Two of Bourgue’s coaches were inducted into the Amateur Boxing Association’s Hall of Fame this month, one of whom is still going strong at the age of 76.
Elzie Verdin, 76, and Justin Verdin, 40, were inducted into the USA Boxing’s Southern Association Hall of Fame, which covers parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
They won the award at the Boxing on da Bayou event on December 10, where four of Justin Burdin’s students won the fight. Both he is an Extreme MMA & Fitness coach.
Justin gave Elsie and his students his award and said he coaches them to help them stay on the right path.
Both coaches are distant relatives, and Elsie has been training Justin since he was a child.
“He is 76 years old, but he still coaches people and continues this as a lifestyle.
Elzie Verdin says her passion for boxing started when she was four years old. Every weekend, the bartender would return and have her father, Ivens Verdin, take away the unruly patrons, and Elsie could watch the action through the window.
The original bar is now closed, but its name was changed to Mary’s Bar before it closed.
Verdine later enlisted in the Army and attended Airborne School. His training is rigorous, and he goes through Airborne training during the day and Army boxing training at night.
“On the first day of Jump School, I was punished for forgetting my pillowcase,” said Elsie. The drill instructor forced him to do 50 push-ups. More, but I wasn’t laughing anymore. “
His time in the Army was cut short when his brother died in a car accident, after which his parents applied for his discharge.
But Elzie Verdin never stopped training. The key to his coaching success was that he traveled and sought guidance from the best mentors. If you stay in one area and fight the same people, you’re stagnating, he said.
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He stressed the importance of the trip to his son, Bradley Burdin, who is now a boxing coach on Guam. Elzie took his son to New York to train with Kevin Rooney, Floyd Patterson and Curtis Cokes.
“He was world champion for four or five years,” Elsey said of Cora. “So clearly he’s doing the right thing?”
Elsie is not afraid to experiment and has even adapted other stylistic skills, including crediting the development of his snap from karate teacher Jeffrey Billiot of Dulac.
Elsey has no intention of retiring. He said it keeps him in great shape and nothing is more rewarding than watching someone grow. I would like to
“I hate bullies, so I teach men to protect themselves,” he said. “I don’t like to see someone pushed away”
