Sacramento boxer Blake McKernan is ready for the spotlight on Tyson-Jones undercard

Blake McKernan first watched boxing at age 10, when he saw Mike Tyson fight Evander Holyfield. Now, at 33, McKernan is slated to fight Swedish boxer Badou Jack on the undercard for a Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones exhibition bout November 28. Jones is 51 and Tyson is 54, but the aging legends’ names are sure to draw attention to the event even if their skills aren’t quite what they used to be.

Sacramento’s McKernan sees the fight as a big opportunity. Boxing is a show and he wants to win in the spotlight.

McKernan talks a big game. He likes to go by “The Beast” — a nickname he picked up in the military. He writes Instagram captions such as, “a real Rocky story.” He’s said many times that he wants to be a world champion. The look he favors — James Bonde-esque sunglasses and a tattoo of his last name with a pair of boxing gloves that spans his back — completes the persona.

But McKernan is also willing to put in the work.

He wakes up at 6 each morning for a four-to-six mile run, depending on what his strength and conditioning coach has ordered. Then, the self-described single father gets his 9-year-old son Tyson settled into homeschooling. Afterward, it’s back to the gym for a midday workout focused on high-intensity interval training. McKernan started substituting cardio for weightlifting this summer to drop from 200 to 188 pounds for his upcoming light heavyweight fight. In the evenings, he works on boxing skills — shadow boxing, footwork, sparring — from about 6:30 to 9:30.

“I think he can go all the way,” said McKernan’s assistant boxing coach, Marcus Reaves, who was hired for additional help before the November fight. “There’s just a lot more building that we have to do.”

McKernan has been undefeated since going pro in 2016, but his 13 professional fights are still limited experience compared to his opponent. Badou Jack is a former world champion in two weight classes. Reaves said power is McKernan’s strong suit, but he needs to finesse his technique. Reaves also knows McKernan will be confident when he steps into the ring; he just doesn’t want the relatively new professional to be overconfident and overlook his own weaknesses.

“I think some people think he’s cocky, but Blake is cool, down-to-earth,” Reaves said. “He’s a people person. He likes to be in a spotlight.”

McKernan doesn’t mind the pressure in the center of the ring.

“Fighting is, I would say, one of the biggest stages of entertainment,” McKernan said. “Since the gladiator days, as unfortunate as it may sound, violence has always been something that people crave seeing.”

At the same time, he finds the sport almost therapeutic.

McKernan said he grew up poor and his parents were rarely around. He joined the military at age 20 because he was, by his own description, “not on the best path in life at that point.” He spent three-and-a-half years as a machine gunner in the infantry, including one year in Iraq.

“To be a great fighter you have a lot of built up aggression or pain,” he said. “That’s always been something that’s allowed me to excel in this industry. I have a lot built up from being a kid, teenager and adult, even from the military, that allowed me to push myself to a different level inside the ring.”

When he got out of the Army in December 2010, McKernan started attending Sacramento City College and training as an amateur boxer. He supported himself for a time working for a mortgage company but in March 2016 took the leap of faith to go pro as a boxer.

He said he likes working for himself now. His flexible schedule also allows him more time with his son. Tyson — or “Baby Beast” — often joins his dad at the gym and is learning to box, too.

As McKernan approaches his November fight, he’s not worried about going up against a more experienced professional. Reaves acknowledged McKernan will be seen as the underdog in this fight, but McKernan is focused on the positive.

“I feel like over the years I had to allow God to guide my steps and build me into the man that I was going to need to become in order to capitalize on an opportunity in a moment like this,” McKernan said. With his faith, his training and his confidence combined, he said he’ll be ready.

“It’s not that I can win, I know I’m gonna win,” McKernan said. “I don’t want to say that sounding arrogant, but certain people either fold under pressure, or toe the line and rise to the occasion.”