It seems that Corey has always been able to draw, it's what came natural. Doodling constantly from an early age, he loved to draw cartoons, but was also athletic and fell in love with the sport of boxing. Corey got a late start in boxing, not having his first boxing match until he was 20 years old. Living in Sioux City, Iowa at the time, he never backed down from a fight. Like a lot of young men learning to fight on the streets. It wasn't until former Golden Gloves boxing Champion, Tony Drake, offered to train Corey in his private gym that he would learn to fight in the ring. Corey fought in several unsanctioned amateur matches called "smokers" but soon found himself registered with USA Boxing and competing in his first state Golden Gloves Championship. He would battle through tough matches in the lightweight ranks taking the 1999 State of Iowa Novice 132lbs Golden Gloves Championship.
It was later that year that Corey decided to move back to the Nashville area and started training with Excalibur Promotions in Madison, TN. Excalibur was known for their gym wars, where even sparring was more like a championship fight. Although, still an amateur fighter, he would be utilized as a sparring partner for "Babyface" Ramon and Nick Rupa, #1 ranked WBC & IBF World Light Middleweight. After competing in several local matches, Corey met Dr. Morgan Hines who convinced him to train under him at the Columbia, TN Boxing Club. Under the tutelage of "Doc", he would begin to develop a style that would help him better compete on the national level, a style that would concentrate more on technique and speed rather than his natural power. The days of the gym wars would be over. During his time with Doc, Corey would train side by side and spar countless rounds with Sammy "Silk" Sparkman, a world class journeyman and James "Spider" Webb, a 3-time World Armed Forces Champion and 2ooo Olympic Team.
Webb would turn pro and sign with Don King. While taking part in training camps, helping Webb to prepare for fights on ESPN'S Friday Night Fights and HBO, Corey continued to compete, fighting dozens of local, regional and national sanctioned matches, winning other championships including a gold medal at the 2001 George Games. With encouragement from Doc, Corey soon set his sights on the 2004 Olympic Team Trials, fighting all the way to the National PAL Championships. Corey's boxing career would lose momentum in 2002 after suffering serious injuries in a car accident keeping him out of the sport for 3 months. A phone call from the same promotional company to originally promote Corey’s training partner, "Spider", would send Corey back to the gym with a contract offer to turn pro. After training a couple of months Corey would have his pro debut cancelled the day before the fight due to opponent issues. Because of the cancellation and the birth of his son Kaleb, he made the decision to give up the sport as a fighter. Corey continued to take part in training camps for "Spider", as a sparring partner, helping to prepare him for key fights. In 2007 Corey came out of retirement for a pro fight in Columbia, TN. After losing 25lbs and being absent from the sport for 5 years, three months was just not enough time to prepare for a comeback fight. Corey would lose a 4 round decision to an up and coming talented fighter from AL.
