Eric Priest turned chaos of his environment into art in the ring

It was a tough camp for middleweight Eric Priest. His coach Julian Chua had an undisclosed health issue and Los Angeles wildfires wreaked havoc on all of Southern California, forcing Priest to evacuate two weeks before the fight. He could not jog outside because the air quality was so poor.

Yet Priest won in a shutout on Thursday night, defeating Houston’s Tyler Howard by unanimous decision in the main event of the Golden Boy Fight Night card at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California. 

The 26-year-old Priest’s smooth victory didn’t reflect the turbulent nature of his previous few months. Yet under the bright lights, he was able to shut out the distractions and win.

Priest, who has a tattoo on the side of his body reminiscent of Jean Michel-Basquiat’s signature crown motif, stated that boxing is an artistic expression for him.

“Boxing is an art. I paint my picture in the ring and I express myself when I’m fighting,” Priest, 15-0 (7 KOs), said. “I’ll do everything that I’ve been doing in the training camp. I just let loose in the ring. It’s the only time where I can experience true freedom.”

Priest was nearly flawless as his movement and active jab befuddled an aggressive Howard, who was unable to let his hands go for the second fight in a row. Despite delivering the best performance of his career, Priest is a tough critic. He gave himself a B- for his performance. 

“The moment I start grading myself as an A+ all the time is the moment I lose my edge,” Priest said. 

Howard, 20-3 (11 KOs), from Crossville, Tennessee, trained in Houston for this camp. Priest and his team knew he would come in tough.

“It was a very difficult training camp. On top of the wildfires, I had a health scare, a really bad one,” Chua said. “I’m just grateful for the team we have at Brickhouse Boxing.”

While Chua couldn’t be there on the day-to-day, Yogy Winder helped Priest stay sharp.

“It was a long camp because he was supposed to fight in December,” Winder said. “Eric just kept his head down, kept working, and tonight showed the fighter that he is.”

“We had a good disciplined boxing plan,” Chua said. “I did want to see another gear. You saw him try to push it, but Tyler kept trying. There was never a point where Howard was just completely defeated. We couldn’t just step to him and be reckless.”

After the victory, Priest reflected on his struggles with a sense of relief. 

“My mind can be my best friend and worst enemy,” he said. “I definitely took myself to a dark place. A lot of things were happening and boxing is the only thing that really gives me freedom. It gives me freedom from my brain and freedom from the things that I fight on a day-to-day basis. Fighting in there is a piece of cake compared to things I fight in my head. I’m glad it was all worth it in the end.”