Boxing clubs in inner-cities have produced champions like Riddick Bowe of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and Hasim Rahman of Baltimore. One boxing coach in Rochester, N.Y., though, is looking to produce more than just boxing champions. He uses the sport of boxing to build self-esteem for some of the hardest to reach young people, believing that "self-confident children will be successful."
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Phil Greene, a construction worker in Rochester and pictured in the video, came up with the idea of using boxing as a vehicle to keep kids off the street 10 years ago, and he's been volunteering his time ever since. He uses money he earns from working construction, along with grants, and volunteer workers to keep the boxing club afloat. Coaches like Charles Murray, former IBF World Champion and Robert Johnson, 72, train the children on their own time, from their own hearts.
"This is all from the heart from the whole staff," says Greene, founder of Future Boxing, to Aol. Black Voices. "This program is not just about boxing, it's about strengthening the body, strengthening the mind. That goes together. When you've got a strong body, you've got a strong mind.But more than just building future boxers, he is building disciplined and well-rounded individuals. One of his former boxers recently became a fireman, another a police officer:
"We build a lot of self-confidence. Matt Brown was a chubby kid. His mother brought him in, he played video games and couldn't even do one push-up," remembers Green. "We had all of the kids cheering him on. In one month, he was doing 15 push-ups, just because of the kids pushing him on. The kids just push each other.
"We get a lot of kids-change comes from that when they learn boxing is not a street fight, a lot of street fighters shoot out of anger. What's different from boxing and street fighting is you're in there thinking, it's like playing chess, it's an art, you're planning every shot. It's about pacing yourself and thinking."
But for some, says Green, learning that the sweet science is an art comes the hard way:
"We had one really tough kid, he would bring 8 kids with him and they would just sit down and watch. I kept asking them do you want to box? And they just wanted to watch and be with him. The kid kept asking if he could spar, and I said you have to get your jab together first. He was about 6'0" and I picked the littlest kid in the gym. That kid ran him through the ring. And he understood that he wasn't ready. That's where you get respect for the kids on the street too."
Green says every ethnicity and socioeconomic group comes through the gym, "White, black, Chinese, Spanish - kids from suburbs, kids from cities, all come in there. They are able to interact with different kids, different lifestyles."
And it's not just young males. There are several young girls in the program that also benefit from the fitness and physical release:
"The girls like it just as much as the boys, some girls catch on faster - a lot of boxing is all about rhythm. It's being on your toes, like dance, and the girls seem to get it," says Green.
Kids from the program travel all over the United States. Two of Green's fighters, Randall Williams and Levias Williams (ranked No. 1 in the country for the past 3 years) represented the United States in Russia last year. "Underprivileged kids see cities they will never see in their life," says Greene who thinks some of his fighters this year will be good enough to make the Olympics. "The best compete in National Silver gloves in Kansas every year."
Boxing is the perfect opportunity for these teens to release their tension and stress under supervision of an adult and also get guidance and advice and life skills at the same time. And just maybe the next Laila Ali or Muhammad Ali will blossom to boot.