Swissvale club's premise: Boxing can stop fighting
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Hausaan Burton is only 14 and he weighs just 146 pounds, but he can already wale the daylights out of bigger, older boys.
Hausaan, of Rankin, is one of Joe Cimino's boys.
Three days a week he lifts weights, trots on the treadmill, spars and shadowboxes at Mr. Cimino's Word of God Athletic Club in Swissvale.
He's been at it for three years and he's gotten to be pretty good. Last year, Haussan took the Western Pennsylvania Golden Gloves intermediate division title and the Junior Olympics title. This year he's going for the same titles.
But, mostly, Mr. Cimino's club and Hausaan's father Jeffrey, a coach at the club, help keep him and the handful of boys and young men that frequent there out of trouble.
Mr. Cimino, a former amateur boxer and wrestling coach, is now an accountant with Kerotest Manufacturing Corp. in Hazelwood. He started the club in 1999 with his sons -- one of whom is already a junior titlist -- and other men's sons on his mind.
An upper floor in the ancient, red brick building that once housed St. Anselm High School in Swissvale is the home of the club. The space is donated through Word of God Parish.
The three scuffed rooms that hold a few dumbbells and benches; two long, black punching bags; a couple of teardrop-shaped speed bags; a well-used treadmill and a small boxing ring could use a coat of paint.
But what it lacks in looks the club makes up for in energy. Before entering the building, one can hear the bumpety-bump of someone working the speed bag, the laughter and calls of young male voices.
Boys as young as 8 -- headgear and mitts in place -- can start to test their mettle when they're not scrambling around to help other boys.
Since starting the club seven years ago, Mr. Cimino has seen at least two hometown fighters go pro: Monty "Two Guns" Meza-Clay, a Rankin native who is the International Boxing Association world super featherweight champion, and "Fast" Eddie Chambers, formerly of the Homewood neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Chambers, a heavyweight contender, is now based in Philadelphia.
Swissvale resident Andrew Festa, 16, has been at the club preparing for his first bout tomorrow. It will be during one of the boxing shows Mr. Cimino sponsors throughout the year to raise money for the club and to give the young fighters exposure.
Youngsters who want to participate must register with the USA Boxing Association; cost is $35.
Both Andrew and Hausaan attend Woodland Hills High School. They said they know the kinds of mischief idle teens can get into.
"Smoke, do drugs, drink and do bad in school," said Hausaan.
"Mostly drugs, alcohol and fighting," said Andrew.
When he said "fighting" Andrew wasn't referring to the kind of disciplined, supervised fighting he's spent the last six months practicing at the club. He meant the kind that can devolve into neighborhood feuds and, sometimes, end in death or, at the least, jail time.
Members of a Swissvale organization are thinking about that too. They want to get more local youth involved in structured, community athletics, like boxing.
Valerie Perkins, the community outreach ministry director for Reach Up Inc., a group affiliated with Union Baptist Church in Swissvale, told borough council that she and others are putting together a program to steer local teens off the streets and to Mr. Cimino's door.
Earlier this month, Ms. Perkins and Reach Up volunteers distributed to local 13- to 18-year-olds a survey asking them what kinds of after-school programs would interest them.
Twenty of 100 surveys came back. Of that 20, nearly half -- including two girls -- listed boxing as a choice.
Ms. Perkins said the program is to start by mid-February.
Boxing builds character, said Jeffrey Burton, Hausaan's father.
"We show them techniques, discipline, footwork and training skills," he said. "It gives you healthy self-esteem when you master the art of boxing or other sports."
Mr. Burton said teens who try to assert themselves through street violence are searching for the same thing that anyone wants.
"Carrying guns and dealing drugs doesn't give you self-esteem," he said. "I think these kids out committing crimes just want to feel good about themselves."
For more information, call Reach Up Inc. 412-271-3900 or 412-244-0712.
First Published January 26, 2006 12:00 am
