'Hard place to live': Peoria helped Manual athlete forge path to national kickboxing team

PEORIA — Cody Baker used sports as a stepping stone to put Peoria's Harrison Homes behind him.

Now the former Manual High School wrestler is putting up numbers as a kickboxer for Team USA.

The 22-year-old is headed to Portugal as part of a USA lineup contending in the amateur world championships Nov. 10-16.

"Honestly, for a while it didn't kick in I was representing Team USA," Baker said. "Training camp was super hard. Time to hone in. It's my first time outside the U.S. I'm going to love every bit of it. But I'm also there to take care of business.

"I'm excited. I might have to fight up to eight times there to win a world championship."

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While kickboxing for Team USA in Portugal is the destination for Baker, he wants everyone to know about his journey to this point.

'A hard place to live'

The Peoria native grew up in South Peoria. And he was on a very different path as a kid.

"It has its own name, where I come from," Baker said. "Growing up I had older cousins and friends who either became statistics or funerals that I had to go to. I was a kid running around in Harrison Homes. And Harrison was a hard place to live in.

"It motivated me to stay out of the streets. I've had my share of trouble. You don't have to give in to your community or environment. "

And Baker's way out was through sports, and a connection with the Peoria Fight Club and founder Robert Bryant.

Baker also grew up in a family that had a rich sports tradition at Manual. His grandfather, Marion Baker, was a standout football player and wrestler at Manual. His aunt, Holly Baker, was the starting point guard on the 1986 state girls basketball team. His mother, Michelle Baker, was a terrific softball and basketball player at Manual.

"I did everything I could, I fell in love with sports in high school, loved the discipline and dedication of it," Baker said. "It changed my life just in time. It was an outlet for me to take out my anger and frustrations. I wish I could have been more focused my first two years, but I learned to do that, and it all started clicking for me as a junior and senior."

He was a starting right guard on Manual's football team for all four varsity seasons. He was on the track and field team. And he blossomed as a wrestler, piling up a 190-22 record over four seasons. In 2019, as a senior, he became Manual's only wrestler ever to place at the IHSA state finals, finishing fifth in the heavyweight division.

He graduated and found the next step in his life in a boxing ring.

Peoria Fight Club and MMA

"Cody Baker fought for us for years," said Peoria Fight Club founder Robert Bryant. "He was a champion in my club, trained in the Peoria Athletic Club and then he moved on to MMA.

"Now he's on the world stage and he's doing big things."

Baker found Peoria Fight Club a year after high school. He was unsure what he wanted to do, and the club and Bryant helped him focus on a path.

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"I didn't see myself wanting to work in a factory all my life," Baker said. "So I started boxing against these random grown men. Then I knocked a couple people out and realized I had potential, stop wasting it.

"I excelled with it. I knocked people out and got in shape. When I started I was 310 pounds. Now I am 6-foot-2, 240."

After boxing three years, Baker moved into Mixed Martial Arts. He won his first three bouts on the B2 Fight Series circuit, all by knockout, with a ring nickname of the "MackTrucck."

"I went down to Kentucky and fought a hometown guy there and won the belt," Baker said. "I am a two-time belt holder and ranked No. 2 amateur heavyweight in Northern Division. I got into MMA after Peoria Fight Club and it just felt so good to wrestle, throw punches and deliver kicks."

He is 5-2 so far and has fought in Ohio, Michigan, Iowa and Kentucky, with bouts every 2-3 months.

Kickboxing comes calling

WAKO is the United States division of the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations. It is the governing body of U.S. amateur kickboxing.

Baker was fighting on the MMA circuit when a Team USA kickboxing coach, Ryan Blackorby, spotted him and told him kickboxing would be a great fit for him.

Blackorby trained his own son, Thomas, a Washington High School wrestler in MMA and kickboxing who won a national kickboxing tournament in Nashville to earn a place on Team USA for world championships in Italy in 2022.

"I listened," Baker said. "I trained and I went to Nashville for the national kickboxing tournament, fought two experienced guys."

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He beat one on a majority decision and the other on a TKO in bouts May 4-7. He won the gold medal in the heavyweight division.

"I was in the Advanced Division, and if you win the gold medal in Advanced you automatically win a spot on the WAKO USA team," Baker said. "Now I get to represent the team at the world championships in Portugal. I'm just thrilled."

He's one of three members of the Peoria Athletic Club to earn a trip to Portugal with Team USA. Richwoods High School graduate Shawncy Toombs, who qualified for IHSA wrestling state finals in 2020 with a 36-10 record as a senior in the 126 weight class, is on Team USA. So is Bobby Downs of Monmouth-Roseville High School.

"From the time I was a kid to where I am now, I look at how far I've come and it's inspiring," Baker said. "I want other kids to know there is a way out. Find it."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Manual grad on Team USA amateur kickboxing team in Portugal