“12 Rounds in Lo’s Gym” is not your typical boxing book. It’s the story of an Appalachian-coal-mining-boxing-trainer, his makeshift boxing gyms located in Beauty Shops and Baptist Churches. In the spirit of the book, I’ve decided to feature a few pugilists with unique paths to glory. To say today’s guest had a non-traditional path to […]
Boxing
Interview with Vonzell Johnson
For today’s edition of the “Lo’s Gym Blog,” we take it back to the Buckeye State, the city of Columbus, Ohio. Although Columbus is known for championship football, the city has also produced it’s fair share of professional fighters – most notably, James “Buster” Douglas – the first man to defeat Mike Tyson. Among Columbus, […]
Interview with James “Buster” Douglas
He was a kid from the Linden neighborhood of Windsor Terrace in Columbus, Ohio. He was a standout basketball player at Linden McKinley High School, the son of a local amateur boxing hero who packed up and went off to college with dreams of making it to the NBA. But as sons often do, he […]
Interview with James “Smitty” Smith
The palm trees, the sand, the balmy weather. Miami is where his story begins. As a child, he was a ball boy for the Miami Dolphins, befriended Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Paul Warfield and even appeared on Warfield’s television show. He was a standout football player at Carol City High School and later at […]
Interview with James “Lights Out” Toney
June. 2017. It was a happenstance meeting. The kind of thing I’ve come to expect at the International Boxing Hall of Fame’s annual festivities. It was me, my father, and my brother-in-law. We were entering the ballroom of the Oncenter, located in downtown Syracuse, New York, excited to take in the “Banquet of Champions.” We […]
Interview with Jack Loew
If you are a boxing fan from my neck of the woods, you know the story. It’s the one about a blue collar boxing trainer who spends his days paving and sealing driveways before heading to his gritty boxing gym located on Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio. And then one day in walks the right […]