Pulling up to Annese Martial Arts is deceiving: with its greenish color and block construction, it resembles a warehouse building. It’s in a low-key area, set back from Poplar Avenue on Ohio, behind a residential trailer park, down the road from a cemetery.
There’s no indication of the intensity of training or the stress and strain of competition. Even walking in on a Saturday morning, it appears that there aren’t many people there. The lobby is empty and, except for a couple of elementary-age school children doing some basic gymnastics moves on a huge mat in the main room, the only people seen are through a couple of windows at the back of the room.
The eight women participating this day are in lines of about three each, with each woman holding a 2-pound barbell weight in both of their hands.
“Up ... down ... up ... down,” the only male in the room shouts. “We’re doing it New York style,” he tells the women.
He is Frank “Punch” Burchette, the center’s boxing instructor and he has the women working on their glutes, hamstrings and balance.
This is the second week of the Combat Fitness Challenge’s second class, where the goal is to lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks.
But the women leave with more than less poundage.
“The girls’ results from the first class show how well he achieves,” said Kellie Honeycutt, a 39-year-old Waynesboro mother of two, who is a counselor at Coffeewood Correctional Center in Culpeper. “He’s amazing. He’s patient, but he’s tough when he needs to be.”
One woman in the first 10-week class lost 30 pounds.
“She looks amazing,” said Amber Wagner, 29, of Fishersville. “She worked very hard to get where she is.” Wagner is a student of the first class, an old-timer, as the new students call her. She enjoyed Burchette’s classes so much that she asked for another 10-week membership this past Christmas.
“It’s definitely fun here. Everyone is so encouraging and feels comfortable in the all-woman class, and they cheer you on and make you feel like you can do it, even when you think you can’t,” Wagner said.
But there seems to be something else that keeps these women coming back to the program over other programs they’ve tried.
Wagner said that Burchette focuses on the inward self as well as the outward, which is something that is very important to Honeycutt. She’s on a lot of medications due to her job stresses and is using the program to get off them.
“He gives you the motivation to keep going,” Honeycutt said. “And we don’t like to disappoint him.”
Kim Arehart also keeps coming for reasons other than fitness. The owner of Kline’s Ice Cream Shop in Waynesboro met Burchette at the window of her business one day. She’d also heard about him from some of her customers who brought their children to the Annese center.
“I just came over to get fit,” Arehart said. “But I’ve come away with a lot more. I have a whole new mental outlook. I have more endurance and motivation and I feel younger.”
She’s never been able to stick to exercise classes before, even though she was an athlete in college. She says the difference is structure, along with the bond that has developed among the women. Each day is something new.
“He does something different every night,” she said. Arehart had taken a kickboxing class previously at a local gym but didn’t stick with it.
“There wasn’t a camaraderie and it was always the same thing,” she said. “This is more personal.”
It is Burchette’s background story that intrigues Wagner.
Hailing from Queens, N.Y., Burchette was a drill sergeant in the Army and had boxed competitively since he was seven. During the 1990s, he was an instructor to a few Hollywood celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Daniel Day-Lewis and Al Pacino.
In 2001 though, Burchette’s life almost ended when he was involved in an accident with a teenage drunk driver. His spine was severed and he ended up in a wheelchair.
Drawing upon what his instructors had instilled in him — determination, self-confidence and motivation, Burchette made two decisions — to come back to health and to dedicate his time to helping kids who lacked those qualities.
After his recovery, Burchette opened a fitness school in Astoria, Queens. He took kids who were involved in gangs off the streets and made competitors of them, teaching them to fight self-doubt, drugs and alcohol and circumstances, which had led to their street life.
“I Googled him,” said Wagner. “And I learned a lot about him. He’s very modest, you know. He doesn’t even put up his own trophies at the gym. He just focuses on the people in the class and their successes.”
Wagner says that Burchette will talk about his prior N.Y.-style life if you ask him, saying that he is very open about it.
And Burchette is open and friendly when he speaks. He has an easy-going style that is quite different from what a person might expect of someone who had been a drill sergeant and a boxer. But even when answering questions about himself, he always refers back to his students, like 10-year-old Justin Johnson, who will be fighting in his first tournament in N.C. soon or the family of Susan and John Brumfield, whose members are all boxing now, including the children.
Coming to the end of the hour and a half training session, Burchette kicked things up a notch.
“Unleash the beast,” Burchette yells at the students. “OK, 30-seconds more.” It’s the drive to the end.
“Let me hear you,” says the coach.
“Pop, pop,” the women continue. “Pop, pop.”
Finally, a minute later, comes the heavy breathing, whooshes from the exhales, jiggling arms working out any lactic acid and sighs from catching a breath. It is time to relax says their trainer.
“Don’t sell yourselves short,” he says. “Let your body absorb what you’ve just done. Lots of people don’t ever get this relaxed when they lay down to fall asleep. This is your time; you’ve earned it. Nobody gave you this. You could have been doing anything else on a Saturday morning but your body will thank you. Be selfish if for just one second for yourself; the rest of your life will be waiting for you when you are done.”
Huffing and puffing, Honeycutt makes her way back over and says, “It is… my mission… to complete this class.”
Would you want to step into the ring with him? Hampton’s Jacob Moore moved his junior boxing record to 4-0 with a win at the Moton Community Center’s Boxing in the House event on Saturday. Photos by Jason Norman
9th Dimension coach Marvin McCoy’s instructions worked Saturday; Mikail Richardson (right) won in age 13-14 competition.
It's the epitome of a boxing atmosphere.
In the ring, the fighters toss punches, back each other into the ropes and fight their way out, blast opponents to the head, only to quickly find themselves right back on the defensive.
In the stands, the crowds cheer and shout advice (impromptu choruses of "Hit 'im again!" and "Move out! MOVE OUT!" break out at the most opportune of times).
And in a corner of Newport News' Moton Community Center's Boxing in the House event on Saturday evening, a DJ keeps time with the glove-to-glove action. His music beats go almost in tune with the punches. Songs like "Can't Touch This" and "Thriller" carry on the intensity of the event, and grab the spirit of the sport of boxing; it's as though it's almost been humanized, a spectator that no one can see, sitting nearby in the bleachers.
At nearly six feet and about 200 pounds, Shamadre Chambers probably isn't used to being the "little guy." But that's the case tonight - the Hampton High student's taking on Jacob Moore, who's got him by about six inches and probably about 100 pounds. It's a David vs. Goliath night, and Chambers is the underdog.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," quips Chambers, going for his first win in four fights. "I've watched boxing all my life, and I wanted to do it myself."
On the other side of the gym, Moore swaggers through a few jab drills with his coach and sparring partners, jiving in tune with the tunes nearby. It's obvious that self-confidence isn't a problem here.
"I'm about to be 4-0!" predicts Moore, 16, a Moton "hometown" hero. "I'm looking forward to the fight tonight, so I can work on my strengths. I work my weight to my advantage in my fights; I know how to shift it and work it."
Nearby, his teammate Edward Whitaker (proving that Sweetpea wasn't the only jab-thrower from Hampton Roads with that last name!), does some sparring of his own, and it's something to see - if only that were possible.
He appears to throw a jab. But as his hand moves forward, it seems to disappear. There's the loud noise of it hitting his trainer's gloves, and suddenly his hand's back at his side.
But no one sees it in the process.
"My speed is nasty out there," says the Menchville High graduate. "I've been running around since I was a boy. I skated for about 16 years."
He's going to need a bit more than speed to come out on top tonight; Taloa Meofaauo knows that people get hit and hurt in boxing - and he can't wait for his turn at it.
"I love pain!" vows Meofaauo, who, while 27, has been strapping on the gloves for less than a year. "I can take hits and give hits, and I move around."
The show's about to begin, and just as with the cinema, the first sight is a preview of coming attractions. In this case, it's a preview of potential future heavyweight headliners, as local Tyquan Harris takes on Mikail Richardson of Richmond's 9th Dimension in a 13-14 bout.
It is a war from the start. Back and forth, the two blast combinations into each other like they've been doing this stuff for decades. Harris is swinging at high speed, while Richardson's landing fewer punches that do much more damage.
It's as if no one's feeling anything. Richardson lands a hard looping left to the side of Harris' headgear, and Harris' knees appear to buckle. Nanoseconds later, he's right back in Richardson's face, pounding away at his midsection like a gauntlet on fast forward. At this age, rounds are only 90 seconds each, but it's the longest few minutes of either boy's life.
But all too soon - for the fans, not the fighters - the bell rings, and the two remember something that their older counterparts sometimes don't: the thing called sportsmanship. They high-five (or high-glove), and each goes to meet the opposing coaches. Each one bows to the ringside judges. Back in the center, there's another handshake, and the judges, who have the most unenvious of jobs in bouts like this, turn in their results.
By a definite razor-thin verdict, the decision goes to Richardson. Harris congratulates him again, and the two pose together for pictures.
"If I didn't win, I still would have wished (Harris) the best of luck," says Richardson afterward. "I got tired in the last 30 seconds of every round. I was thinking about trying to be the best and keeping my head up."
As the incredibly appropriate "Mama Said Knock You Out" blares from the music boxes, the bouts continue. Fighters on their way up to the level of Mayweather, de la Hoya, and Pacqiano take some early steps toward the journey, and already find obstacles in their way - all but one fight goes the three-round distance tonight.
Whitaker hits Moefaauo with enough punches to blast a hole through the Great Wall of China, and Moefaauo, true to his earlier word, smiles in Whitaker's face through every punch and even two standing-eight counts. Just as Whitaker's about to pull out the kitchen sink, the bell sounds to end. He's taken a convincing victory, but hardly an easy one.
As the night's heavyweight bout gets ready to rumble, an inadvertent - but hopefully accurate -- preview leaps from the speakers: "The Champ Is Here."
As Moore and Chambers stare each other down (actually, Chambers is staring far upward), it appears to be a mismatch. Moore might feel the same way, as he takes it to Chambers with jabs.
Suddenly, Chambers is backing him into the corner, and Moore wraps him up. The two head across the ring, up and down the ropes. Moore's hitting harder, but Chambers is hitting more, and no one's giving an inch. The ring action's starting to resemble an old Japanese movie, as Godzilla, King Kong, Mothra, and whoever else was mutated into a colossus by a nuclear blast go to war.
Moore opens the second round by knocking Chambers back into the corner, only to have Chambers turn the tables again. Moore fights his way out with jabs, and Chambers dances backward. Both fighters land a few more, and as the round ends, there's a look on Chambers' face that's silently saying, "You are NOT putting me down tonight!"
Early in the third round, Chambers has Moore back in the corner, but Moore lands a hard right. In the center, he sweeps by with another, and Chambers stumbles, landing in a pushup position and getting a standing eight-count.
But it's not over. Seconds later, Chambers chases Moore up the ropes, and knocks out Moore's mouthpiece, forcing a few seconds of timeout. Moore backs him up against the ropes, and Chambers lands a hard right to the head. Moore wraps him up again, and the final bell rings.
In a storybook, Hollywood ending, Chambers would probably win. But Moore's knockdown appears to make the main difference, and the decision goes his way.
Back in the seats, both fighters know they've been through a six-minute war.
"He got me pretty good," Moore admits, celebrating with his teammates. "I'm feeling good, just a little tired."
Chambers knows that his first win will arrive someday.
"It's tough in the ring," he says. "Tonight was just like any other fight. I have to step my game up. I'm going to keep fighting; it's all love, and I love what I do.
John Hunter (left), a former world champ in boxing, gives his grandson, and trainee, Andre Hunter some advice between rounds at the Virginia Challenge event Saturday at Hampton’s Boo Williams Sportsplex. Photos by Jason Norman
Kempsville graduate Rodney Giadalia celebrates his victory in the main event. Giadalia finished second in the state last year.
Many people get into boxing for the fitness aspect. Some are there for the competition, and of course for the fun.
Andre Hunter had all of those reasons in mind when he strapped on his first pair of gloves about a year ago. But for the Indian River High student and his family, boxing's a bit more than that: it's a tradition.
"It's about my family," said Hunter, getting ready for his bout at the Virginia Challenge event Saturday at Hampton's Boo Williams Sportsplex. "My granddad and both of my uncles are professionals, and I always wanted to box. Boxing's good fun; I like to get in there and brawl. I try to take something away from each fight."
Nearby, his newcoming opponent tried to keep his nerves under control.
"Boxing's my life," said Emmanuel Rodriquez, stepping into the ring for the first time. "I'm ready for tonight. Everything's with me, getting ready."
The world of amateur boxing can be a confusing spot for its new participants. Unlike the pros, or even the college boxers that get to scout out and study their opponents, amateurs often don't get to find out who they're fighting until the day of the fight, sometimes even the hour.
"I played football at high school, but I couldn't play in college because I'm too small," said Kempsville High grad Rodney Giadalia, now studying to become a chiropractor at Norfolk State University. "I like that you control yourself; it's not a team sport where you have to worry about other people; you just worry about yourself." For Giadalia, Saturday's event was one of the last steps back toward the upcoming state championships, where he took second last November.
The bell outside the ring made its sound, and then bells started ringing between the ropes. In the ring for the first time, Nic Swartling mixed it up with Mechanicsville's Jesse Riojas.
Or rather, Riojas mixed him up. With a death stare of intensity stoning his face, Riojas barraged his taller opponent with a machine-gun blast of body blows and a knock to the face, sending Swartling to a knee before the clock reached double-digits.
Swartling got up, shaking his hands in frustration. But with blue rays nearly blasting from his eyes, Riojas came right back, pummeling him to the canvas in less than two minutes for a fast afternoon.
"I try to give it all I got," said Riojas, who attends Thomas Dale High. "Whether he was big or not, he can fight, and I can fight. He trained, I trained, so I had to give it my best. He put his hands down, so that made me go after him. For every fight, I like to stay maintained. I train so much to do one job, and I stay maintained because there's a lot of people pulling for me. I can't let them down."
Soon, it was Hunter and Rodriquez's turn to spar for real. Stepping into his corner, Hunter leaned over to adjust his headguard, then stood up. Tapping him on the shoulder, his grandfather and trainer John, himself a former world champ in the realm of military boxing gave him a few words of encouragement.
Using his reach advantage, Rodriquez kept Hunter away for the first moments, but Hunter found a way through and threw a few hard shots to Rodriquez's stomach.
Rodriquez backed away, and Hunter charged. He landed a good tap, but Rodriquez stepped aside and Hunter fell toward the ropes.
Righting himself, he stalked Rodriquez to the center of the ring, but missed a shot and bent over, giving Rodriquez an open shot at a hard uppercut to the head. Rodriquez started to use his reach advantage more, keeping Hunter away with long jabs until the round ended to take the first go-round.
With a few more words from John, Hunter charges in, using his speed to keep Rodriquez off-balance. But Rodriquez suddenly caught him, and Hunter stepped back and went to one knee. The referee ruled that he had slipped - no knockdown or loss of points - but Rodriquez caught him again.
This just ticked Hunter off. Pursuing Rodriquez across the ring and down the ropes, he landed his best knocks of the fight. Rodriquez bent over, and Hunter suddenly catches him with a few to the head. The round was tough to call.
The third round was more of the same. Hunter blasted Rodriquez early on, and Rodriquez came back and gave him a good one. It was the kind of fight that made spectators glad they weren't in the judges' chair.
The last bell rang, and the two high-gloved (not fived!) and hugged. Then they made it to the center of the ring. The official raised both their hands for a congratulatory ovation from the crowd. Then the scores came in, and Rodriquez was declared the winner.
"I'm happy," he said. "I did everything in the ring. I need to be better. I need more training. I don't think I'm the best."
In the main event, Giadalia had perhaps the toughest time of the afternoon, as he and Harrisburg's Vaughn Crawford engaged in a slugfest that never seemed to end. With a reach advantage, Giadalia took the first round, but with an apparent edge in brute strength, Crawford made things interesting in the second, with no winner apparent. He nearly dislodged Giadalia's headguard a few times in the last round, leading to another gambler's nightmare as the winner was announced.
It was Giadalia.
"I'd thought I won, but you never know in amateur boxing," he said, touching on another tentative plight of beginning fighters. "I was trying to pace myself. Normally in the first few rounds, I throw a lot of punches, but tonight I tried to pace myself."
Sitting in the stands as his colleagues tossed their last jabs, Hunter thought about what he'd gotten from the fight - aside from the blows, of course!
"I take away getting out first and pumping my jab, stop putting my head down," he said. "When I threw a job, I put my head down. I'm going to get back in the gym and come back harder."
16 OCT 09
Kelly Can Box! Norfolk television promo for the Internatiional duel USA vs UK interview with Robert "Machine" Matney, President Virginia Association of USA Boxing and owner of Seven Cities Boxing of Virginia Beach,
Booker T. Washington student Chris Alexander shows the junior boxing division trophy he won at the Ultimate Sports Challenge event Saturday at the Boo Williams Sportsplex. The event combined boxing, wrestling, and karate for athletes from across the state. Photos by Jason Norman
Bethel’s Emily Miller displays the skills that won her the top medal in kumite (fighting) and a second-place finish in forms (kata).
Checking out one side of the Boo Williams Sportsplex gym on Saturday afternoon, martial artists of both genders and all ages showed their stuff in karate. Some whipped bo sticks and other weapons around, while other did a pseudo-aerobic exercise in forms (called "kata" to those in the know), and still more battled it out in hand-to-hand, and occasionally fist-to-stomach and foot-to-back-of-head combat.
Spying the large dark dividers hanging across the middle of the gym, curious onlookers might have wandered over for a peek through. They'd be gifted with another master sight for sports fans; a small tournament of matsters warming up for the beginning of their high school wrestling season in a few months.
But there was still one more undiscovered section of the gym, a corner behind the wrestling mats. Snooping around, eager explorers located a boxing ring. Later in the day, a new "battle" would begin.
It was all part of the Ultimate Combat Sports Challenge, the first, and hopefully annual, event of its kind at the Booplex.
"We've been talking about it for the last year or so," said promoter Claude Burton. "It's something different, with various sports in it. We wanted to take three sporting events and put them all under one roof."
Last year, Christian Olanowski stunned the Hampton Roads wrestling scene by taking home the Eastern Region 112-pound title - as a freshman. This year, the First Colonial sophomore has more than just a school legacy to live up to; two of his brothers brought state titles to Kellam.
On Saturday, Olanowski got off to quite the start, as his Virginia Prestige squad won the Ultimate tournament with victories over Grassfield, Guaston (Hayfield), Matoaca (Richmond), the Mercenaries (Chesapeake), and finishing with a 39-21 defeat of the Virginia Predators, another local squad. Olanowski was one of three members of his team to go undefeated for the day.
"I didn't know what to expect from some (opponents), but some I knew," said Olanowski. "We wanted to get an edge on other people in the state by competing against other top-notch kids from the state."
Karate isn't a high school sport in Hampton Roads, but it certainly doesn't have an off-season, as dozens of competitors battled it out across the mats. After winning titles in all three divisions in the 14-15 female group, Kimberly Delk narrowly lost a kumite battle to a male competitor from the 16-17 section.
"I love to fight, so kumite's my favorite," said the Kecoughtan student. "It's the best part of karate, because you get to take what you've done and put it on someone else, hand to hand. In kata and weapons, it's different, because you're doing a routine for yourself. It's all about what you put out there. But when you're fighting, you're doing it against others."
Several of her colleagues found that out in the hardest way; Charlottesville's Joey Kubistek had to battle three consecutive opponents - two of whom were fellow black belts, including his own instructor - to grab the 18-and-above kumite title.
"We've been battling it out in the dojo, taking punches here and there," the second-degree black belt, his voiced pitched high because of cotton jammed in his injured nose, said of past fights with his teacher. "This is our first fight in a tournament, and it was a good ending. It feels great."
He and fellow student Charity Newman helped the Lake Monticello Karate Academy squad take home the day's highest point total.
"Kata is what I do," said Newman, who gave herself an early 18th birthday present with the highest score in kata for females up to age 17 in the event. "I train and work; the outcome is what I put into it, not what someone else does. I go through it mentally in my head and envision winning, and if I don't, I come out of it thinking about what I should have done better. I go through it slowly, step by step, working on the position, angle, and depth of my stance."
If kata sounds similar to a rhumba routine, the two share many techniques. Perhaps that's way Beth student Emily Miller utilized several of the skills she learned on local ballet stages to snare second in kata for her age group.
"The technique really stands out for me, and the fact is that it's almost like a dance," she said. "It's the mentality; you have to be disciplined to get it down and make it what you need it to be. You have to get into the mentality to where you're the only one in the room. You have to get into that zone."
The blue belt holder, who estimates that she's "a good year and a half from a black belt," also took the top spot in kumite.
"In the kumite, you have to go all out and get the points. You have to ignore the pain when you get it and shake it off. Failure wasn't an option."
Stepping between the ropes for the first match of his boxing career, Devon Thompson felt the same way.
"The only thing that was going through my mind was that I had to win this," said the Chesterfield resident, 14. "I couldn't lose."
He and Giovanni Vargas of Arlington fought through a first round that made it tough to decide who was ahead.
"I was kind of tired," Thompson admitted. "I felt out of shape today."
Summoning up some hand speed, Thompson used his reach advantage to keep his shorter opponent at bay, whacking away at Vargas' headguard and upper body. Vargas continued to advance, but Thompson moved away as the two went along the ropes and in and out of corners. The second and third rounds were close, but Thompson was judged the victor.
"When I first went in, I was thinking, 'pump the jab, pump the jab.'" Thompson said. "My coach was telling me to put the right hand in. I also had to block, because he was hitting me in the head a couple of times In the first round, I was kind of nervous, but by the second and third, I knew I had it."
Channeling the spirit of his idol Roy Jones Jr., Chris Alexander took a decisive junior (below age 18) division win from Damcret Giddins.
"I like his speed, the way he plays around with his opponents," the Booker T. Washington student said of his boxing role model, a multiple titlist. "I just think about going and getting (my opponent), not about him coming to get me. I'd like to go all the way to the Olympics. I have to stay in the gym and keep my mind on boxing."
Sitting outside the ring, boxers and their friends and family got the chance to meet two people who personified the accolades of staying in the gym just a bit longer than most; three-time world champion Paul Williams and up-and-coming Jeremiah Wiggins showed up to sign autographs and snap photos with the fans. On Dec. 5, the two will head to Atlantic City for one of boxing biggest events of 2009; Williams (37-1) will headline the card as he moves up to middleweight for a shot at Kelly Pavlik's WBC and WBO titles, while Wiggins fights on the undercard.
"I feel like all my opponents are really tough, but this is a big opportunity for me," Williams said of the Pavlik fight, which was postponed from early October when Pavlik suffered a hand injury. "I want to be a four-time world champion."
Glancing between the ropes, Williams just might have seen some future colleagues on the pro circuit.
"I came from the same spot that they came from," said the South Carolina native. "I started out when I was eight years old. When they see me, they know it's for real. They know that there's a future in this stuff if they work hard. They should never forget where they came from and give the best at everything they do. Whatever they do, they should go for the best."
May 19, 2009
Mechanicsville’s Sahnow honored for 55-years in boxing
Photo submitted by Sandy Sahnow Billy Sahnow, left, is presented a Lifetime Achievement Award from Robert D. Matney, President of the Virginia Association of USA Boxing Inc.
Local boxing legend receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Published: May 19, 2009 From submission by Sandy Sahnow
On April 5, almost 200 people including past and present boxing administrators, athletes, coaches, officials, fans, family and friends, attended a celebration held for local boxing legend Billy Sahnow at the Mechanicsville Recreation Center.
Robert D. Matney, President of the Virginia Association of USA Boxing Inc. presented Sahnow with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his 55 years of service and dedication to the sport of boxing. The awards states; “Not satisfied with being a great amateur and professional boxer he went on to become a renowned trainer of the youth. His tireless dedication to his duties has been the guiding light to many athletes and is without a doubt the reason that most went on to productive lives as an adult. All should aspire to be a coach like him, all should seek him out for knowledge and wisdom, and most assuredly, we all thank him for being there for us. From a grateful Association we thank you.”
Matney also read from the USA Boxing Master Official Certificate. “William “Billy” K. Sahnow, Sr. has served the youth of the United States of America with dignity, fairness, and distinction as an Amateur Olympic Style Boxing Official. Your dedication to the sport over the years as a volunteer is testimony to the outstanding example of a National Master Official.”
On behalf of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors, Debar B. Coats also honor Sahnow.
Sahnow added two cherished gifts to his boxing memorabilia collection. Toni McCracken, daughter of Sahnow’s deceased trainer, Carl Hutchins gave him her father’s antique ringside bell used in the 1940’s. Virginia Artist, Cartoonist, and Illustrator, Phillip McKenney presented a picture to him he drew during the celebration.
Sahnow told his story and many individuals offered their testimony about how he had inspired and made a difference in their lives. This was truly a day of honoring an outstanding and humble individual.
In a corner of a ballroom at the Westin Hotel in Virginia Beach on Sunday, Earl Platt and Anthony Aguilar are cracking up.
Aguilar's kicking back against the wall, holding a laptop, and Platt's sitting above him, cracking up and pointing at the screen. Perhaps there's a new political cartoon, or a new addition to the endless YouTube library.
Or maybe the two men are trying to keep their minds off the fact that, in a few short hours, they'll be knocking the hell out of each other. Because when the next step toward national boxing stardom is there for the taking, friendships go out the window for a few minutes.
"It sucks, because I like him," Aguilar says of battling his 757 Boxing Club (Virginia Beach) teammate for the Novice 201-pound title. "But once we get in the ring, we're not going to show any love to each other. We both want that title; it's what we've trained for. But afterwards, we'll probably go get a beer together."
It's the last day of the 2009 Virginia/North Carolina Golden Gloves tournament, and 20 boxers, many of whom will be stepping into the ring for the third time since Friday, have made it to the final round of a tournament for the organization that spawned the careers of Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, and Joe Frazier.
"We're trying to blow this up in the area so we can get more people coming around," says tournament director Robert Matney. "A lot of people see Virginia Beach as a sports town, and we're trying to get more."
The battles are divided into Novice (less than 10 fights) and Open (over 10 fights) divisions. Winners will move up to Waldorf, Md. on April 17 and on to regional competition - and those victors go to Salt Lake City for the nationals.
As some boxers relax with a friendly game of chess or some iPod tunes, Platt tries to prepare for his second ring war in as many days (Aquilar has polished off two opponents in the tourney).
"It's a little bit tough," he says of the constant competition. "You get sore, but then you stretch out and eat right, and you do fine. This is my opportunity to get out here and show everybody else a good time. I've got my mind set on tonight and what I have to do."
He won't fight until the middle of the card. Novice 119'ers Frazier Hunter and Michael Daniels get the (not necessarily coveted) honor of starting things off.
The pair get rolling with a set of speed-blurred jabs, then wrap up. The official pulls them apart, and each lands a hard shot. Hunter whacks Daniels with a left, and Daniels retaliates with a right that nearly dislodges Hunter's headguard.
Hunter's makeshift helmet gets put back in place, but Daniels is on the attack. He gets Hunter back up against the ropes, but can't quite put him away. As the first bell rings, however, he seems to be ahead.
But not for long. As the second round begins, Hunter starts to use his reach advantage to keep the shorter Daniels away. Daniels keeps trying to get in close, and does so a few times, but Hunter's clearly frustrating him with the long shots. The two wrap up again near the end of the round, but it's one each.
Not seeing any reason to fix what isn't broken, Hunter keeps landing quick, light shots to Daniels' face and upper body throughout the third. Daniels keeps coming, but Hunter stays out of the corner and on his feet, long enough to win a decision.
"I knew I could win it, because I worked hard all this week sparring with bigger, better, and faster people," says the Richmond native. "I jammed my thumb in the second round, so that's why I couldn't finish him off. I could have done way better, but I'm stepping up for regionals."
Since falling short in his last tournament, Suffolk's Ricky Blake has dreamed of finally wrapping that championship belt around his waist. Now, only one thing stands between him and the Novice 152 title: Springfield's Jimmy Romano.
Blake scores big with some body blasts early on, but Romano recovers and nearly spins Blake's head off with a series of jabs. In the second round, Blake gets Romano up against the ropes. Romano decks him, but Blake goes up top and starts using Romano's head for a speed guard as everyone in the audience takes a moment to silently thank the inventor of headguards.
In the third, Romano backs Blake up, but Blake fights out. Both fighters are tired, waving and spinwheeling as time runs out.
The two move to the center of the ring for the decision, and the referee, as is the practice for the tournament, raises both their hands in congratulations for going the distance. Then the hands fall, because only one's going up for the title.
On points, it's Blake, who high-steps around the ring in celebration, taking a moment to hug Romano.
"The worst thing was that he had a long jab, and I couldn't get in," Blake says. "But once I caught him, I was going to war for the whole fight. I knew he couldn't knock me out, so I just kept fighting. I knew it was kind of close, but I thought I won for my hard punches."
Staunton's Jennifer Barnes makes the afternoon's only female fight a quick affair, stopping Chesterfield's Melissa Reams in less than a minute for the light middleweight title.
"(Boxing is) different, but I love it," says Barnes, who took time off from studying marketing at Mary Baldwin College to step into the ring. "I just have to stay organized and manage my time well."
After Newport News' Antwan Ward edges their teammate Rodney Giandalia for the Novice 178 title, it's finally time for Platt and Aguilar to hit the ring and each other.
Aguilar takes control early on, chasing Platt around the ring and outpunching him for the first round. But early in the second, he leans in a bit too far - and Platt slams a short right into his nose that puts him on his stomach.
Aguilar staggers back to his feet and stays there for the rest of the round. Fortunately for him, he's a fast healer, and goes right back on the attack for the third period, and the title.
"It just hurt for a second," he says of the knockdown punch. "It's happened before. He rocked me for a good second, but after you've been in that situation, you get an adrenalin rush. I've trained really hard for this."
In the Novice's unofficial heavyweight (i.e., 201) bout, Norfolk's Dennis Benson comes out like a house on fire, blasting 757 rep Terrod Saunders into a standing eight-count in a matter of moments. Saunders comes back, but it's Benson's round.
And it may be his last. By the second, both fighters appear to have emptied their tanks early, as no one's landing much or moving fast.
But perhaps Benson was just saving energy; by the third round, he's back on the attack, and takes a convincing win.
"I came out knowing that I had more experience with him, but he was bearing down on me and wore me down," he says. "My determination and my willpower helped me move on to regionals. It was win or lay down, and I wasn't going to lay down. It'll be a lot harder at regionals; I'll have to train a lot harder."
Five marines bring titles down south home to Camp Lejuene, including Novice 132 champ Elias Sanchez. He and Moshea Aleen, the Open 152 champ, are voted their divisions' top respective boxers.
"I keep my success by going forward and staying forward," says Aleen, who represented Richmond with a Sweetpea Whitaker-esque showboating victory over Staunton's Christian Steele.
"I'm trying to do great things and represent the marine core," says Sanchez, who's spent four years in the core, including a deployment. "I'm going to re-enlist, and then turn pro."
09
HRAASHF Inductees
The Hampton Roads African-American Sports Hall of Fame recognizes African American athletes who were born, spent formative years, or participated in athletics in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.
Earnest Green began boxing at the age of 12 years old and won a number of Air Force championships in the middleweight and lightweight classes during the period 1948-1949. After his retirement, he became an official and instructor for the American Boxing Association and USA boxing respectively. He has traveled as a professional judge throughout the United States, as well as, South Africa, Italy, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In 1980 Green was appointed boxing instructor by USA Boxing of Virginia and four years later he became a member of the International Boxing Commission. In 1990, he was appointed president of USA Boxing of Virginia, serving for six and a half years.
From 1996-2000, Green was the Chief Official for USA Boxing, in charge of training new officials, and certification of officials and coaches.
Earnest Green also has been a referee and judge at the Olympic Training Center in Denver, CO. He is the only master boxing official in the state of Virginia and is certified to officiate anywhere in the United States. Green, 80, resides in Chesapeake, Virginia.
This is a "J.O." tournament, JO meaning boxers ranging in age from 8-16 years. This is the first leg of the tournament, which means u start on the state level, u move to the regional level, u move to the national level.
AND FOR THE BOXERS, IF THEY WANTED IN, ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS TRAVEL TO NORFOLK....
Robert Matney President of Virginia Local Boxing Committee - all the clubs throughout the state, from Roanoke to Arlington to Richmond to here throughout all of Hampton Roads, they come in from everywhere.
SOME CAME FROM AS FAR AWAY AS ARLINGTON, VA
Liam Thornhill 13 years old Boxing for 2 years -it was a long drive, about 3 hours, yeah
FOR MOST OF THE BOXERS, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST TIME AGAINST AN OPPONENT THAT ACTUALLY FOUGHT BACK.....
NATS--FIGHTING
Robert Matney -These kids can't punch air forever and they need to learn that competitive spirit and good sportsmanship.
Chris Alexander 15 years old/welterweight Norfolk -it feels good to see who's the best out of all
Liam Thornhill 13 years old Boxing for 2 years -I'm a bit nervous, but its ok.
Gloria Peek -for these kids it means everything. Even the ones that its their first bout, ok, they look, I mean some of them train for months and months to get here.
WITH 85% OF BOXING TIME ACTUALLY SPENT TRAINING FOR MATCHES, WHY DO THESE KIDS CHOOSE THIS SPORT OVER MORE POPULAR SPORTS LIKE BASKETBALL, BASEBALL OR FOOTBALL?
Mohsen Mohammed 10 Years Old Arlington Boxing Club 54:04 I really like Muhammed Ali and I thought it would be pretty cool so I started doing boxing.
Chris Alexander 51:57 when I be in school, I'm like, a bully, so my teacher told me I need to start boxing, so I started boxing.
Our numbers are growing and there's been a really big push to get it out there what usa boxing is all about. Its all about sportsmanship, dedication, discipline, the kind of core values we're looking for to bring out kids up into adults.
DEC08
Mechanicsville boxers excel in state amateur championships Submitted by Billy Sahnow Dec 02, 2008
Photo submitted by Billy Sahnow A trio of boxers from Mechanicsville Martial Arts claimed two championships and a runner-up out of six categories at the Virginia State Amateur Boxing Championships in November. From left: Champion, Ian Paterson, 178 lb Novice Class, Runner Up Champion, Otha Holden, Jr., 201 lb Novice Class & Champion, Joshua Tyler 165 lb Novice Class.
Paterson, Holden and Tyler take two titles and runner-up
Out of six novice competition categories, a trio of boxers from Mechanicsville Martial Arts came home with two champions and a runner-up at the 2009 Virginia State Amateur Boxing Championships Finals November 16, 2008.
Joshua Tyler, 165 lb Novice class, dominated the fight on Friday to beat Benito Max from Melrose Boxing Club, Roanoke VA. Saturday he beat Clay Davis of Staunton Boxing Club, Staunton, VA and Sunday fought a good fight to beat Jabar Cornish with Team Norfolk, Boxing Club, Norfolk, VA to win the championship.
Ian Paterson, 178 lb Novice class, had a bye on Friday. Saturday Paterson beat Robert Flournay of 7 Cities Boxing Club of Virginia Beach, VA. Sunday he won the championship by beating Rodney Giandalia with 757 Boxing Club, Virginia Beach, VA.
Otha Holden, Jr., 201 lb Novice class, stopped opponent, Jermarine Jackson with Moton Community Club, Newport News, VA in the first round. Saturday he defeated, Dari Harrison of Melrose Athletic Club, Roanoke, VA in the second round. Sunday Holden fought a good first round but got caught with an uppercut from opponent, Edward Whitaker of Moton Community Center toward the end of the second round and lost when the referee stopped the fight. He came home with the runner up championship medal.
Every day, students get educated through the use of books, quizzes, and the dreaded final exams. But on Saturday afternoon, Reggie Barnett's pupils got a lesson in jabs and right crosses to the temple.
"I decided to have this event because it gives a lot of young men who want to dabble in boxing an opportunity to see what it's really like," said the owner of Virginia Beach's 757 Boxing Club of his Smoker event. "Basically, it's like controlled sparring. Guys get in and go for the gusto. They see what they're made of."
Since May 2007, Barnett's been helping Hampton Roads youngsters take their first plods in the footsteps of Roy Jones Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya.
"A lot of young people want to try boxing, but they're not really sure," he said. "This gives them a chance to see what it's really like. It's a starting point, like a beginner's boxing class. Some guys can train two or three months. Some guys can train one month.. Everything happens in the gym before you go into competition; they learn basics of hand and foot stance. They learn how to deliver punches, how to block punches, defense. They do bag work, speed work, the whole nine yards." In a typical workout, Barnett boxers put themselves through running, round after round of shadowboxing, and several sets of pushups and ab exercises.
While Ricardo Mayorga and Shane Mosley hti the ring and each other in a videotaped brawl, faces from boxing's past from Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson gazed out from photos on the wall. Over next to the gym's small ring, Jake Klau prepared for his first trip into a new athletic world.
"The discipline that I learned from wrestling, the dedication and hard work, make me confident that I'm going to go out and win," said Klau, who made it to Eastern Region as a Western Branch High matster before taking up boxing at Norfolk's Virginia Institute of Boxing Excellence.
"You have to focus yourself on what you're getting into," said Rodney Hanks, Klau's trainer. "It's a hurting game; you're going to get hurt, and sometimes you need to hurt somebody. It's not a sport where it's easy, easy, easy. It's about mentally focusing yourself. We're going to see if he really likes it."
After recovering from a high-class pounding to somehow score a submission win in a Nov. 1 cage fight in Virginia Beach, everyone would have understood if Jason Rodriguez had taken some healing time off. But only a few weeks later, he was ready to get back in the ring, albeit with a headguard and gloves this time.
"Any experience is good," said Rodriguez, lounging on the floor. "It shouldn't be too bad - I'm pretty good with my fists."
It was the luck of the draw for middle-, welter- and heavyweight boxers for the event; each division had three, so Barnett drew names to decide who'd go at it first and who would take on the winner.
"The difference is, we cut down on the rounds a little bit," he said. "Instead of three three-minute rounds, it's three one-minute rounds."
For the first fight, Randy Heard charged to the ring, sliding under the ring ropes instead of through them. With a deathly stare poking out from under his headguard, he took on Akiemo Rollins in welterweight competition.
Heard started out with a flurry, pushing Rollins into a corner. Rollins fought free, but Heard landed a right and a left to take the round. Rollins did better in the second round, but Heard was still mentally ahead, refusing to even sit down between rounds, his angry eyes widened. It worked in the third, as one more flurry gave Heard the victory.
The middleweight fight got off to a slow start, but Romaine Taylor got the crowd going with a few bombs in the second round. Ryan Price came right back, staggering him with a hard left and nearly sending him sprawling into a corner.
Price kept going in the third round, forcing a standing eight-count and getting the entire audience to give thanks the fighters were protected with headguards.
Price took the win, and now it was time for Klau's debut. He didn't waste time, blitzing Charles Robbins from the start, backing him around the ring and pinning him against the ropes. He trapped Robbins in the corner again in the second round, forcing an eight-count.
Robbins fought even in the last round, but Klau was too far ahead, upping his record to 1-0.
"That was pretty exciting," he said. "I believed in myself and I wanted to win. I'm going to keep training and correct the mistakes I made. I got caught in the jaw, and I need to work on my punches more."
Back for another round, Heard got into the ring a bit slower for his title fight with Rodriguez. The fight began with a machine-gun exchange from both fighters, with Rodriguez's headguard getting knocked off a few times.
Still, Heard's fatigue started to show in the second round, and Rodriguez's speed came through. Another flurry in his favor ended the fight, and the boxers collapsed on each other as the longest three minutes of their lives came to an end.
"I tried to stay away from his fists as much as possible," Rodriguez said, "and when that didn't work, I went ahead and brawled with him. He was quick with his hands. I thought it was pretty close."
Nearby, Heard didn't seem too upset with his loss.
"I'm feeling all right!" he said. "I got beat up pretty bad, but that's what I signed up for. My energy didn't come back fast enough. I need to work on keeping my pace."
Price kept going in his second fight, holding on to defeat Chris Coker. After defeating Toloa Moefaauo in the first heavyweight bout, Anthony Aguilar went for the day's championship with Kenneth Wherry.
Wherry tried to decapitate Aguilar with bombs to each side of his head throughout the first round, but Aguilar came back and punched him against the ropes. He held the advantage throughout the second round, and blasted Wherry in the face with a left jab and hard right to end the fight before the time limit.
"I'm hard-headed, and I have a good chin, so I knew what to expect," Aguilar said. "I had some first fight jitters, but in the second fight, I came out and took care of business. I've sparred with him before here, so I knew what it was all about. I knew he was gassed, and I was going to go after him anyway."
NOV08
Team Norfolk boxing coach Gloria Peek works out with Randell Johnson, a 178-pound open contender, for his upcoming appearance in the 2009 Virginia State Amateur Boxing Championships. (John Streit)
The sound of popping gloves heard in boxing gyms around the Commonwealth will emanate from Norfolk’s Fairlawn Recreation Center this weekend, as the 2009 Virginia State Amateur Boxing Championships return Friday and run through Sunday.
Team Norfolk Boxing Club hosts the event this year, led by longtime local coach and tournament director Gloria Peek.
For Virginian amateur boxers between the ages of 18 and 33 in the open divisions, the championships are the first step in advancing to the Mid-Atlantic Region Championship in February. Top performers in regionals earn berths to the USA Boxing National Championships, which will be held in Denver June 8-13.
Junior boxers, most novices and sub-novices will be on the bill for exhibition bouts and cannot use the event to advance to further championships. They’ll have their shot in December’s Silver Gloves tournament.
While the event will be held in the 2008 calendar year, the state championships are the opening event of the 2009 boxing season.
According to Peek, a strong performance at the state championships can set the tone for a boxer’s year to come.
“There’s a number of major events and tournaments coming up,” said Peek, a 30-year coach and boxing lifer. “Every coach in the state that’s worth their salt will want to have their boxers ready for this tournament.”
At Peek’s Team Norfolk Boxing Gym, located in Barraud Park, the coach is training three fighters that will vie for state championships this weekend in the super-heavyweight, 178-pound and 152-pound open divisions.
Randell Johnson, Peek’s 27-year-old 178-pound contender, is hoping to add a few more wins to his 10-3 career mark as he competes in his first state championship.
“Right now, by biggest problem was my eating habits, so I changed them and started running and doing sit-ups more,” said the Norfolk man, who took up boxing at age 24 while living in Florida. “This is all about stamina, if I can work on that, I’ll be OK.”
While he cut his teeth in the sport under the guidance of professional boxers, he said Peek has been able to provide a fresh approach to training.
“She has more amateur experience - they were trying to get me to turn pro after two fights,” Johnson said. “She has a lot of different conditioning methods, and they work. You can have all the skill in the world, but without conditioning, it’s nothing.”
NOV 08
Staunton Boxing Club records 3 first-place finishes
NORFOLK — The Staunton Boxing Club compiled a 10-3 record over the weekend at the Virginia State Amateur Championships.
Christian Steele, Jennifer Barnes and Kavon Robertson all had first-place finishes. Steele won the 152-pound class, while Barnes captured the 152-pound female division. Robertson grabbed the 50-pound class for ages 8-9.
William Bryant took second place in the 141-pound division. Ash Poole and Clay Davis each garnered third places in the 152- and 165-pound classes.
Bruce Frank served as the head trainer for the fighters.
April08
By FRED JETER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Ricardo Mickins has switched from scoring touchdowns to knockdowns.
At age 24, the former Armstrong High football/track standout has shelved his cleats and spikes in favor of a pair of boxing gloves.
He throws leather nowadays for City Wide Boxing Club on Overstreet Road near The Diamond.
"Ricardo takes control and won't give up," says Keith Hunter, who coaches Mickins with Tojuanna Brown.
Last week in Virginia Beach, Mickins flogged Randell Jordan of Team Norfolk for the state's 178-pound Golden Gloves open title.
The unanimous, four-round decision earned him a third title belt and hiked his amateur mark to 10-1 with three knockouts.
Tonight, he returns to the ring in the Washington Golden Gloves regional tournament -- Va. vs. Maryland format -- in Waldorf, Md.
Noted Wildcat: Mickins (Armstrong Class of '03) won the Max E. Robinson Award as Armstrong's top athlete as a senior.
He was MVP of the football (fullback with about 15 career TDs, and linebacker) and track squads.
Mickins' twin sister, Richanda, also graduated from Armstrong.
Phone book: Mickins let his fingers do his walking when he decided to take up boxing two years ago.
"I didn't know a thing -- except what I'd seen on TV," he said. "I just looked up boxing in the yellow book."
His first stop was Special FX on Hull Street. When that club closed, he found City Wide.
Mickins holds three titles -- the state Golden Gloves open and novice crowns at 178 and the Virginia state open.
"I'm not doing this for nothing," he said. "My goal is to go pro, quick as I can, and make something of this."
Wheels: Mickins is a roofer by trade. In evenings, the bachelor pedals his bicycle from his Church Hill home to City Wide for grueling training sessions.
"Keeps him in shape," Hunter said.
Mickins, who parks his bike in the gym, clarified: "No, the reason I do it is because I don't own a car."
In his corner: There's no shortage of ring experience at City Wide.
Tidewater native Hunter had a 78-12 amateur record and twice faced former world champ Pernell "Sweat Pea" Whitaker, losing both times.
If the name Brown rings a bell, it should. Tojuanna Brown is the daughter of the late Ray Brown, who died last year after decades of boxing devotion.
"I feel like I've lived and breathed boxing all my life, and I love it," said Tojuanna, who holds a USA Boxing level 2 coaching license.
She works the corners of her fighters, coordinates the video and handles the paperwork.
"I don't even think of her as a woman coach -- just as a coach," Mickins said.
Then and now: Mickins was a feared performer at Armstrong.
In a 2003 article in The Times-Dispatch, Armstrong assistant coach Andrew Greenidge said, "Ricardo has a big heart, and he can hit you -- those kinds of hits where you can hear it crack."
The difference now is hit-man Mickins doesn't have to worry about a penalty flag being tossed when inflicting pain.
The guys who run the two boxing gyms in Roanoke say the sport is on its way back in this area, and they are working together to make sure this comeback story doesn't reach its climax soon.
Champs Gym and Virginia Gator Boxing Club get their fighters together for sparring sessions and are traveling together to an amateur card tonight in Pennington Gap in far Southwest Virginia.
There are 16 fights scheduled tonight. Six of them involve boxers from the Roanoke Valley, including B.J. Rucker from Champs whose 132-pound bout is the main event.
"We root for each other; we want the Roanoke guys to win," said Rick Hawkins, who operates Champs Gym. "We help each other and we spar together because there's only so much room."
Also representing Champs tonight will be Nick Viar and first-timers Tyrell Davis and Josh Brown. Fighting for Gator will be La'Torie Woodbury and 9-year-old Noah Webb.
"It's exciting to all of us because of the explosion of boxing interest here," Hawkins said.
McRay aiming for Golden Gloves nationals
Walter McRay of Lynchburg who trains at Gator, fought in the Golden Gloves regionals Friday night in Waldorf, Md.
McRay, the Virginia Golden Gloves champion, is 6-foot-5 and 165 pounds and has a 10-0 record.
"Nobody can reach him," trainer Maynard Quesenberry said.
If McRay wins, he will compete at the Golden Gloves Nationals in Grand Rapids, Mich., May 5-10.
Pure Athleticism: Up Close, In Your Face By Sherrie Pilkington
What do you get when you mix one part original Olympian sport, consisting of pure, natural hand-to-hand combat, toss in a dose of determined young men and women, and set it on an amazing platform of competition? When the bell sounds you get Virginia's 69th Annual Golden Gloves Championships at the Virginia Beach Convention Center March 28-30. Where sacrifice, commitment, and dedication meet and the brutal assault of leather is a small price to pay on the journey to a Virginia State Championship and a step closer to competing for a National Title.
In its 85-year history, The Golden Gloves has operated with the belief "It's better to build boys, than mend men". Staying true to their motto bears the fruit of past Golden Glove Champions such as Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard. The reputation of offering youth a positive experience by building character, physical stamina and communication skills, has garnered this sporting event the endorsements of Governor Tim Kaine, Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf.
One of the local gyms participating in The Golden Gloves is Seven Cities Boxing Club, owned and operated by Robert Matney. Matney's passion for boxing is evident in his level of dedication, the work ethic of his facility, and the connection he has with his students.
Matney, an Irishman from Kansas City, MO, made his way to Virginia Beach via the military, retiring as Navy Chief after 12 years of service. For the last 10 years he has enjoyed boxing and maintains his involvement on many levels. Along with all the responsibilities of running a gym, training elite competitors and mentoring youth, he currently holds the elected position of President of the Virginia Association of U.S.A. Boxing and is a representative for The Golden Gloves. His coaching responsibilities include the East Coast Navy Boxing Squad and the Navy Seals.
Seven Cities charges a monthly gym fee of $60, but requires no membership contracts Competitors must register with USA Boxing, which has an annual renewal fee of $40.
While Matney's gym might not hit you hard in the wallet, you will get hit hard in the ring. As stated on Matney's website, the minimum standard accepted at this training facility is an Olympic-Style method of boxing where "training sessions are brutal and sparring is at the highest level possible without actually being in combat."
One local young man who is not afraid of the challenge is 17-year-old, Bayside High School Senior, Rigo Rivera. Rivera and his two brothers, Noe, 9, and Diego, 7, log three-hour workouts Mondays thru Thursdays. Noe and Diego envision soccer eventually becoming a priority, but Rigo only wants to box. "My father didn't want me boxing at first. But when he saw how much I liked watching it on television, he let me try it and this is all I want to do," Rigo said.
Although Rigo enjoys playing soccer for his school, it's the cardio workout that he appreciates. "The hardest part about boxing is staying in shape," Rigo added. "I can stay away from sodas and junk food but I can't say no to my mom's cooking. It's good."
Classified as a Lightweight, Rigo has been boxing for four years and has 15 fights under his belt. At the gym, Rigo and the other athletes willingly adhere to Matney's strenuous demands, not out of fear, but because they know he cares. "When I'm doing bad, he'll tell me it's bad. He only wants to make me better," Rigo said. "He's like a second father to me." The bond between coach and athlete is further rooted because Matney has an ear for listening and a heart for toting his team up and down the road for weekend competitions
If you have what it takes to "train with a team of warriors, whose never-ending quest for hardcore levels of conditioning, thirst for learning and a desire to be number one, are the essence of greatness" then stop by Seven Cities Boxing Club at the oceanfront. If you're looking to experience the intense atmosphere of victory and defeat, come to the Virginia Beach Convention Center and cheer on the local boy Rigo Rivera as he chases his dream of becoming the Lightweight Virginia Champion, bringing him step closer to a National title.
That's the credo around which Robert Matney said amateur boxing revolves.
The owner of Oceanfront boxing studio Seven Cities Boxing and president of the Virginia chapter of USA Boxing is doing more for regional boxers than just talking the talk.
He'll walk the walk this weekend, providing a first-class venue for about 100 athletes, as host of the 2008 Virginia Golden Gloves Championships.
The matches will be held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center Friday through Sunday. Doors open at 6 p.m. Friday.
"This is the premier amateur boxing event aside from something like the Olympics," Matney said. "The whole idea has always been to keep these young dudes off the streets."
Started in 1928, Golden Gloves is the United States' longest, continuously held amateur boxing series. It's seen the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Floyd Paterson, George Foreman and Sugar Ray Leonard come away with tournament championships.
Boxers from across Virginia and northeastern North Carolina will take part. The winners will advance to April 15's regional Gold Glove Championships in Waldorf, Md.
One of the field's headliners will be Virginia Beach's own Brandon Mitchell, a two-time champion in both the Virginia Golden Gloves and Virginia USA Boxing tournament.
Although the cost of renting space in the convention center was organizer Matney's largest monetary hurdle, he said that providing a top venue for the region's best amateur boxers was a priority.
"All year round, they compete in little recreation centers here and there, which is all good and wholesome," said Matney, who hosted the tournament at the convention center last year, too.
"But a couple times a year, they need to have a premier event where they're going to something nice. "
Several sponsorships from the Navy's regional recruiting district, Red Bull, Line-X and area businesses such as Seven Cities Scion, Chix Custom Cycles and Associated Distributors, as well as the purchase of ringside tables, eased the financial burden.
"I think the old stigma as boxing being this brutal, violent sport is wearing away more and more," Matney sai d.
John Streit, 639-4805 or
vb.beaconsports@yahoo.com
17 JAN 08
Kellam wrestler gets his kicks boxing opponents around The Virginian-Pilot
Video by Chic Riebel 01/17/2008
Mike Holcomb is not only a reigning state wrestling champion, the 125-pound Kellam senior is also ranked No. 1 nationally by three kick-boxing organizations. Down the road, this tough little dude hopes to earn a college scholarship in wrestling and perhaps move on to Ultimate Fighting Championships, the ultra-popular mixed-martial arts pro circuit.
Gold Eagle" Sailors to Compete on All Navy Boxing Team Story Number: NNS071217-08 Release Date: 12/17/2007 2:52:00 PM
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Philip Schrickel, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- Two Sailors from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the "Gold Eagle," were selected Nov. 10 to compete in the 2008 all-military boxing championship to be held in February 2008 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
Both Gold Eagle Sailors, Damage Controlman Fireman Tom Dooley and Machinery Repairman Fireman Michael Hal, began boxing as teenagers and have worked on honing their fighting skills ever since.
"I want to sharpen my technique in the ring, so I've really intensified my training and conditioning," said Hal. "I plan to push myself physically and mentally, so I'm ready for my competition when I get to Lackland."
Both Sailors credit their experiences in the Navy for their mental toughness in the ring. Additionally, they both say serving in the Navy has enabled them to come closer to their dream of boxing professionally one day.
"I want my performance to reflect positively on the opportunities the Navy has given me to train as a boxer," said Dooley. "More importantly, I want to show the other branches how much talent the Navy has in its corner."
The athletes will attend the Navy's training camp at Port Hueneme, Calif. for eight weeks to prepare for the Armed Forces Championship. While Hal and Dooley agree their training and preparations will be long and arduous, both Sailors are looking forward to the challenge.
"Nothing about our training will be easy," said Hal. "But I'm confident that both of us will do well, because we both have the drive and discipline to succeed."
Carl Vinson is currently undergoing its scheduled refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) at Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard.
"Gold Eagle" Sailors to Compete on All Navy Boxing Team
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Philip Schrickel, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- Two Sailors from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), the "Gold Eagle," were selected Nov. 10 to compete in the 2008 all-military boxing championship to be held in February 2008 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
Both Gold Eagle Sailors, Damage Controlman Fireman Tom Dooley and Machinery Repairman Fireman Michael Hal, began boxing as teenagers and have worked on honing their fighting skills ever since.
"I want to sharpen my technique in the ring, so I've really intensified my training and conditioning," said Hal. "I plan to push myself physically and mentally, so I'm ready for my competition when I get to Lackland."
Both Sailors credit their experiences in the Navy for their mental toughness in the ring. Additionally, they both say serving in the Navy has enabled them to come closer to their dream of boxing professionally one day.
"I want my performance to reflect positively on the opportunities the Navy has given me to train as a boxer," said Dooley. "More importantly, I want to show the other branches how much talent the Navy has in its corner."
The athletes will attend the Navy's training camp at Port Hueneme, Calif. for eight weeks to prepare for the Armed Forces Championship. While Hal and Dooley agree their training and preparations will be long and arduous, both Sailors are looking forward to the challenge.
"Nothing about our training will be easy," said Hal. "But I'm confident that both of us will do well, because we both have the drive and discipline to succeed."
Carl Vinson is currently undergoing its scheduled refueling complex overhaul (RCOH) at Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard.
For more news from USS Carl Vinson, visit www.news.navy.mil/local/cvn70/.
Nov07
All Navy Boxing Trials Punch Their Way into Hampton Roads By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (AW/SW) Flor Valerio, Fleet Public Affairs Center, Atlantic VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- The All Navy Boxing Team held trials Nov. 17-18 at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek for athletes with prior or current boxing experience. Based in California, the team hopes to train qualified Navy boxers from the East Coast to represent the Navy at the Armed Forces Championship scheduled for February 2008. "We are at a rebuilding phase for the team and this initiative is to let the fleet know that we are actively looking for Navy boxers," said George Sylva, the All Navy Boxing Team head coach. "The Navy Boxing Team allows Sailors to come and try out for the boxing camp, which starts Dec. 1 in California." About 15 Sailors came out to test their skills and talent in boxing. Electrician's Mate 2nd Class (SW) Jessie Owens from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), who has been training for three years, was the only female Sailor who came to try out. "Navy boxing gives me an opportunity to represent the Navy and my ship in competitions against the other services, as well as represent female boxers," said Owens who sparred with a male counterpart during the try outs. Throughout Navy history, Navy boxing has produced champions from both officers and enlisted personnel. "Fleet championships were held aboard battleships and the Navy has had a lot of champions that tried to compete among other Armed Forces," said Robert Matney, East Coast Boxing squad coach. "The rebuilding effort is to bring back a great history of Navy boxing, and it is a great recruiting tool for the Navy." The athletes chosen for the team will attend the training camp at Port Hueneme, Calif., for eight weeks to prepare for the Armed Forces Championships. Those who prevail at the championships will represent the United States in the World Armed Forces Championships. For more news from Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, visit navcms.news.navy.mil/local/nablc/.
In one of his first moves as USA Boxing's national director of coaching, Dan Campbell hit a few of his problem fighters where he knew it would hurt most: below the belt and behind the back.
Right in the wallet.
Campbell discovered there were boxers who were receiving stipends from the organization yet begging off when asked to come to a training camp or a meet.
"If we're paying them, we wanted to make them more accountable," Campbell said. "It didn't take long. The first few times we stopped the check, people got the message. That was an easy fix."
If only fixing everything else that ails amateur boxing was as easy. Americans have won just three gold medals in the past four Olympic Games.
A new Olympic team was selected at the trials in Houston last month. Campbell will coach it, and once again, hopes are high. The team members reported here this week and will live at the Olympic Training Center through the Games in Beijing next August.
The residential program was Campbell's idea, one that has met with resistance from the coaches of some fighters. Those coaches are reluctant to turn over control of the boxers many have nurtured since the fighters were in grade school.
Gary Russell, whose son Gary Jr. is the team's 119-pounder, said uprooting boxers from their long-time trainers is a "recipe for disaster.
"We were actually told if kids don't comply, they'll be put off the team," Russell said. "It's like a pistol to the head."
Campbell doesn't dispute that. But he didn't come to Colorado in 2005 after running Norfolk's boxing program for a decade, to do things the way they had always been done.
So Campbell, USA Boxing's first full-time director of coaching, is shaking things up in his quiet but firm manner.
"There's a lot we have to do if we want to put the United States back in its rightful place," he said.
Campbell sat in his office on the fourth floor of a drab tan brick building, a leftover from the facility's days as an air force base. Although USA Boxing is located at the Olympic complex, it wasn't really a part of it, Campbell said. One of his first moves when getting the job two years ago was to reach out to the USOC, to make its experts in nutrition, conditioning and sports science part of boxing's team.
Campbell is 64 but looks at least a decade younger. A former parole and probation officer, his discipline methods may be old-school, but his training ideas are progressive. His eyes light up when he talks about the high-tech toys available to him at the OTC: a computerized heavy bag that measures the efficiency and effectiveness of punches, a computer program that can simulate matches between fighters from the U.S. and other countries and a video system that will allow him to watch boxers training throughout the complex - from his office.
"We wanted to bridge the gap between boxing and sports science and bring what we want to do into this century," he said. "And stop thinking that some road work and a heavy bag is going to do it."
To that end, the conditioning of the Olympic team is being farmed out to the USOC. Individual boxing coaches have to put their egos aside and stop pretending they can condition their athletes to the Olympic caliber. They can't, Campbell said.
What Campbell and his staff can do is immerse their fighters in the international style, which emphasizes scoring blows over power shots. That's part of the reason for the residential program, he said.
In the past, when boxers were allowed to return home, they'd pick up old habits that Olympic coaches would have to drill out of them.
Boxers returning home were also subject to outside influences, including the potentially distracting lure of the pro game. Some were coached by trainers also involved in the pros, an association Campbell wants to avoid.
They were also prone to developing the "prima donna" attitudes that plagued the past few Olympic teams, Campbell said.
It's Campbell's hope that living together at the training center will build a team-first attitude among the fighters. Their tightly scheduled days will include classes in nutrition, psychology, training in how to deal with the media and how to carry themselves after a win.
Campbell said he has already noticed a difference in boxers who have attended camps in the past two years.
"The stigma we had here has disappeared," he said. "People don't see us as the negative sport here on the complex. Our guys, they dress correctly, they don't sag, they speak correctly. We've changed more than just how we box."
How the team boxes in Beijing, of course, is how it and Campbell will ultimately be judged. Skeptics like Russell, who said he respects Campbell but not his methods, will be waiting to pounce if things don't go well.
"They're experimenting," Russell said. "My son hasn't been experimenting. He's been training. He's been putting work in.
"I don't think it's fair, but my son is going to work with it because he wants to be an Olympian. He wants to represent the U.S."
Jim Millman, executive director of USA Boxing, said he's firmly behind Campbell and thinks his methods will position the United States well - in Beijing and beyond. Other coaches with international experience, like Gloria Peek, also think he's on the right track.
"It's an ego thing," said Peek, who replaced Campbell in Norfolk when he left. "These grassroots coaches think they're losing their fighters, but they're not. A lot of them don't know a thing about international boxing.
"This is the only way we're going to be able to compete."
Campbell knows the hopes of the sport are largely riding on him. The United States won two gold medals - along with a silver and bronze - at this year's Pan Am Games, a slight improvement from 2003 (a gold, two silver and a bronze).
Campbell, who has already had to have pages added to his U.S. passport, has an ambitious schedule lined up for the team prior to Beijing, with dual meets against Australia, England, Romania and Mexico scheduled for the next four months - in addition to the World Championships in Chicago and an "Olympic test" dual meet in China.
Needless to say, he's not in Colorado Springs much.
For a while after taking the job, he tried splitting time between apartments in Colorado and Hampton. He eventually relocated. He is signed with USA Boxing through the Olympics and purposely didn't ask for a longer contract.
"My feeling is, the proof is in the pudding," he said. "If I demand that you give me a contract and then it doesn't work out, then I've actually set boxing back."
That's a step the sport can't afford to take.
Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com
May07
Female boxing coach keeps boys in line
The Virginian-Pilot Roger M. Richards
05/24/2007
Gloria Peek dishes out tough love at Norfolk's Barraud Park gym where she provides a haven from the streets, drills the risk out of at-risk kids, replaces it with discipline, purpose, a sense of belonging. The difference is that this coach happens to be a 55-year-old woman who started in boxing - training male fighters and running her own gyms - when women just didn't do those things.
Check out the video: http://hamptonroads.tv/index.cfm?locvid=125254
Joe Tsao sounded like a man with a confession to make. "I like boxing," he said. With that off his chest, Tsao, director of the Hampton Coliseum, explained why his venue is taking a chance on an amateur boxing show, The Virginia Challenge, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. "I just really think there is a demand for it," he said. "Do we know for sure? No, we don't. This is a leap of faith." A leap Tsao is taking along with Robert Matney, owner of the Seven Cities Boxing Club in Virginia Beach. Matney, the tournament director of Virginia USA Boxing, came up with the idea of a local amateur boxing series. Tsao added the twist of pitting Virginia boxers against fighters from other states. They'll start with Maryland this weekend. The hope is to hold three or four shows a year, against fighters from nearby states. "It's all about promoting USA boxing," Matney said. "We really want to showcase our amateur program, and give the public a good show." Fighters from a half-dozen local gyms on the Southside and Peninsula are expected to participate, as well as a handful from Richmond and Northern Virginia. The schedule calls for 16 three- or four-round bouts per day, beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $10, $5 for children 8 and up. Younger fans are free. Tsao said he'd been looking to bring boxing to the Coliseum, but didn't have the money to be a player in the professional ranks. "You have to be casino-rich to be in that business," he said. "So we decided to see what we could do with amateurs. We have a little bit of financial risk in it, but it's very limited, very calculated. We're not going to go broke, or get rich. We'd like to see where we can go with it." Matney, active as a coach in the local amateur scene for years, hosted the state Golden Gloves at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in March. "He did well, considering we only had the room set up for 500," said Dave Wilson, an event manager. "It was a quality event." Matney said he and promoter Reggie Lewis have done more marketing this time, and are hoping for a bigger crowd this weekend, as well as for more events down the road. Normally, local fighters have to travel to find competition, putting them at a disadvantage against boxers from bigger metro areas like Washington and Baltimore. This time, the competition will come to them. If things go as planned, fans will too. "We don't have any assurance that it's going to be successful," Tsao said. "But I like boxing and I think there's a sector of the population that likes it as well."
Gloria Peek watches as her boxers work on the punching bags at the Barraud Park gym in Norfolk. Peek says she runs the gym like a family; her fighters respect her as a surrogate mother.
(Bill Tiernan photos/TheVirginian-Pilot)
By Ed Miller The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK - Gloria Peek, all of 5-foot-4, steps between a pair of sparring boxers a head taller and young enough to be her grandsons. It's a potentially hazardous move - for the fighters, who have failed to heed her command to stop punching.
"When I say stop, what does that mean?" Peek asks one of them, her voice rising.
"Stop," he mutters.
"What does that mean?" she wheels and asks the other.
"Stop," he says.
Peek wears a T-shirt that reads: "Boxing is life. Roll with the Punches." But she can't abide what she's been watching. The sparring session has been sloppier than a spit bucket in the 12th round. One fighter has been flailing wildly, the other clinging like a marathon dancer at 3 a.m.
"You cannot fight out of anger," she tells the overly aggressive one, her eyes boring in on his, which are framed by leather headgear. "If you do, you'll get hit all the time."
He would, too, if only his opponent were not too winded to hold up his gloves.
"Remember all that running we do?" she says. "That's why we do it. You need to do all that running and then some."
It's a Wednesday night at Norfolk's Barraud Park gym, but this could be any inner-city boxing gym in the country. You know the story: A tough-love coach provides a haven from the streets, drills the risk out of at-risk kids, and replaces it with discipline, purpose, a sense of belonging.
The difference is that this tough-love coach happens to be a 55-year-old woman who started in boxing - training male fighters and running her own gyms - when women just didn't do those things.
She is already a pioneer and may break new ground yet. Peek is on the short list of candidates for two assistant coaching positions on the 2008 men's Olympic team.
"The elite boxers know her," Olympic coach Dan Campbell said. "She doesn't really have to prove herself."
That's a change. Girls didn't box in Rochester, N.Y., or anywhere else, when Peek was growing up there, dying to sink a left hook into somebody. She fell in love with the sport watching "Friday Night Fights" with her dad.
She found other ways to exercise her wild streak. One night, in a boozy haze, she broke into a doctor's office. Not that she remembered the next day, but she was told that when the police came, she invited them to join the party. She was 17.
Seeing few other ways out of her Rochester housing project, she joined the Navy. There, amused sailors would allow the slight hospital corpsman to hit their heavy bag. They stopped chuckling when one of her shots knocked the bag off its chain.
"Leverage," she explains 35 years later, when the accuracy of her story is gently questioned. "I've seen 132-pounders knock out heavyweights."
Born too soon to be a contender, Peek finished her four-year hitch, returned to Rochester and found work in maximum-security juvenile corrections, a good gig for someone with a strong sense of self and a voice that rattles windows..
"You get folks who killed people," she said. "You'd better be able to stand your ground."
After a couple of years locking kids up, Peek reasoned that starting a boxing program might prevent more of them from ending up in the kinds of places she worked.
First, she needed some ring-won credibility. She headed to a local gym and got the kind of reception Hilary Swank did when she walked into Clint Eastwood's gym in "Million Dollar Baby." Only this was 1977, not 2004, and nobody as easily won over as Eastwood worked there.
She kept coming back. Finally, they let her in, figuring the men would run her out.
The plan backfired. Training led to sparring. In her early sessions, her male opponents were told to go easy on her. After a while, that advice would get a guy hurt.
Peek hung fliers in a recreation center announcing the formation of a boxing program. She sat in the bleachers and waited to see who would show. About 20 boys drifted in while she sat silently.
"Hey, lady, when is the boxing coach getting here?" one of them said. "We're not going to wait all day."
Peek stood up, blew her whistle and the seeds of what would become Rochester's Montgomery Boxing Club - named for the Alabama city that was on the front lines of the civil rights movement - were planted.
Peek didn't just have to be as good as male coaches; she had to be better. Before one of her first national bouts, a coach looked over look over in the opposite corner and scoffed.
"He told his fighter, 'Man, we got this,' " Peek recalled. " 'I know doggone well she couldn't teach him anything.' "
The coach, Basheer Abdullah, apologized after Peek's boxer rocked his. Abdullah went on to coach the U.S. Olympic team in 2004.
Peek rose in the amateur coaching ranks, too, and became a go-to person in Rochester on youth issues, a surrogate mom for the kids amateur boxing attracted - "the misfits, the ones nobody wants, the ones out there floundering," she says.
In 2000, she took her New York State pension and escaped the snow belt for Virginia, where a brother lived. Last year, she left Richmond to take over a Norfolk boxing program started by Campbell but on wobbly legs after nearly a year without a director.
Enter Peek, human smelling salts. On most nights, she presides over 15 or 20 boxers - neighborhood kids and sailors, male and female, black and white - her bullhorn voice cutting through the din.
"Get your hands up!"
"If you're tough enough to stay, stay. If your heart pumps strawberry Kool-Aid, leave!"
"Slip and catch those punches; don't run!"
"You call those push-ups?"
Boxer Richard Williams searched for the right way to describe Peek's style.
"What's the word you look for, for somebody staying on top of you?" said Williams, 22. "That's her."
Back at the gym on a Friday morning, Peek brushes past a heavy bag on the way to her office, formerly a storage room with a rubber floor where fighters skipped rope. She pulled up the floor, painted and hung pictures on cinder-block walls, and transformed the space into a model of bright, spare efficiency. Her desk at one end, a small meeting table and chairs at the other. A microwave and mini-fridge. A VCR and monitor on a rolling cart. Not a paper out of place.
Men don't mind stepping over things, she explains. Women are different.
Out in the gym, 18 leather gloves, opened at the mouth to air out, line one edge of the ring. The trash cans are empty, the mirrors smudge-free, the floor mopped of the sweat Peek had extracted from a dozen young men and women the night before.
"People think you can only train boxers in dirty, nasty gyms," she says. "That's bull. I've coached ranked fighters and none of my gyms has ever been dirty."
Peek wears a shirt laced like a boxing glove, with a heavy clump of keys looping out of the hip pocket of her shorts. She pops a videotape in her VCR, one of many TV news features from Rochester. It shows her training boxers in ballet, another of her loves. She made the connection between boxing and dance on a trip to New York City to see "The Nutcracker" nearly 50 years ago.
On her office bulletin board is a photo of Peek with Oscar De La Hoya. The Golden Boy trained in her Rochester gym for a week in 1993. Another photo shows Peek with Chris Byrd, a one-time IBF heavyweight champion.
Yet, Peek is not much interested in pro boxing or the image and credibility issues it faces. She prefers the amateur game - "a good, clean sport that provides a lot for the individual if they partake of it," she says.
Photos of partakers line her office walls. There's Peek with smiling Olympians, Peek with national teams on overseas trips, Peek with her Rochester kids.
The photo that probably provides the best summation of her career - and her sparring hard and soft sides - is a black-and-white shot hanging on the inside of her door. It shows an exhausted and much-younger Peek slumped over her desk at a maximum-security detention center for teenage boys. Her forehead rests on her desk, which has a name plate that misspells her name as "Peeks."
The letters were burned into the wood by kids serving time for murder, rape, armed robbery. She didn't have the heart to tell them they'd gotten it wrong and left it there for years.
Peek mentions often that she runs her gym like a family. It's an important point to her. Unlike most gyms, it's a matriarchy, and several fighters say that exerts a different kind of pull on them.
Who wants to disappoint their mom? Curse in front of her? Disrespect her? Have her tell them they aren't welcome at home anymore because they've broken her rules?
"It makes for more discipline," says Denzel Simmons, 26. "Everyone turns to listen when their mom is talking to them."
Keith Robertson, a 19-year-old heavyweight, agrees. Peek was his commanding officer at Beaumont Juvenile Correction Center near Richmond, where he said he did time for robbery and where she worked for a time. He's been trying to do the right thing since his release, and that means coming to the gym and doing what it takes to stay there.
It's safer than the alternative. A month ago on the streets of South Norfolk, he was shot in the arm.
"She gives us that mother love," Robertson said. "When you come over to the corner and you've won, it's like you've done something for your mother. It's the best feeling in the world."
And when you've let mom down? Even heavyweights can be reduced to groveling.
Peek is sitting in her office when the phone rings. It's clear that one of the family has gone astray.
"You called, and said you were late getting out of bed. I told you to come down anyway. But you didn't show up," she says.
She pauses to listen, with the impatient air of someone who's heard this story before.
"When I tell you I'm going to do something, what do I do?" she asks.
There's a brief response.
"Your word is all you have. It's your word that will carry you in this world."
She listens again, and her tone softens.
"OK. Obviously, I haven't given up on you yet."
She tells him they'll talk next week, when she returns from a trip.
"If you're doing good, I'm the first one there to hug you and congratulate you and support you," she says after hanging up. "If you're doing bad, I'm the first one there to jack you up, but I'm not going to throw you away. "
Peek says that at USA boxing camps, male coaches tell her she can get fighters to do things they can't. There's none of that clash of male egos.
Might the power of motherly persuasion be put to use in pursuit of Olympic gold? Campbell says Peek is as qualified as any man to coach the Olympic team. She has worked punch mitts with the fastest and most powerful amateurs in the country, something not all coaches have the hand speed to do.
Peek has coached in the women's world championships, but a spot on the Olympic coaching staff would be the crowning achievement of her career, as well as a first for women in the sport. She jokingly calls boxing "the last great domain of men" and is eager to kick down one last door.
"I want to coach the men," she said. "Because I started with the men."
She knows the men. She knows the particular pain of getting hollowed out by a body shot from one of USA's finest. Back in Rochester, she was working the mitts with one of her elite prospects, a light heavyweight, when he misfired and caught her with a whistling hook to the body.
It felt like she'd been cut in half. She dropped to a knee. Only pride kept her from going all the way down.
She composed herself, put up her hands and got on with it. She had fought for years for the right to be cut in half by a light heavyweight.
"Oh, yes," Campbell says over the phone, laughing. "Gloria can fight."
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By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot 
