BY AMANDA MOSES
Let’s get ready to rumble!
All eyes were on the Brooklyn Sports Club (BSC) on January 28th when the Starrett City Boxing Club (SCBC) returned in all of its glory by hosting their Ring Masters opening day tournament. The BSC felt like Madison Square Garden with metal barricades enveloping the back entrance with signs guiding audience members toward the gymnasium. Inside, a boxing arena was erected with chairs surrounding each side, where hundreds of attendees were able to file in and enjoy the show.
Prior to the gloves being put on, boxers prepared to be weighed in and registered for their matches. Wrapping their hands in tape, lacing up their boots, and wearing their protective gear approximately 24 boxers and their coaches got ready for a Saturday night of fighting. In total there were 12 matches.
Sweat gleamed off of the boxers as they weaved, dodged, and threw uppercuts, and left-right combinations at each other. Some ending up in holds, while others bled profusely after unleashing a hail of punches, but no matter the result, each fighter put their all into the bout. Revelers shouted and cheered for their favorite contestants, while others applauded in awe at the sheer strength and speed of the men.
“My feelings of the show were joy and happiness. The boxing community from all over New York State came out to show support,” Kwani O’Pharrow, the President of SCBC, said.
The Starrett City Boxing Club has been serving the Spring Creek Towers Community since 1978, and was founded by Jimmy O’Pharrow, infamously known as Jimmy O, and is the home of six world champions. After Jimmy O passed away his children and grandchildren kept his memory alive by training all levels of boxers in the SCT community.
“Starrett City Boxing was extremely excited to bring boxing back to Spring Creek Towers. We haven’t had a show here since 2015. Since my childhood in Starrett boxing was a right of passage for so many of us. If you ask some of the residents who lived here, they will tell you how important Starrett City Boxing was to the community. It was an honor to keep my grandfather Jimmy O’s legacy alive,” Kwani O’Pharrow said.
For Muhammad Javaid, 20, boxing has become a way of life. The SCBC tournament was his ninth competitive fight, and with each battle he has seen a vast progression.
“I get better through each fight and more confident, and I feel better as the journey goes on,” Javaid said, who has been a member of NYC Cops and Kids’ boxing since he was sophomore in high school, “Boxing means life to me. It represents me as a human. It keeps me balanced in life.”
Javaid’s coach, Sosa, was impressed by the SCBC boxing tournament and shared that boxing creates an outlet for at risk youth.
“All of the kids that come into this program, [NYC Cops and Kids’] dedicate all their time, and they put in the effort every day after school, five days a week they are there. We also have tutoring at the center. It’s an overall effort for them to come to show what they did today was an amazing job,” Coach Sosa said.
According to Kwani O’Pharrow, the SCBC expects to do another show before the end of the year if not sooner.
Photos by Amanda Moses
