lafayette Boxing Club

you can never overerestimate the value of amateur boxing. some kids are drawn to boxing just like any other sport and not every kid can make the basketball team. often kids are drawn to boxing because of its bad boy image and they find out that it takes a lot of hard work to be good! as for my-self i can say that every single time i got into trouble as a kid it happened when i wasnt in the gym getting ready for a tournament.terry christian.JULY-2005/Boxing coach's grandson wins national title. Travis DePew's grandfather would be proud of him. DePew, 16, won a boxing title last weekend at the National Junior Golden Gloves Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn. His grandfather, the late Sherman DePew, was a local boxing coach who once trained youngsters out of his home's garage. The teenager also trains out of a garage with the Lafayette Boxing Club. "It's pretty great to be his grandson," DePew said. "All the boxers I talk to know his name." His coach, Terry Christian, called the inexperienced DePew a "raging bull" at the state and national championships. "Travis was an animal. He is a natural talent," Christian said. "He has boxers in his family going back I don't know how many generations, and all of them concrete finishers." DePew, an incoming junior at Jefferson High School, plays football and wrestles with the Bronchos. He has been boxing five months and is 2-0 -- both championships. He won this year's Indiana Junior Golden Gloves championship at 178 pounds. At the nationals, DePew defeated left-hander Jonathan Ortiz of Orlando, Fla., for the 189-pound title. Five judges voted 3-2 to give the three-round decision to DePew. It was the only fight for both boxers at the nationals. "I gave him a standing eight-count in the second round and almost knocked him out of the ring," DePew said. "I threw many one-two punches while he kept backing up. "He hit me with a good punch, then I got mad and went after him." Christian, 41, began boxing under Sherman DePew at age 15 and won an Indiana Golden Gloves title at age 16. He started the Lafayette Boxing Club seven years ago in his backyard shed and now uses his one-car garage. "I said when I got started that it sure would be neat to have a national champion before I was done," Christian said. "How fitting is it that it turns out to be the grandson of the very first and very best boxing coach I ever had or knew." Christian's son, Justin, also fought at the National Junior Golden Gloves. He lost when the referee stopped the fight in the second round. The Lafayette Boxing Club's banner season includes a team trophy at the Indiana Silver Gloves championship and several individual champions. DePew said he's been having fun showing his friends the heavy leather championship belt. A metal emblem has the word, "Champion." "I don't know if I'll keep boxing. I probably will," DePew said. "I want to go to college, but not to play football. I like water skiing." By Bob Scott, Journal and Courier.The king of the ring Thorntown’s Alec Salvatore sets gold standard in boxingJess HuffmanTHORNTOWN —As his opponent circled, punched and pounded, sweat flew off Alec Salvatore’s face.“It was probably one of the ugliest things I’ve ever experienced,” said Salvatore, a Thorntown resident. “The guy was using my head as a punching bag.”At 14, Salvatore was taking a beating in the ring, learning his fist lesson in boxing.“My face was all red and kind of puffy because I got hit so much,” Salvatore said of his first fight. “I remember I just felt sick. I knew that if I was going to be good, I was going to have to train harder than anybody.”Salvatore hasn’t lost a fight since that day. Boasting an overall record of 8-1, the 17-year-old recently won the Indiana Golden Gloves Novice 141-pound weight class championship.The fight was April 13 at Tyndall Armory in Indianapolis. Salvatore defeated Desmund Jackson in three rounds to win the 17-20 age division.“I’ve fought better people, but he was probably the strongest guy I’ve fought,” Salvatore said.He also was awarded the 2006 Golden Gloves Outstanding Novice Boxer Award.Previous to this year, Salvatore won the 2005 Indiana Jr. Golden Gloves 141-pound weight class. Under the guidance of trainer Terry Christan and the Lafayette Boxing Club, he’s also competed in the Indiana Junior Olympics and Indiana Silver Gloves the last three years.Training seven days a week, running, lifting weights and sparring, there is little time for outside activities.“It’s a lot of hard work,” Salvatore said. “You’ve got to focus on it. It’s not a sport you just kind of do as a hobby. It’s something you’ve got to put a lot of time into and work really hard at.”As Salvatore worked in his basement Thursday, surrounded by punching bags, boxing gloves, weights and dumbbells, a piece of paper stood plastered on his wall. With large black ink it read, “1 percent mental,1 percent coaching, 98 percent conditioning.”“That’s just a little reminder,” Salvatore said. “Sometimes you feel like skill-wise you can take shortcuts in training. Like, you don’t have to do the hard work because you’ve got enough skill.“But you got to remember, almost always the guy that comes in better condition is the guy that wins the fight,” he said.Salvatore went through his normal training routine Thursday. First, he did three-minute sets of light-dumbbell repetitions, separated by 30 second resting intervals. Second, he wrapped his hands and simulated two-minute rounds with a punching bag.After three rounds, he would do sit ups, push ups or jump rope exercises, and proceed to simulate another three rounds with the punching bag.When it’s all said and done, it’s about 90 minutes of high-level cardiovascular work.In the months leading up to a match, Monday through Friday, Salvatore will go through this routine, while he’ll spend Saturday running and Sunday working at the Lafayette Boxing Club.He admitted, some days are harder than others, but in the end, the hard work pays off.“You just tell yourself to suck it up, basically,” Salvatore said. “You sit around, and say, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ But once you get down and start doing it, start working out, you kind of forget about it. You just kind of get that adrenaline going.”A heavy dose of hard rock and metal doesn’t hurt.Salvatore’s favorite band is Tool, which helps get the blood flowing on the harder days. And although he said he doesn’t really like the band AC/DC, the song “Thunderstruck” really gets him going.“That song just gets me amp’d up,” he said.Music definitely helps, but the drive comes from within.At the present, Salvatore is weighing options. Christian, who developed and refined his skills, decided to retire from boxing. If he wants to continue boxing, Salvatore will have to find a new trainer.For right now, after his most recent success, Salvatore is going to take it easy.“I’m taking a break right now,” he said. “After the summer’s over, I’ll look it over and see if I’m still in a little bit of shape. And then if I can find a trainer, I’ll probably get going.” Teen boxer earns 12th state title By Bob Scott-Lafayette Journal and Courier. Boxer Justin Christian, 15, recently won the 112-pound class at the Indiana Silver Gloves Championships in Fort Wayne. He also was voted the tournament's most outstanding boxer. The sophomore at Jefferson High School now has won 12 state titles since he started boxing at age 8. He's earned championships in the Silver Gloves, Junior Olympics and Junior Golden Gloves. "I like boxing. I keep coming back because I think I can do better," he said this week from his Lafayette home. Besides boxing, Christian enjoys playing drums. He is part of the Jefferson High School marching band, jazz band and concert band. Outside the boxing ring, Christian is an easygoing teenager. When he laces up this gloves, he is transformed. "When I am fighting, it's like I am a different person," he said. He becomes a bit cocky and ornery but is always focused on beating his opponent. "I excel at boxing. It comes easy to me," he said with a smile. "Easy" means countless hours training in his garage, which has been converted into a boxing gym. Heavy bags, speed bags and boxing posters fill the one-car garage. "It is about how hard you train and what shape you are in," he said. "A lot of it is in your mind when you are in the ring. "If you stick it out, you can do it." His father and coach, Terry Christian, said he is proud of Justin. Terry won an Indiana Golden Gloves title at age 16. "As his dad, I want my kids to graduate from high school and stay out of trouble," he said. "When I was a kid and boxing in the gym, I stayed out of trouble." Terry is the coach and founder of the Lafayette Boxing Club. "Justin has had a lot of sparring with young and old boxers, including pros," he said. "He's lost fights against great fighters, but he always learns." Justin said he won't fight in the Silver Gloves again. He turns 16 in April and will be too old. Now his focus will be on Junior Olympics and Junior Golden Gloves. At 16, he is eligible for the Golden Gloves tournament. "I'll stick with boxing while I'm in high school," he said. "When I'm in my twenties, I might turn pro." LAFAYETTE BOXING CLUB: FIRST PLACE TEAM AT 2005 INDIANA JUNIOR GOLDEN GLOVES.LAFAYETTE BOXING CLUB: FIRST PLACE TEAM AT 2005 INDIANA SILVER GLOVES. ALL FROM A ONE CAR GARAGE! LARRY SMITH... my very first indiana golden gloves champ!