Last week, Virgin Islander and professional boxer Deion Pruitt competed in the 7th World Chessboxing Championship in Loznica, Serbia, winning the bronze medal in the 84-kilogram weight class.
Pruitt, who had a 9-0-0, seven wins by technical knockout, earned his spot on the USA’s chessboxing team and was one of nine, out of 12 team members, to bring medals home for the country.
“It was nice being able to be on that boxing side and being able to add my own experience I’ve had with team US Virgin Islands and bring that over to Team USA,” he said.
Though Pruitt has an undefeated professional record in boxing, this was his first time competing in this hybrid sport.
Chessboxing is a sport that combines chess and boxing, with each round alternating between the two fields for three minutes. The game ends when time runs out, a player is checkmated, or knocked out. The sport emphasizes both strategic thinking in chess and physical endurance in boxing.
There were 17 countries with a total of 174 fighters competing in this year’s tournament. Pruitt first competed against France, allowing him the opportunity to place third and qualify for the bronze medal. He said that after about 90 seconds with three body shots to his opponent, France’s team threw in the towel. He then competed against Russia.
The “first three minutes of chess was a very even game. I got compliments from a grandmaster saying I was playing at a very high level,” said Pruitt of his fight against his Russian opponent. “I hit him with some tough shots but those Russians can take some shots. They’re just built different.”
Pruitt said his first move after his three-minute boxing round cost him the game.
“I got checkmated right after,” he said. “I respect chess so much more.”
The bronze medalist added that his biggest challenge leading up to this fight has been understanding the game of chess.
“There’s different planes of thought,” he said.
Despite facing an opponent who proved to be a better chess player, Pruitt’s experience during the tournament improved his performance and conviction. Inspired, he even aims to encourage others to participate in chess by establishing clubs in the Virgin Islands and Louisiana, where he currently resides. He also shared that he participated in his first chess tournament representing Ulla Muller Elementary School in 2007 for a territorial school competition and received second place overall. He acknowledged that his chess club teacher was “Mr. Clover.”
Of the competition in Serbia, “I got a bronze medal my first time ever trying this sport,” said Pruitt. “The Virgin Islands knows I’ve been bringing medals home, but to now bring a bronze medal home to the USA is a dream come true.”
He jokingly said he gets asked, “Is he a chessboxer or is he just a boxer now?”
Pruitt added that he plans to continue competing in chessboxing and has future matches lined up, indicating a long-term commitment to the sport.
“I will be a part of chessboxing until I die. I’ll have my first professional chessboxing match in May. I plan to do a bunch of tournaments and play at a Elo chess rating of 2500,” said Pruitt.
Pruitt’s journey can be followed on his chessboxing Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/chessorboxer/ or his personal page https://www.instagram.com/businessxxl/?hl=en.
“Special shoutout to USVI Boxing Federation for pushing me to become the man I have become today, because without them, I would never have the need to step out and do what I do for myself. They motivated me to go further than the Virgin Islands,” said Pruitt.
To note, James Canty III on Team USA became the Super Heavyweight Chessboxing World Champion in the 7th World Chessboxing Championships.
