On top of structured training programs, Right Jab Boxing Gym hopes to teach conflict resolution and self-defense.
INDIANAPOLIS — On Indianapolis’ near northeast side, a former auto body paint shop is now a youth boxing gym, but its purpose hopes to reach far beyond the ring.
Indy native and well-known comedian and actor Mike Epps helped kickstart Right Jab Boxing Gym, now open at 3717 Sutherland Ave, near 38th Street and North Keystone Avenue.
Epps recruited fellow Hoosier and former heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster to help lead the gym. Brewster held the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title from 2004 to 2006.
On top of structured training programs, both Epps and Brewster said Right Jab hopes to teach conflict resolution and self-defense.
“For years, I rode past this building, and I kept saying to myself, ‘That looked like a boxing gym’,” Epps said. “One day the building came up for sale, and I jumped on it and bought it.”
Brewster said he worked with mental health specialists to teach young men how to understand and navigate life’s battles.
“Life is a fight at the end of the day, and that’s what we’re here to do, is teach these young men how to receive life as a fight so that we can make tomorrow a better day for all of us,” Brewster said.
Epps said the gym is also meant to offer an alternative to youth gun violence.
“I think a lot of kids are not experienced with taking up for themselves,” Epps said. “A lot of kids are picking up guns because they simply can’t defend themselves with their hands. And I’m not encouraging kids to fight, but that’s where that comes from.”
Epps said it starts with teaching young men about resistance.
“Before you make a move, you have an opportunity to think about your life, think about what you can lose, think about your family,” Epps said. “That’s what it’s about. It’s all about the mind and how you handle yourself.”