In July, most nine-year-old girls spend their time at daycare. Ezra Sawyer spends her time learning hooks at the International Boxing Club.

The International Boxing Club is located on Adams Street in Toledo where youth from a variety of backgrounds can be seen through barred windows. Here, young boxers train to improve their skills in a sport that has a long and storied history with the city. World champions and gold medalists have both been produced by the glass city, not to mention the many Golden Glove fighters.

In the gym, coaches Kelly Boucha and Harry Cummins bark instructions to the group of about 15 kids. The group starts off with cardio drills, shuffling between heavy bags and working on their footwork, then move quickly into the boxing ring for some light contact drills.

Coach Cummins isn’t just in the business of training boxers. After working as a promoter, coach and other various positions on the business side of boxing, Cummins’s concern now is for the fighters themselves. Every practice begins and ends with the students cheering ‘work hard’ and ‘good work,’ respectively. He is most concerned with the welfare and growth of his pupils, making him a rare commodity in the oft-maligned field of boxing trainers.

‘One of the things we’re trying to teach the kids is about the importance of an education,’ Cummins said. ‘Life is a business, no matter what you’re in, people can tell if you have an education.’

This obsession with education has been the defining characteristic for the International Boxing Gym, which has been operating as a nonprofit since December 1998. Cummins has been involved since before that, the only constant in a gym that has seen multiple coaches and buildings as well as its share of skilled boxers. Today the gym is free for any student, from age eight to collegians.

In the summer, the gym functions almost exclusively as a training ground, but during the school year, the building would seem confusing to anyone unfamiliar with its mission.

The building provides facilities for both boxing and instruction including boxing rings, a classroom, a computer room and a dining area. When school comes back into session, the classroom will be filled with pugilist pupils, otherwise known as boxing students, and the computer room will see the more technically minded fighters assembling desktop systems.

If boxing appeared to be a secondary concern in the gym, that would be because it is. Only fighters who get good grades in school are allowed to do any serious drills, and there is a mandatory time for all students to work on homework or study. This doesn’t apply to college students however, as they are assumed to have the discipline to do the work on their own time.

Cummins is very clear that the gym is not for parents and youths that are only concerned with making a living off of the sport.

‘Seventy-five percent of the parents come in here not wanting the education. They want their kid to become a boxing champion. I’ve had five world champs, but I want these kids to become champs at life,’ he said.

Cummins didn’t mince words about the adversity some of his kids face when he said, ‘Their families are their own worst enemies. They tell them they can’t do it, and the negative feedback just reinforces problems.’

Cummins adopts an approach he learned from former Notre Dame Head Coach Lou Holtz, called the WIN program. It emphasizes considering what’s important now, and focusing on that.

Cummins said, ‘When you’re in here, you focus 100 percent on training. Tomorrow in math class you focus on that. We do this for 21 days and it becomes a habit.’

Coach Boucha is a testament to the transformative power of the program.

A coach with the gym for two years, she has been training at the gym for five years total. Cummins described Boucha as shy at the beginning of her training.

He said, ‘I never dreamed she’d be a warrior in the ring. She’ll go toe to toe with the guys, even after she gets a bloody nose.’

Ezra Sawyer talked about learning hooks, math and respect for others in the same breath. She complimented Cummins when she said, ‘…my coach is very nice, if you mess up a lot he finds lots of ways to explain it to you.’

Other athletes underwent even more dramatic changes, which may have altered their lives.

Cody Houghtalling described himself before joining as undisciplined, and talked about hanging out on the streets.

He credited the club with helping him get good grades through the tutoring program, and keeping him off the streets with the physical training.

Houghtalling said, ‘It helps young people realize you should do more with your future, it helped me mature.’

15-year-old Trayvon Mathis echoed these sentiments.

He said, ‘I’m more goal oriented. I used to do whatever others did, but now I go to bed early, take vitamins, anything to help me with boxing.’

Cummins influence can be seen when Mathins spoke about his future. After high school Mathis plans on working as an engineer, while boxing on the side.

And while Ezra still has a long time to go until she graduates, she too has plans for when she finishes high school. She wants to become a singer. That is, if she doesn’t decide to go pro.

Toledo’s Boxer Breakdown Below is a list of the famous boxers who have made it to the big timers from the glass city. Archie Moore- World light heavyweight champion 1952-60 Jim Pettaway- US amateur champion 1956 Fred Griffin- US amateur champion 1959 Wilbert ‘Skeeter’ McClure- Olympic gold medalist 1960 Leotis Martin- US amateur champion 1960-61 Bernard Benton- WBC Cruiserweight champion 1985-86 Lindell Holmes- IBC Super Middleweight champion 1990-91 Abayomi Miller- US amateur champion 1993 Devin Vargas- Bronze medal 2003 Pan Am Games