A life too wild to be fiction
Mike Rodgers arrived in Nashville with a beat-up car, a guitar, three garbage bags full of clothes, and a dream big enough to make common sense nervous. After living out of his car for a week, he stepped into professional boxing to survive, with guidance from former heavyweight champion Greg Page and light-middleweight contender Nick Rupa.
Instead of becoming another opponent fed to protected prospects, Rodgers kept winning. Then he kept knocking people out. Then he kept building a name. Before long, the singer who came to town to chase a record deal had become a dangerous, charismatic local folk hero in the ring.
That dual identity was no accident. Rodgers is the son of Golden Gloves Hall of Famer Ray Rodgers and the great grand-nephew of Country Music Hall of Famer Jimmie Rodgers. As he puts it, it was in his DNA to do both.
