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Many
people have a bad impression of boxing from television and movies. I did not think much of the sport
until I helped a close friend, then 18 years old, find a boxing coach. As he entered the world of
amateur boxing, I videoed him and watched him train and spar, and ultimately watched him gut out that first climb
into a ring in front of 1,500 people at the Golden Gloves tournament. There I saw respect and sportsmanship.
The sport was so addictive that I began training with the club myself.
Boxers are of all ages, races, genders,
educational backgrounds and economic circumstances. But you will never meet better people, or see
any sport with a more wholesome influence on young lives, than you will in amateur boxing. The sport offers many
benefits:
(1) A Place to Be. Boxers
have to show up for practice regularly and on time. They must budget time for workouts and live within the constraints
of a team. There is little idle time in the life of a boxer.
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| 12 YEAR-OLD NIKO RAY GETTING TO BEAT UP ON TWO-TIME GOLDEN GLOVES CHAMP, J. J. BUDDE |
(2) Healthy Living Habits.
Success in boxing is inconsistent with smoking, drinking, taking drugs
and eating badly. Time spent partying or looking for trouble must be redirected toward rest, conditioning
and health-consciousness.
(3) Self-Discipline. Boxers must learn to listen to their coaches and to the more experienced boxers around them.
They learn humility. They must adjust their life-styles and eating habits. They must learn to endure the pain
of constant conditioning. Ultimately, they must summon the courage to step into a ring in front of hundreds of
people and perform a difficult skill with poise and control.
(4) Good Sportsmanship.
Boxing commands good sportsmanship. At the Golden Gloves, you will see kids
go after each other with great intensity for six minutes ... only to see them fall into an embrace at the final bell. It
is an embrace that signals a boxer's intense respect for his opponent - a respect that you will not see in other sports.
There is no trash-talking or posturing. Each boxer knows the pain of preparing and the courage necessary to get in the
ring. They respect each other for being there, win or lose.
(5) Respect for Rules.
Boxing is a sport where a band-aid, an extra pound of weight, a single judges’ vote,
the lack of a defined waist band or the spitting out a mouthpiece can disqualify you after months of hard preparation. The
rules are established for safety and fairness and they are strictly enforced. Boxers with the most checkered of legal
backgrounds learn they must learn the rules and abide by them.
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| JOEY DOING MITTS AT PRACTICE |
(6) Self-Confidence. Boxers have more self-confidence and less need to prove themselves by reacting physically when confronted
or insulted. Boxers with anger management problems and schoolyard fight histories can be seen counseling younger
boxers about how they must not resort to fighting to settle disputes.
(7) Self-Esteem.
Some kids who take up boxing come from backgrounds where they lacked respect from parents,
from peers and sometimes from society itself. Some have experienced racism or physical abuse. But as they learn
to box, they discover their own courage and earn the respect of others. The result is a positive self-image.
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| JAMES BROWN THROWS A WICKED RIGHT |
(8) New Friends. Boxers gain a kind of family in a boxing club. There is a tight-knit relationship
among the boxers and coaches at our club.
(9) Physical conditioning. Amateur
boxers are among the best conditioned young people alive. To box adequately, they must do running, sprinting,
heavy bag work , burnouts, ring work, sparring, medicine ball work, weightlifting and hundreds of crunches.
(10) Scholarships. Presently,
three of our amateur boxers are receiving $1,000 Tom Lyday boxing scholarships awarded by the Indiana Golden Gloves to
help students defray the cost of their college educations.
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