Heavyweight ‘Bolo’ Wills wins a million dollars in California Lottery
Photo: Brandon Lluis
Damian ‘Bolo’ Wills is an excellent example of the old cliche that you can’t keep a good man down. Wills’ name last appeared in boxing news when he was eliminated in the first round of the UK’s Heavyweight Prizefighter by a close to decision to a local UK fighter. Things didn’t get any better for Wills upon his return home as he was released by his then management team. Soon after he found himself struggling to make ends meet and to just put food on the table.
Things started looking up when Wills was signed by John Arthur of Journeyman Management with Andrew Zack acting as advisor. Then with a random play of a scratch-off ticket in the California Lottery’s “California Black Exclusive Scratchers” game, Wills won the million dollar top prize. A very humbled Wills spoke with Fightnews.com about his huge life changing experience.
What exactly was going on in your life prior to your recent good fortune?
Well my former management let me go when I came back from my last fight in the UK. A fight that I took on short notice and that I feel that I won anyway. Things got really bad in hurry. So much so that I had to apply for food stamps. I mean that was one of the hardest things I had to do was get in line and sign up for that. I never thought I would be in a situation like that. It just let me know how people can end up in situations like that.
What happened next?
Things started to get better for me when I signed with Journeyman Management. They saw my situation and helped me out. They also decided to take a chance on me and signed me to a management contract.
Are you frequent lottery player?
Not at all. I mean gambling was never my thing. This particular lottery caught my attention and on April 11th, 2014, I hit it for a million dollars!
You just went through a very difficult part in your life. Do you have specific plans to use your winnings?
Absolutley. Having been in boxing for awhile, I have had plenty of ideas of what I would do if I ever made some good money. I mean, I didn’t know it would come from the lottery but still I had ideas. I’m a father of three daughters and what I plan to do right away is buy a home for us.
Will you continue fighting?
Yes I will. I now have a good team behind me with Journeyman Management. Shadid Suluki is pushing me hard as my trainer. I have went from 280 to now in the 250s pound range. I think 240 is a good weight for me with my height at 6’4. Now that I have my finances in order I can focus 100 percent on boxing.
