ALLENTOWN, Pa. — It’s fair to say Thomas “TJ” McMonigle struggled in middle school.
He regularly got detentions for “goofing around” in class, saw his grades slipping and suffered from anxiety.
But that all changed when the Whitehall Township teen began boxing.
For the past year, TJ has spent six days a week training and learning his way around the ring at Showstoppers Boxing Gym, located at 1801 South 12th St. in Allentown.
“My dad brought me here to straighten me out, and I’m not going to lie, it worked.”TJ McMonigle, a patron of Showstoppers Boxing Gym
Showstoppers Boxing Club, the gym’s youth program, serves about 100 young people in the Lehigh Valley. The club’s coaches said the sport of boxing and the culture of the gym keep youth like TJ on the straight and narrow.
“My dad brought me here to straighten me out, and I’m not going to lie, it worked,” said TJ, now a 15-year-old freshman at Whitehall High School.
That’s why Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, a local anti-violence organization, has bought into Showstoppers’ model, uplifting the boxing club as a way to keep kids out of trouble.
“This is the best kept secret in Allentown,” said Hasshan Batts, executive director of Promise Neighborhoods.
'It's about life'
The youth boxing program has existed in the city for 11 years, but it just recently became a registered nonprofit organization.
And Promise Neighborhoods began filtering youth to the club about two years ago as part of its End Gun Violence initiative.
“Boxing in its essence is centered around non-violence,” Batts said. “You don’t need a gun if you can box.”
Promise Neighborhoods also sponsors young boxers whose families can’t afford the monthly $80 fee to participate.
Batts said he’s been connecting Showstoppers Boxing Club to potential funders to make sure students have the boxing equipment they need.
But Coach Montrell Frisby said the youth club — open to children ages 5 and up — isn’t just about boxing.
“It’s about life,” he said.
Some youth have troubles at home or struggle with their emotions, he said. At Showstoppers, they have a safe place to go after school and coaches who are willing to lend a listening ear.
Frisby and the club’s other coaches keep on top of students about their grades and behavior at school. They also stress the importance of good manners and respect for parents.
“Yes sir, no ma’am, you speak with intelligence.”David Hamilton, owner and coach of Showstoppers Boxing Gym
“Yes sir, no ma’am, you speak with intelligence,” Coach David Hamilton, the gym’s owner and a former Philadelphia fighter, tells the kids.
Each afternoon session ends with a group huddle and prayer — though the gym isn’t affiliated with any particular religion, and all are welcome, the coaches said.
“It’s a tradition that we follow,” said Hamilton, who was once a sparring partner for former professional boxer Bernard Hopkins, a world champion in two weight divisions.
The goal is to let the youth know there’s “a power greater than themselves," he said.
Boxing as a confidence builder
For TJ, going to Showstoppers has been transformative.
Boxing has helped him alleviate anxiety, gain confidence and do better in school, he said.
“When I start to get the moves down, it makes me feel proud of myself,” TJ said. “It just makes me feel happy and proud of myself that I’m learning this.”’
Daisy Nastasi, of Bethlehem, has been bringing her 7-year-old daughter, Adelina Falconi, to Showstoppers Boxing Club for the past year to teach her about “women’s empowerment” and how to defend herself.
Adelina, who’s known at the gym as Lil Rock, practices how to slip and throw punches, she said. She’s learned to prioritize defense and hit before her opponent.
“If someone’s wild, I move and then I punch back,” said Adelina, a second grader at Bethlehem Christian School.
Nastasi said her daughter has learned more than just these skills though.
“I definitely think it’s very good structure,” Nastasi said. “It gives her a lot of confidence. She was kind of shy before, and her confidence level has pretty much skyrocketed.”
Boxing keeps kids calm
Janyalise Rosario, a seventh-grade student at Raub Middle School in Allentown, said boxing helps her control her anger.
“At first, if someone would say something to me, I would say something back, and we’d go back and forth,” Janyalise, 12, said. “Then I would just get to the point where I’d walk out the room.
“But boxing helped me a lot,” she said. “When I’m mad, I can just come over here and take all my anger out on the bags.”
Jayden Ortiz, a junior at Liberty High School in Bethlehem, said boxing helps calm him down, too.
“I’m always hitting,” Jayden, 16, said. “I’m always getting my anger out sparring, so I don’t really have [any] more anger to release.”
"I'm always hitting. I’m always getting my anger out sparring, so I don’t really have [any] more anger to release."Jayden Ortiz, junior at Liberty High School in Bethlehem
Batts said boxing provides a healthy way for teens like Jayden to manage their mental health while teaching them the discipline and strategic thinking necessary to “make decisions other than violence.”
Having an alternative activity like boxing keeps youth from fighting at school or joining gangs, he said, by instead providing a sense of safety, belonging and family.
As Frisby said, Showstoppers is all about “loving the kids.”
Outsiders may look at the physical nature of boxing and question it as a tool for anti-violence, but the gym’s coaches said the sport gives violent youth a positive outlet for releasing their energy.
And they make it clear to students that their new fighting skills aren’t for hurting others.
“Boxing doesn’t teach you to beat people up,” Batts said. “It teaches you to use your head, to problem solve and to use the sport in a tournament-style place.”
Students who come to the gym aren’t getting in fights in school or spending time in the streets, because that means they won’t be able to come to Showstoppers.
“We’re about solutions here,” Frisby said.
“It’s a privilege to come here," he added. "We let them know that.”
