SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) - When it started training fighters 30 years ago, finding the Irish Boxing Club in Weston Fieldhouse required a little bit of persistence.
It was located in the far reaches of the Providence Road recreation center, and its facilities were modest.
On Thursday, thanks to the persistence of a former professional boxer, the boxing club dedicated its far more modern facilities on the second floor of the field house, as well as refocusing on doing more for the area’s youth than just teaching boxing skills.
“It’s a great facility here now,” said local boxing promoter Doug Long. “We have more room, we can dedicate more time, bring in more kids and teach them the right discipline.
“Boxing is a great sport. Having a facility like this now, it’s going to be beneficial and attractive to the youth that come. It’s a huge benefit for the community having this here.”
Marty Flynn, himself an alumnus of the Irish Boxing Club and a professional fighter for 15 years, learned many of his life lessons within the confines of the ring. It’s something he wants to see continue, and why he not only pushed benefactors to help, but contributed his own money toward the project.
“This has always been a dream of mine,” Flynn, 38, said. “It does reach the unreachable kids because it teaches hard work, discipline. Nobody’s is going to help you in life. Nobody is going to give you anything in life.
“It helps you find the steel within you in life. Even if it’s just not quitting. This ring taught me more than any other classroom in my entire life. It’s a classroom in the sense it highlighted that steel inside me. You learn to work things out. With discipline, hard work, good things happen.”
Mydia Alonso, a 14-year old freshman at Coughlin High School in Wilkes-Barre, is a shining example of that. She’s already had 40 amateur fights, has won a pair of national titles and will fight at the USA Boxing Junior Olympic National Championships next month in Charleston, West Virginia.
But the honor-roll student also is the standard-bearer for what Long, Flynn and Irish Boxing Club founder Gene Reed hope will be a longer line of success stories.
“It teaches you discipline,” Alonso said. “I used to be very angry. It’s taught me how to be humble.
“It’s very hard. I’m not going to lie. This sport is really, really hard and it’s not something you play. You’re actually fighting for your life.”
And that requires the wherewithal to maintain your wits when another fighter is trying to pound you into submission.
“She’s learned how to control herself better,” said Alonso’s mother, Millie. “She’s more focused, in boxing and in school, and her education comes first.”
In an arena dominated by male competitors, Alonso is not intimidated. Perhaps it’s because her father and grandfather were boxers.
“When she was 6, she told her dad she wanted to box and I told her boxing was for boys,” Millie said. “Her dad told her when she turned 9, come and let him know and we’ll see if you still want to box. On her ninth birthday, she said, ’Dad, I’m ready. Let’s go down to the basement.’
“We thought she forgot about it. Three years had gone by.”
Now it’s been five since Alonso started boxing, and she has a clear vision for the future.
“The dream has always been the same,” Alonso said. “I’m on top of the mountain and I have a champion’s belt in my hand. Probably to be a WBC (World Boxing Council) women’s champion, and the 2020 Olympics, I want a gold medal.”
Nothing’s impossible, and others see her as on the right track.
“She has the tools, she has the skills, she’s got potential and a good work ethic,” Reed said. “We just try to get the experience and continue to move forward. People think you just show up at the Olympics with your gloves and say, here I am. It’s a process. You’ve got to win big tournaments, place in the top three. She’s won a couple national tournaments.”
And learned more than boxing while following her path. That’s something Long envisions for all children who come to the boxing program, for which there is no charge other than a daily use fee of $1.50 for Weston Fieldhouse.
Novices are provided with a mouthpiece and a set of wraps for their hands, free of charge, and guidelines of what is expected. The all-volunteer staff of seasoned boxing and fitness veterans works with boxers ranging from novice to advanced, ages from 8 to 50.
“There’s no foul language,” Long said. “It’s anti-bullying. We really stress on that. Boxing teaches them discipline and respect toward the other youth. You try to teach that. Have common courtesy like opening up a car door.
“If someone says something to you, you don’t turn around and let your temper go. We teach that in here. You have to learn to control yourself and your emotions. Here, they can come and learn to handle the right situations in life.”
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Information from: The Times-Tribune, https://thetimes-tribune.com/
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