Tri County Boxing - Greenfield, TN

Last Monday night I spent a few hours with Jeff Hansen at his boxing gym in Greenfield, TN (pop 2200). Jeff, a former professional boxer, works with a handful of young men every Monday - Friday, putting them through several hours of boxing drills and sparring sessions. They work out of a space just off of Main Street, behind the town's shuttered movie theater and empty storefronts, in a space that was primarily food joints of one kind or another since it was first built in the 1930s. The space was donated by a father of one of the young boxers, and cleaned up and converted by Jeff and the boys almost three years ago now. It's a small space, even on this night for the four boxers moving from one training area to the next, but there's hope that the space next door (also owned by the father) will be opened up to them in the near future. That would allow them to put in a permanent sparring ring to be used all year round, especially during the cold months like this January night.

Many of the young men have been in trouble in one way or another, and like many boxing gyms across the country, the gym offers them a sense of community, a sense of order and discipline in their lives, and a sense of reward and accomplishment - not too mention a great outlet for energy that might be used in a not so constructive way.