He was born into a family of sharecroppers from rural North Carolina, born and raised in a small town of about one thousand residents. He was the first member of his family to graduate from college, the first college graduate to win a heavyweight championship. He was the first boxer to knockout England’s Frank Bruno, […]
Lo's Gym
Interview with Josh Stewart
He was born in Diana, West Virginia, the son of a elementary school teacher and a Baptist pastor. He was my cousin John’s best friend, both were four years older than me so I was always the tagalong. Even before he and John shipped off to West Virginia University, out into the world to become […]
Interview with William Joppy
He is a former middleweight champion of the world. He has compiled an impressive record of 40-7-2 during the course of his 18-year professional career. He has faced some of the greatest middleweights of all time, Roberto Duran, Bernard Hopkins, Felix “Tito” Trinidad, and Jermain Taylor, just to name a few. Since retiring from the […]
Interview with Jerry Thomas (WV Series)
During my first visit to the Tommy Thomas Boxing Club (located on Duff Avenue in Clarksburg, West Virginia) I found myself in the ring with professional boxer Darren “Bam Bam” Abraham, scored an interview with a local news reporter from WDTV News. You never knew what was going to happen when you walked through the […]
Interview with Jay Deas
“People don’t come any tougher than they are around here,” my father would tell his fighters down at Lo’s Gym Boxing Club. “They ought to be worried about us … we’re from a tough place,” he’d sometimes add. Cowen, West Virginia is an unlikely location for a boxing memoir. Tucked away deep within the Appalachian […]
Interview with Lee Groves (WV Series)
“You’d better be the next Stephen King … otherwise your kids will starve.” The comment has stuck with me since the 6th grade. I didn’t flaunt my ambitions back in those days. I was the son of a coal miner, more class clown than teacher’s pet. Why did I tell Mrs. Brown that I wanted […]