Gary Job Corps students find fitness, discipline in boxing ring

By Susan Weill

The Chris Ward who runs four miles a day in the scorching Texas heat and works out another two hours with weights and a jump rope is a far different Chris Ward from the troubled young man who arrived at the Gary Job Corps three months ago from San Antonio hoping to turn his life around.

“Being at the Job Corps got me off the streets and working toward going to college,” said Ward, 20. “And the boxing program is helping me with the skills and discipline I need to be a competitive athlete.”

Ward plans to enter amateur boxing competitions this fall in order to gain experience in the ring. After that he hopes to fight as a professional, following in the footsteps of his favorite boxer, Floyd Mayweather, a 140-pound lightweight champion.

“This has always been a goal for me and now it’s possible,” said Ward, who weighs about 130.

Antonio Perkins, who came to the Gary Job Corps from Houston, has similar dreams.

“I’ve wanted to get in shape and learn how to box for a long time,” said Perkins, 19, who often joins Ward on the track. He runs two miles a day, works out on a speed bag and jumps rope.

“This program will get you in shape and Coach is good,” said Perkins. “He works with each of us on technique. He also knows how to throw a good punch.”

“Coach” is Gary Durr, an experienced amateur and professional boxer, hired in May as an instructor for the Gary Jobs Corps Recreation Department.

“We have a group of about 60 young people who want to learn about boxing so they can compete as amateurs and professionals,” said Durr, 50, who is also a security monitor at San Marcos High School. “We have some participants who don’t want to be boxers, but they want to build strength, learn self defense and stay in shape. That’s an important part of the program, too.”

Ruby Galicia, who came to the Gary Jobs Corps three months ago, appreciates the guidance she, and a handful of young women, receive from Durr when they attend the evening workouts.

“I want to stay in shape and build my endurance,” said Galicia, 21. “I also want to be strong. Coach motivates us to do all three, and he respects us.”

Galicia, who hopes to pursue a career in the dental field, now runs about a mile and a half a day, jumps rope and “hits the mitts” with a partner whenever she can. Her father, a former amateur boxer from Mercedes, is supportive but cautious.

“He’s glad I’m working out, but he’s nervous about me boxing,” she said. “He doesn’t want me to get hurt.”

The boxers are treated equally by Durr, Galicia said, and the women sometimes spar with the men depending on skill.

“The guys are okay about sparring with us,” she said. “Coach taught us not to land hard punches during practice.”

Ward, Perkins and Galicia appreciate the sense of community that has grown among the students affiliated with the boxing program during the last few months.

“We see each other on campus and there’s a feeling that we’re a group,” Galicia said. “I talk to people now who I never talked to before because we’re in this program together and we see each other so much in the gym when we work out.”

Jesse Bluejacket, the recreation supervisor at the Gary Jobs Corps, said the boxing program has grown a great deal recently, particularly because of Durr.

“He’s a good coach who listens to the participants,” Bluejacket said.

Based on their recent performance, the participants also listen to Durr.

Last Saturday Durr and his boxers presented a two-hour exhibition featuring Ward, Perkins and 10 other boxers-in-training. For most of them, it was their first public performance. Ward, whose left eyelid was swollen from an ant bite, was not about to sit it out because of that. “I’m glad to be here,” he said. “I’m ready.”

As the boxers wrapped each other’s hands, student spectators filled the Gary Job Corps Recreation Center. They came to see what the boxing program has to offer and they came to support their participating friends.

“We’ve all started being more interested in boxing because we’re involved with it now or know people who are,” said Galicia, who came to observe the exhibition but not compete.

The assigned sparring partners fought three-minute rounds in the center of the gym and other boxers gave exhibitions on heavy punching bags. Members of the boxing group not involved in either activity watched supportively from the sidelines. At the end of the two-hour exhibition, students surrounded Durr to ask how to sign up for the program.

The students learning how to box at the Gary Job Corps are dedicated to the effort, but they also want to change their lives for the better academically. Durr encourages them in that regard, too.

“I want to be a boxer,” Ward said. “But I also hope to attend Austin Community College to study computer administration.”

Durr plans to hold boxing exhibitions at the Gary Job Corps on the first Saturday of every month beginning in September. He can be contacted at coachdurr @yahoo.com.