Eric Morante gained a ardour for boxing in his youth and even after tragically shedding his leg throughout a tour of Iraq, the US Marine would return to the self-discipline for the constructive bodily and psychological results of coaching. However when his goals of furthering an expert profession in pugilism was taken by the very sport that he cherished, Morante vowed to struggle on—not only for himself, however for the numerous different disabled individuals who nonetheless relish a problem. With an emotional and inspirational podcast detailing his journey out now, Morante talked to M&F about his largest obstacles and brightest hopes.
Eric Morante’s story is laid naked in “Defiant,” a six-part miniseries podcast produced by Stak. It’s a narrative of survival, group, and the facility of sport to heal. However Morante’s persevering with journey additionally highlights the struggles that much less able-bodied folks face whereas making an attempt to reside life to the total.
“Sharing my story has been extremely therapeutic,” Morante tells M&F. “It’s essentially the most open I’ve ever been, and my hope is that by placing every thing on the market, the trauma, the rebuilding, the setbacks, the victories… somebody listening to ‘Defiant’ will really feel rather less alone and slightly extra keen to maintain preventing.”
U.S. Marine Eric Morante Misplaced His Leg to a Bomb Throughout Tour of Iraq
On April 20, 2007, the US Marine squad chief had been on his third tour of Iraq whereas coping with the lack of his father to a mind tumor. On that darkish day, a bomb unleashed 3,000 kilos of explosives beneath a bridge that Morante’s group have been guarding, ripping by way of his proper leg and requiring an amputation above his knee. Returning house to Texas, to start the lengthy street to restoration, there have been greater than bodily accidents to heal. Morante confronted ferocious PTSD, opioid dependency, and a suffocating loneliness within the aftermath of Iraq. Dropping a leg was dangerous sufficient, however shedding his objective as a US Marine led to the darkest of moments. Extremely, a need to field once more would supply him with a means again to the sunshine.
“There wasn’t one single spark for me,” explains Morante of his restoration. “It was extra like a sequence of moments, the place I spotted that I had two decisions: keep within the darkness or struggle my means out. After the blast, after shedding my leg, after shedding the life within the Marines that I cherished, and the grief of shedding my father, it felt like I’d been stripped of every thing that made me who I’m.”
He provides: “For a very long time, I didn’t transfer ahead in any respect. I used to be indignant, remoted, and simply making an attempt to make it by way of every day. However there got here some extent once I appeared on the folks round me, my household, the veterans who had survived their very own battles, and I realised I owed it to them and to myself, to attempt. I remembered that I was somebody who fought for issues. I didn’t acknowledge that man anymore and I wished him again.”
His tentative return to boxing coaching offered Morante with a lot wanted construction, therapeutic, and that zeal he had so loved whereas lacing up the gloves in his youth.
Eric Morante Grew to become the Face of Amputee Boxing
Morante’s momentum continued to construct and in 2013, he and fellow veterans helped to launch the Nationwide Amputee Boxing Affiliation (NABA), a grassroots motion harnessing boxing to fight PTSD and the trauma of limb loss. “Boxing was the very first thing that made me really feel alive once more. I grew up loving the game, and after the damage, stepping again
right into a gymnasium gave me one thing I didn’t notice I’d been ravenous for: construction, id and a mission,” shares Morante. “Bodily, boxing pressured me to be taught my physique over again. I had to determine stability, motion, learn how to generate energy on one leg, every thing was ranging from zero. It was humbling, however mentally, that’s the place it saved me. Boxing calls for presence. You possibly can’t be caught previously or worrying in regards to the future whereas within the ring. It quieted my PTSD and gave me self-discipline once more. Boxing gave me one thing to chase. It jogged my memory I used to be nonetheless a fighter.”
The NABA promotion grew from strength-to-strength and at its peak gained approval from the Texas Division of Licensing & Regulation. Amputee boxing appeared destined for Paralympic recognition by this level and Morante, the primary licensed amputee boxer in America, was even sparring and holding his personal with professionals. However in 2019, proper earlier than his first formally sanctioned bout towards an able-bodied opponent, Morante’s license was abruptly revoked. Had forms killed his hopes for inclusion within the sport that he cherished?
Because of this, amputee boxing was successfully shut down, with Morante nonetheless looking for solutions and making an attempt to come back to phrases with one more traumatic loss. “When my license was revoked half-hour earlier than a struggle I’d educated months for, it felt just like the rug had been pulled out from beneath me over again,” displays the fighter. “Not simply due to my private dream, however as a result of it shut the door on a whole group. There have been veterans and amputees who lastly felt seen, who lastly had a aggressive outlet and forms took that away.”
Eric Morante Continues to Enhance Lives By way of Boxing
Now, inclusivity is considered one of Morante’s largest battles. “Making fight sports activities extra inclusive, extra knowledgeable, fairer, that’s a objective I take personally,” he tells M&F. “I’ve lived the results of the system not understanding what to do with folks like me.”
Happily, in 2025, Morante continues to be transferring ahead. Each week, alongside his good friend and fellow amputee, Moses, he teaches boxing to children with cerebral palsy, veterans with PTSD, these with studying difficulties, and even a blind girl. “My hope is straightforward,” he shares. “I wish to maintain altering lives by way of boxing for anybody who’s struggling. I need them to know the gymnasium is a house for them.”
The Paralympic dream could also be gone for now, however the worthwhile struggle to enhance lives by way of a sport he’s given his all to, goes on. “If the Paralympic dream is gone, that’s OK, there are nonetheless 1000’s of people that can profit from the identical construction and therapeutic that saved me,” explains Morante. “I wish to construct packages, develop the group, and present the subsequent technology of amputees that they don’t seem to be restricted by what the world thinks they’ll do.”
Eric Morante’s full story is shared in ‘Defiant,’ now obtainable on all main podcast platforms like Apple.