Cruiserweight Josh Himes Aims To “Empower The Everyday Fighter” Among Us

Cruiserweight Josh Himes Aims To “Empower The Everyday Fighter” Among Us
By: Sean Crose

“Taking it easy,” says cruiserweight Josh “The Handsome Hitman” Himes when asked what’s next in his boxing career. He’s recently won his eleventh bout, Himes has, along with the United Boxing Federation All America cruiserweight title, via a unanimous decision victory over Armin Mrkanovic. The bout was held in a state penitentiary in West Virginia (those who think good boxing can’t be found in prison need only look up the name James Scott). Fight locations and important wins aren’t the only interesting things about Himes, however. Sharp and likable, Himes, along with his wife, the singer Brynn Marie, have begun Fight2Fight, a nonprofit organization designed to, as Himes puts it, “empower the everyday fighter.”

“We’ve somehow connected with forty seven countries,” he says. “It’s been a blessing.” As Himes’ rep Tiffany Bearden states: “F2F believes that everyone is a fighter, whether you are fighting for health, faith, fitness, career, freedom or against addiction.” In other words, the organization isn’t just for boxers. For boxers aren’t the only ones who have fights on their hands. F2F is, according to its website, “encouraging everyone to come together in support of each others’ daily battles.” Needless to say, Josh and Brynn encourage people to inform them of their own fights through the F2F site: https://www.fight2fight.com/contact/

Perhaps not surprisingly, the people behind CBS’ upcoming game show Candy Crush (which begins airing July 9th) are having Josh and Brynn on as contestants. They’ll be easy to spot wearing F2F shirts. Fittingly enough, Candy Crush is to be hosted by Mario Lopez, himself an enormous boxing fan who Josh describes as a “super nice guy.”

Of course “super nice guy,” isn’t the sort of thing one would expect to hear come out of the mouth of a pro fighter, but Josh is unique. It’s not a matter of blowing smoke to claim the man has the kind of winning personality that could make him accessible to a wide audience. Most nice guys may finish last, but most nice guys don’t have winning records on BoxRec. Nor have they plowed through three opponents in a row in a matter of months. Josh, simply put, can be as nice as he wants.

And frankly, that’s a good thing, especially in a sport where the whole “bad boy” bit grows tiresome. The history of boxing is loaded, to be sure, with decent people who proved to be tougher than the tough guys (George Foreman immediately comes to mind). Josh makes it clear that he’s not interested in playing the role of villain. In fact, he likes his own unique brand of counterpointing. It’s the path he’s taken, after all. Besides, as Josh himself says: “I’ve prided myself on that path.”