Lady boxer shines in the ring as gym keeps kids off the streets

When 13-year-old Melinda Cooper wandered into the Nevada Partners "Sugar" Ray Leonard Boxing Gym seven months ago, she wandered into the right place.

That was apparent last week as Assistant Gym Manager James Pena oiled up the face and headgear of his champion fighter while opponent Dustin Brown waited casually in the opposite corner.

Weighing in at 80 pounds and wearing a baggy T-shirt and shorts with red boxing gloves ballooning out from the end of her arms, Cooper wouldn't appear to be a formidable opponent in the ring.

But the Charles I. West Middle School seventh-grader is the 1998 Female Junior Olympic state and regional champion. Of the 60 area youths regularly attending the gym, Cooper is the only female.

The gym that is in the Nevada Partners Center at 710 W. Lake Mead Blvd. teaches more than just boxing.

Free to Nevadans, ages eight to 18, the gym was designed to keep children in school and off the streets.

An on-site tutoring program has UNLV students helping keep the boxers' grades above a C. Cooper, who was once making C's and D's, is now making A's and B's.

"It's all about discipline," Pena said. "Some of them don't get any discipline before they come here. We have one set of rules. If they get lower than a C, then they can't come around for a while."

The 7,000-square-foot gym opened in 1995 and features two regulation Olympic-size boxing rings, seven heavy bags, five speed bags and an exercise room.

The gym is managed by Richard Steele, a retired professional boxer, referee and ordained Baptist minister.

"When I found out they were building a gym, I knew that's where I had to be," Steele said. "This is my church, this is where I minister to all my kids."

Steele not only helps at-risk students, but he has helped 20 drop-outs get back into school. Steele also contacts the schools to make sure his fighters are staying out of trouble.

"If they have any problems at school or at home, then they're not going to be able to come. Everything is free -- we have to hold them accountable for something: their conduct."

Mujahid Ramadan, executive director for Nevada Partners, a not-for-profit life skills and job training program, says the boxing gym teaches values and discipline as well as competitive spirit, respect and self-esteem.

Cooper used to spend her free time hanging out with kids in the neighborhood. Now the shy teen shows up at 3:30 each afternoon and boxes two or three guys a day.

"She works harder than the boys. She has more to prove. She's the only girl here," Steele said. "When she first started they used to beat her up. Now it's turned around -- we have to give the boys the breaks."

Steele says he knows about the challenges some of the children face. The kind-hearted, yet stern role-model said he also was underprivileged.

"This is my chance to give back," he said. "Boxing has done a lot for me. Nothing other than boxing would have given me the advance, the challenge or the travel."

Cooper, who is new to the sport, said she had been told by peers that she couldn't box because she was a girl. Now the petite, softspoken girl with long brown hair says her best move is a right jab into the body.

When she's in the ring, Cooper said all she thinks about is "what to throw."

Cooper is not the only regular at the gym who has overcome obstacles. Fourteen-year-old Alvero Morales says he keeps himself off the streets by going to the gym.

Morales said he used to fight in his neighborhood until his dad, who was once a professional boxer, said: "If you want to throw punches, you need to come here.

"I'm getting a lot of experience," Morales said. "I don't go out in to the street."

Morales said one of his friends from the neighborhood was just arrested. "I'm trying to encourage him to come to the gym, to spend his energy here then go home like I do."

A super middleweight state and regional champion, Morales is going to the nationals in Marquette, Mich., on June 21.

The boxing program, which began for at-risk youth, now draws youth from all over the valley. A new 15-seat passenger van, donated by the Variety Club of Southern Nevada last month, provides transportation for those who need it. The children are picked up in the afternoon and driven home in the evening.

The boxers are trained individually for their first month, then integrated in to the group. They spend an average of three or four afternoons a week working on their technique, Pena said.

Staying off the streets, meeting new people and staying in shape are what Cooper said she liked most about the gym. That and the excitement of "seeing what's going to happen the next day."

Cooper, who has seven brothers and sisters, says she hopes to someday become a professional boxer or a model. She also is interested in becoming a math teacher.

"I've learned self discipline," she said still sweaty from her latest bout. "Both in life and in the ring."

Steele said that Cooper's No. 1 fighting technique is her will power.

"She has the will power to never back out, to never quit," he said. "That's why she's the state champion. When she gets in to the job market, she won't take no for an answer. She'll always be a champion. She wants to win.

"Once you become a champion in this sport, you can become a champion in anything. It's a tough sport."

Steele said the friends that he originally saw Cooper visit the gym with haven't been seen since.

"She's no longer a follower, she's a leader. If they're going to follow her then they're going to have to follow her to the gym."

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