At eight years old, weighing in at 70 pounds, Luke Brantley says he packs quite a punch. And he’s not talking about Hi-C.
With his straight black hair pulled back into a long ponytail and his face partially covered by red head gear, Luke steps into the boxing ring at Ultimate Fitness, 823 Emerson St.
The Schaumburg resident is one of about 25 children from Evanston and other suburbs who meet twice a week at Ultimate Fitness for exercise and amateur boxing lessons. For about one hour every Wednesday and Friday, the children stretch, tumble, run and take a few swings in the name of good physical and emotional health.
In the ring, Luke delivers several quick jabs to his opponent’s sides.
“I just wanna knock him out,” he said after he stepped out of the ring, although the 16-year-old trainer he was up against was taller.”
Luke’s inspiration: World Boxing Association light middleweight champion Ronald “Winky” Wright. At home, Luke follows boxing closely.
“He watches every pay-per-view match, so our cable bill is really high,” his 17-year-old sister Christina said.
David England, the owner of Ultimate Fitness, said he seeks to train the kids to “box correctly.” Through proper training, boxing can have life-altering effects and keep a person in top shape, he said.
“Boxing is all about confidence,” he said. “I’ve never known a boxer who was a coward. It gives you confidence.”
Evanston resident Fabian Steele, 13, said he’s not nervous when he steps into the ring.
“I just try to relax and move around a lot,” he said. Fabian said the training will help him prepare for football.
Boxing gave England a ticket out of the poor Chicago neighborhood in which he was raised. The only way he could afford to box was through the Chicago Park District’s boxing program.
At one point in his 22-year career, England coached boxers in his garage. He is a licensed trainer in boxing, Brazilian jujitsu and Pilates.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, a national organization of 60,000 child doctors, opposes amateur boxing. The AAP cites studies showing that boxers are exposed to potentially devastating neurologic and eye injuries. AAP’s policy urges pediatricians to “vigorously oppose” boxing for young adults and encourage children to participate in sports “in which intentional head injury is not the primary objective.”
“From my perspective, amateur boxing still has the goal of landing blunt trauma to the opponents’ head,” said Dr. David Bernhardt, a member of AAP and a professor of pediatrics and orthopedics at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But for some kids at Ultimate Fitness, it’s either boxing or Pokemon.
“I’d be watching television or playing video games if I wasn’t here,” Fabian said.
“There’s nothing dangerous about boxing, if you learn to box correctly,” England said. “This is a place where kids can come and try to be their best.”
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