Now a Boxing Hall of Famer, Pinklon Thomas gives back with mentoring program

November 17, 9:34 PMTampa Bay Sports ExaminerTed Fleming

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Pinklon Thomas is styling and profiling.
(Photo: Ted Fleming / TBSN Sports Media)

It has been a long road from there to here.

Pinklon Thomas fought them all, from Tommy Morrison to Riddick Bowe to Evander Holyfield to Mike Tyson. He also tangled with Trevor Berbick, Mike Weaver, Tim Witherspoon and Gerrie Coetzee. No one was ducked from the time he broke into the professional ranks in 1978 until he hung up his gloves in 1993.

Now 51, the former WBC and IBO heavyweight champion finished with a 43-7-1 record, 34 of them going down in the books as knockouts and fought six times with a title on the line. However, it was not all glitz and glamour for the Pontiac, Michigan native as a number of bad decisions led him down a dark path.

Thomas was a child of the 70’s and with it came the exposure to just about every drug known to mankind – heroine, cocaine, marijuana, barbiturates and others – plus alcohol and it ultimately led him into treatment in 1989. It was the loss to Holyfield on December 9, 1988 that completed the downward spiral that kept him out of the game for 19 months.

But like the phoenix, a mythical firebird that is said to have risen from the ashes of its own burning nest to live again, Thomas is back in a big way. To show how grateful he is for second chances, he is giving back in the form of a foundation called Project P.I.N.K. (Pride in Neighborhood Kids) with the help of John Pierson, owner of John Pierson's Toyota of Stuart and project coordinator Ramsey Harris, a 23-year veteran of the United States Air Force.

“I met Pink through some guys who were doing a movie here on the Treasure Coast called ‘Heart of a Champion’ and it was one of those things where right off the bat we hit it off,” said Pierson. “He has that eye, that look about him, always very intense and sincere and was the kind of guy where I said “Yeah, I can do that.”

Doing “that” was Pierson wanting to start a mentoring program for his business and Pinklon Thomas already having one, a non-profit (503-C1 tax status) organization and has run for the last 20-years.

“I told Pink how fortuitous it was because this is what I wanted to do for years,” he said. “The problem was he never really got it off the ground. Like a lot of us we hear, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll help you,’ unless you really trust people, and that’s not Pink’s style to pressure people, I really bought into it. I’m not going to have to reinvent the wheel. It’s what I wanted to do. Pink’s got the big name, a worldwide reputation, and I’m just a little fish in the pond. I like Pink and I like to do things with people I like.”

A well-known community philanthropist, Pierson is as diverse as any individual on Florida’s east coast. In addition to his dealership, he formed the Pierson Business Network in a mission to help the local community. Aside from his business and philanthropy efforts, he has his own radio show on 1450-AM, WSTU Fridays from 9-10 am and plays a pretty mean harmonica, if he does say so himself. A pretty good athlete, Pierson was an 8-time All American swimmer at Auburn University.

Project P.I.N.K. will be based in Stuart, Florida and include the entire Treasure Coast when its official launch takes place on December 5. The Jupiter Boxing Club and Martial Arts Training Center in Jupiter is on board with their 4000 square foot newly constructed building features 26 punching bags, a regulation size boxing ring, a 20’ x 40’ matted grappling area, free weights, weight machines and cardio equipment.

Pinklon Thomas (left) and project director Ramsey Harris. (Photo: Ted Fleming / TBSN Sports Media)

Right now the objective is to focus on Stuart and Martin County as the center of the project, getting everything off the ground first and when Thomas goes to other cities he can use it to expand Project P.I.N.K. Pierson is confident it will be a state of the art example of how something like this should be run and how kids should be taken care of.

“By the way, Pinklon has done a helluva job laying this out,” Pierson said. Project P.I.N.K. teaches youth and makes them mentors to other kids. Mentors will guide their protégés in areas such as academics, athletics, etiquette, and dress. “I’m very suspicious. People come up top me all the time looking for money but Pinklon never asked me. I found out about it and I asked him. It was like pulling teeth. I’m also aware of people being taken advantage of. I asked him how many people are on board and he said, ‘Well people promised ….’ I told him, ‘Who cares what they promised.’”

Pinklon Thomas was as fashionable as many in attendance at the Hall of Fame gala dinner.
(Photo: Ted Fleming / TBSN Sports Media)

Thomas is already an outstanding model to youngsters as he delivered the Invocation before the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame gala dinner this past Saturday evening. The next day he was one of twenty-two gentlemen who made history as the first class to enter the new Hall of Fame. In addition, he gave the ever dapper Jimmy Williams, Thomas’ former trainer, a run for his money with his own weekend attire.

Project P.I.N.K. is a combination of name recognition, organization and funding. With Pinklon Thomas, Ramsey Harris and John Pierson leading the way, don’t bet against its long term and world-wide success.