Marcus Oliveria is a light heavyweight

Light heavyweight

In boxing, the light heavyweight is a weight division above 168 pounds [12 Stone or 76.204 kilograms] and up to 175 pounds [12.5 stone or 79.38 kilograms]), falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight...

 professional boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 fighting out of Lawrence

Lawrence, Kansas

Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

.

Professional career

Oliveria made his professional debut with a knockout

Knockout

A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...

 win against Daniel Russell in April 2006. Oliveria would win his first six bouts by knockout, five of them in the first round. In February 2007 Mike Word became the first opponent to last the distance with Oliveria. June 2007 saw Oliveria defeat an opponent with a winning record for the first time, as he defeated 179-18-2 Buck Smith

Buck Smith

Buck Smith is a professional boxer in the cruiserweight division. Although Smith has never been considered more than a journeyman fighter, he is one of boxing's all-time knockout kings with 120 KO's....

 by TKO in round 2. Oliveria's first non-winning result was a split draw with 15-1-1 Nick Cook

Nick Cook

Nick Cook is a British aviation journalist and author of fiction and non-fiction works and has won four Aerospace Journalist of the Year Awards from the Royal Aeronautical Society.-Journalism:...

 in February 2008, a fight for the vacant USBC light heavyweight title. Oliveria would take a major step forward with a dramatic come-from-behind win against undefeated prospect (8-0 with 8 knockouts) Phil Williams

Phil Williams (boxer)

Phil Williams, alias The Drill, is a super middleweight professional boxer. Williams was born in Queens, New York, but moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota as a child and today lives in north Minneapolis, where he works as a barber....

. In that fight Oliveria was knocked down twice but rallied to knock Williams out in the seventh round. In January 2009 Oliveria defeated veteran Rayco Saunders by majority decision. In his most recent bout Oliveria defeated Otis Griffin

Otis Griffin

Otis Griffin is a professional boxer and ranked light heavyweight contender.-Pro Career:Griffin fought on several major undercards and has been featured on ESPN. He captured the NABO light heavyweight championship with a technical knockout over an unbeaten prospect, Mike Nevitt...

by second-round knockout on June 5 at Grand Casino Hinckley in Minnesota.