UMAR Boxing, No Hooks Before Books
Located in the Druid Heights neighborhood is a small boxing gym located above a pawnshop. In that gym, Marvin McDowell is working to give children a positive place to go after school.
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- Charles Johnson, 17, welter weight, shadowboxes in the UMAR Boxing Program, Inc. ring. While doing this exercise he thinks about his next opponent and says “I’m looking into the future.” Johnson, who has been in the sport for six years, says “It’s in my blood.” (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Former pro boxer Marvin McDowell, right, founder, president and executive director of UMAR Boxing Program, Inc., watches and shouts instruction to young boxers. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Kawn’nay Barfield, 12, learns how to hit the speed bag as Ronnie Boodoo, fitness and conditioning coach, gives instruction. The mission of UMAR is to reclain community youth from the city streets and prepare them for future roles as produtive citizens according the UMAR website. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Zoria Curry, 12, wraps her hands before working out in the ring. Zoria and her brother, Kyron Curry, 10, train in the UMAR Boxing Program, Inc. Children 13 and under are required to work on their academics in UMAR’s computer lab before going into the gym. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Kyron Curry, 10, wears headgear with a flag motiff. The words “Mass Destruction 9/11/2001” accompanies an image of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Curry was born on that day. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Charles Johnson, 17, welter weight, shadowboxes in the ring. While boxing is the main draw for the children to be a part of the program, UMAR also stresses academic developemnt. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Yusuf Robinson, 4, is too young to put on the gloves, but he watches sparring in the ring at the UMAR Boxing Program, Inc. where his older siblings train. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Jermaine Bridgeforth catches his breath after sparring with three other boxers in the ring at UMAR Boxing Program, Inc. on North Avenue. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
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- Muhammad Robinson, 9, watches the action inside the boxing ring at the UMAR Boxing Program, Inc. on North Avenue.
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- Begus Gee, 16, hits the speed bag in the UMAR Boxing Program, Inc. gym. (Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)
Marvin McDowell, executive director of the UMAR Boxing Program, Inc., founded the program for youth in 1996 and opened the first gym in 1998 on Fulton Avenue. In 2004, he moved to his current location on West North Avenue.
The word “umar” means life and lifetime, according to McDowell. He says the youth are going to get a “lifetime of experiences coming to the gym… something to help them along.”
The former pro boxer, president of the South Atlantic Boxing Association and member of the Maryland Boxing Hall of Fame, says that boxing provides “structure, self esteem, discipline, camaraderie, commitment and respect.”
McDowell stresses that academics are as important as the more physical aspects of his program. Children 13 years old and under are required to study prior to any workouts. The UMAR motto is “no hooks before books.”
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