He also wasn't in Boston that long - 2 years I think. He went to school for a bit and also worked as a bellhop, so he probably spent a few hours a week for a year/year in a half sparring at a boxing gym, and that makes him "a professional fighter" in his eyes. We all are under those standards.

According to one of my sources back east, everyone in/from Boston thinks they are a fighter, even the guys who get their di*ks knocked in the dirt on a daily basis consider themselves fighters.