against Guillermo Maldanado on Saturday night at the Emerald Queen Casino's Battle at the Boat 97, with four scheduled rounds against former regional Gold Gloves champion Guillermo Maldonado.

For Marti, though — who turned 40 in July — Saturday's all about erasing regrets.

His last fight was back in 1999, at the Tyee Motor Inn in Tumwater against Brad Blackburn. It was a good fight, Marti said, but he lost the decision.

The Tyee is gone, replaced by a Fred Meyer. Blackburn moved on to mixed martial arts, eventually earning a five-match stint in the UFC and an 18-13-1-1 pro record.

And Marti?

"I got married around the same time," he said. "I had kids, bought a house, got fat … and stopped boxing."

He started boxing around the age of 16, and got seriously involved after he left the U.S. Marine Corps, in 1996. He trained with Tom Mustin, who later coached the U.S. Olympic team, at the Tacoma Boxing Club, and his seventh amateur fight — that middleweight bout against Blackburn at the Tyee — was his last. Around that time he moved to Tenino with his wife, Heather; the couple now has two boys, ages 9 and 12, and Zac helps coach their football teams.

"I think our first pregnancy, I put on about 35 pounds, and then about 20 the second one," he said. "When you get away from fighting, I couldn't find anything to motivate me to do that type of training anymore."

A few years ago, though, he met Robert Hoffman at church. The two connected over their love of boxing, and at one point Hoffman — who had around 30 amateur fights in his 20s — told Marti about his own regret.

"My one regret was not having that one pro fight that I could tell my grandkids about," Hoffman said. "I was never good enough to make it as a pro. I was a good amateur, but I knew there would be other things in my career."

The conversation gnawed at Marti. A few days later, he called Hoffman.

"He said, 'I haven't been able to sleep since you told me that. I think I can still do it,'" Hoffman said.

Marti asked Hoffman to train him. That was in December; eight months and almost 50 pounds later, Marti's ready for that first pro fight.

"He's really undergone a transformation," Hoffman said. "He's really gotten into excellent shape, which is really hard for a 40-year-old guy to do."

His wife and doctor, Marti said, were initially a bit skeptical of his plan. He had pain from his knees to his neck and a diet of Ibuprofen the first month, but the results started to show.

"My heart rate is better. My blood pressure's perfect. Physically, I'm in as good of shape as I've ever been," he said. "That's not something most people can say at 40."

He's been running five days a week, usually 5 miles at a time. Three days a week he's in the gym for a few hours, hitting the heavy bag, jumping rope, hitting a speed bag and sparring, working out with both Hoffman and at the Academy of Brian Johnson in Lacey. Johnson will also be in Marti's corner on Saturday night.

"It was a real struggle, initially, but he's just been consistent, and done all the things he can't stand to do," Hoffman said. "The first thing was to get his weight down, and then get his cardio in line with where he should be for a fight."

His opponent, a 2004 graduate of Eatonville High School, has around 50 amateur fights under his belt, along with the Gold Glove hardware. Maldanado stands at 6-foot-1, which gives him about 6 inches on the 5-foot-7 Marti.

"I don't have an option A, B and C. I have one formula, to get him on the ropes, get in in the corner, and I have to hurt him. I have to take his will to fight away," Marti said. "If it turns into a boxing match, and he's keeping me at the end of a lengthy jab, it's going to be a long night. I've got to turn it into a close-space brawling match a little bit, for me to be effective."

Marti, according to Hoffman, has a few things on his side — conditioning, mental toughness, durability, and his own cumulative experience with the sport. And a solid punch with either hand.

"Zac has thunder in both hands," Hoffman said. "He hits hard for his weight. He hits hard in general, for any weight, and he's comfortable throwing hard shots with either hand."

Marti, though, earned his spot in the ring as an opponent against whom Maldanado can make his pro debut.

"Zac knows it, and I know it, but it's meant to be the springboard for the young gentleman he's fighting to get his career off to a quick start," Hoffman said. "We've got a little surprise for him. That's not how it's going to work out. Zac's worked too hard, for too long, and wants it too badly for it to go that way."

Marti co-owns Full Impact with George Dodd, a boxing inspector with the state Department of Licensing. Dodd helped put Marti in touch with Brian Halquist Productions, which is promoting Saturday's Battle at the Boat event.

"This was the only fight they offered me. It was the only one available, a take-it-or-leave-it sort of thing," Marti said.

He'll make $800, win or lose, from the fight, though the money is certainly beside the point.

"Zac's doing this for the love of the sport, and not the money, and there is a little glory in it," Hoffman said. "He likes to be able to raise his hands at the end of the fight, but I'm going to be able to raise his hands, no matter what, because he did it. He is certainly ready for this."