Mike Evgen, alias ''The Rice Street Rocker'', is a retired

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

from

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Personal life

Mike Evgen, as his

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

implies, is from the Rice Street neighborhood in

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. At 5'6" tall, Evgen was unusually short for a welterweight fighter.

Professional career

Evgen made his professional debut in January 1989 with a first round

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

of Rick Caldwell. He won his first 16 professional fights, losing for the first time to Terry Ford in June 1991. Nevertheless, Evgen continued to fight and to win, and by the time he fought for the IBO

light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

championship in April 1992 he was sporting a 19–1 record. He defeated Louie Lomelli for that vacant title in a twelve-round

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

. Evgen relinquished the IBO title without defending it. Evgen's career continued until July 1997, when he suffered an unexpected third-round knockout loss to Steve Valdez. He retired with a record of 31 wins (13 by knockout) and 6 losses. In 2012, his life story was featured in an independently produced documentary titled "the Rice Street Rocker." The documentary received favorable reviews, called "beautiful" by one Twin Cities media outlet.

Notes

Living people Welterweight boxers Boxers from Saint Paul, Minnesota American male boxers Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-boxing-bio-stub