—Messenger photo by Chris Johnson Fort Dodge native and former professional boxer John Roby just released the story of his life and career as a boxer in “The Belt of Wisdom”.

Fort Dodge boxer John Roby recently told his life story in his book “The Belt of Wisdom”.

Kathy Bruins told the story of Roby, who won the world super featherweight championship during his boxing career.

In his book, Roby talks about the ups and downs of coming from Fort Dodge and trying to be a successful boxer as well as knowing when your time is up.

“I boxed for a long time and I’ve been through a lot,” Roby said. “I bounced back and forth and winning championships was great.

“I want to thank my mom for everything that I accomplished.”

Roby tells of his successes in the ring and tries to help inspire boxers that come behind him.

“Winning the world super featherweight championship was a great thing in my life,” Roby said in his book. “But inspiring a life is grand. Believing in oneself is imperative to going forward all the time, no matter the circumstances in life, no matter how many times you get knocked down, you get up and keep going.

Roby started boxing at the age of 16 when he began as a ameatur. During his amateur career, he boxed under the name “Sweet JJ” where he would participate in the Golden Gloves and 47 amateur fights. His amateur career lasted about 11 years where he was 40-7.

He won two Amateur Boxing Federation Titles and one Midwest Region title.

At the age of 25, Roby started his professional boxing career in 1988. Roby’s big fight came in 1993 in Dayton, Georgia for the International Boxing Organization world super featherweight title.

The fight was for a vacant belt against Roger Bonine in a 12 round fight. Roby won the fight with a fifth round TKO to become the champion. Roby lost his first title defense. Roby’s last match was in 2066 in Manchester, Iowa.

Roby finished with 48 career fights and 222 rounds in the ring at 43 years old.

Through his career in the ring, Roby loved the art of competing and fought through tough and hard times to keep his dream going.