'It seems like a real Rocky movie to me': Grafton Hill native Docimo ready for pro debut at Punch-Out at Polar Park II

WORCESTER — Dan Docimo was 16 and living in an unstable home when Worcester Police Department officers Tommy Duffy and Nate Reando invited him to join the gang unit boxing program.

“The gang unit boxing club chooses you,” Docimo recalled Wednesday afternoon at Camp Get Right. “You don’t choose it.”

Docimo, a lifelong Grafton Hill resident who moved to Shrewsbury, his fiancée’s hometown, with his family a couple of years ago, estimated he won about 50 percent of his bouts during an amateur career that lasted four years and ended in 2008 when he was 20.

Now, 16 years later, Docimo will return to the ring Friday, Aug. 9, when he makes his professional debut as part of a talent-rich card at Punch-Out at Polar Park II.

The initially surprising and now highly anticipated comeback has made him an instant fan favorite, even drawing the attention of one-time world champion Peter Manfredo Jr., who made the trip here from his hometown of Providence on Monday to give Docimo some pointers in person.

“It seems like a real Rocky movie to me,” said Docimo, who turns 36 on Sunday. “It’s inspiring how many messages I’ve been getting. I should have done this a long time ago.”

Docimo, whose ring nickname is “Dan the Lefthand” as he’s a southpaw, has always aspired to be a pro boxer. He decided to make it a reality after attending Pandemonium at the Palladium 2 in December.

Only one problem. Docimo had close to 200 pounds packed on his 5-foot-8 frame.

“I saw some welterweights making their pro debut,” Docimo said. “They weren’t killing it (but) there’s no such thing as a bum in boxing. Ninety-five percent of guys won’t even make the walk to the ring, so anybody who is doing it deserves a handshake from me.

“So, I saw these guys fight and I go, ‘I think I can get up and get those guys, especially with a few weeks of practice. But I’m too heavy.’ ”

By altering his diet ‒ less pasta and meatballs, for example ‒ and reducing his intake ‒ no more seconds and thirds ‒ and getting back in the gym in January, Docimo shed 50 pounds in a matter of months.

He currently weighs 151 and will fight at 147 when he meets fellow welterweight Tracey Coppedge (0-3) of Wilson, North Carolina, in a three-round affair.

Docimo, a 2007 North High graduate, credits his trainer and longtime friend, Owen Minor, for getting him back into shape and sharpening his skills.

“He told me, ‘You know, you were a good boxer,’ ” Docimo said. “He helped me lose weight; got me into this. He has five kids ‒ two babies ‒ and he meets me here every night, every night to work out with me. He’s extraordinary.”

Docimo, who has worked for the state as a locksmith for 17 years, primarily at Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, and his super supportive fiancée, Laura Abasciano, a social worker at Westborough High, have two kids. Luca is 4½ and his brother, Dante, is two weeks old.

While Docimo played Pop Warner football as a youngster and soccer in high school to get in cardio work, the latter at the recommendation of esteemed trainer Rocky Gonzalez and former pro Bobby Genese, who will work Docimo’s corner at Punch-Out, he has never had a fondness for baseball.

But this New York Yankees fan will take the mound around 3:30 p.m. Saturday to throw out the first pitch as the Worcester Red Sox celebrate Italian Heritage Day.

“Huge honor for me,” Docimo said.

There will be plenty of people cheering him on. Same goes for when he returns to Polar Park a week later.

Docimo, who has been dubbed “Grafton Hill’s Finest Son,” had sold 200 tickets and 250 T-shirts as of midweek to Punch-Out. And he’s being sponsored by a staggering 22 area businesses.

“My neighborhood stepped up for me huge,” Docimo said. “It’s really an intimate thing because I’m going to all these supporters of mine from Grafton Hill and as soon as I go in, the Italian families are like, ‘Hey, sit down. Have some meatballs, have some lasagna.’

“And I’m like, ‘I can’t. I have to watch my weight.’ But it’s really nice because you get to meet all these families who know my father and people I grew up with and stuff like that.”

Selling tickets has been something of a third job behind his real one and his duties as a parent.

To that end, Docimo’s dad, David, insisted he’ll handle ticket sales beginning Saturday so his son can focus on the fight.“He’s the best guy in my life,” Docimo said.

As for the future, Docimo is predicting a victory. While that remains to be seen, this will definitely not be a one-and-done ring return.

“No matter the outcome ‒ and I’m going to win ‒ I’m definitely going to do another one,” Docimo said. “One hundred percent.”

Tickets can be purchased at the Polar Park box office, by calling (508) 500-8888 or online at polarpark.com/boxing .

They’re priced at $205 for field level VIP, $125 for DCU Club VIP, $105 for the first four rows in sections 6-11, $75 for home plate reserved, and $55 for reserved seating and $165 for family four-packs down the first and third base lines.

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'It seems like a real Rocky movie to me': Grafton Hill native Docimo ready for pro debut at Punch-Out at Polar Park II