by George Nader
Lamar ‘Kid Fire’ Parks will be inducted into the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame on April 24, 2024 at a ceremony in the Airport Sheraton
Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. His professional career lasted from 1988 until 1993.
Parks began his amateur career at age 13 in his hometown of Greenville, SC where his father, David, let him train under Silas Epps at the Phillis Wheatley Community Center. Parks’ father was an amateur boxer who eventually quit his job at Duke Power to help train his son.
He turned professional after fighting in the finals at the 1988 Olympics at the age of 18 and made his debut in Atlantic City where his dad doubled as his trainer and manager. Silas Epps was there to watch and help out as he won his match.
By the time he was twenty-one years old, he had won 22 fights by knockout with his only loss to Reggie Johnson while vying for the Middle Weight Championship.
Parks’ record boasts 188 fights of which he won 175. He earned the South Carolina Golden Glove Championship title five times and the South Eastern Regional Championship title three times.
Billy Stanick, President of the White Rock Boxing Gym, nominated Parks to the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame where he was accepted by President Brent Elmore and seconded by Mike Bevins and the entire Boxing Hall of Fame board.