A speech delivered to Professor Robert Lehrman’s speechwriting class in support of Tony Bell’s Boxing Gym in Washington, DC. Written and delivered by Richard Judge.

1. THE TOUGHEST FIGHT
A speech delivered to Professor Robert Lehrman’s speechwriting class in
support of Tony Bell’s Boxing Gym in Washington, DC.
Written and delivered by Richard Judge.
Over on Mount Olivet Road there’s a boxing gym. It’s located in an old brick
building, tucked away in a gritty section of Northeast DC.
If you’ve never been there? Well, there’s a good chance you might go right by it.
You might not even notice that it exists.
But when you find it, and you open up the blue front door, and you walk right up
next to the ring, you notice something right away. Something inspiring.
Because, despite the junkies standing on the corner. Despite the boarded up
buildings nearby. Despite all of that right outside the front door. You walk inside
and instantly feel something. It’s a feeling of hope found all around you.
There’s hope in the weathered Muhammad Ali poster hanging above the
entranceway. It looks over each fighter as they step into the ring.
There’s hope in the construction of a new ring. A ring the owner will tell you he
got a great deal on.
And there’s hope in the faces of those working out and training here everyday.
They’re friendly faces that yell, “HEY TONY” from across the gym.
“Hey Tony” is Tony Bell. He’s a 71-year old retired DC police officer. Before his
retirement, he was sergeant of the youth division. Today he operates Tony Bell’s
Boxing Gym, a gym he founded.

2. But Tony admits that running his gym hasn’t been easy.
The gym is far from state of the art. In fact, this is a very OLD boxing gym. The
building is probably older then all of us here today. Well almost all of us.
The roof leaks when it rains and the grey walls need a fresh coat of paint. To be
honest, the place has seen better days. But as Tony puts it, his gym isn’t old. It’s
“rustic”.
Tony sees something in this gym, something that other’s might not see. As for the
troubled kids that drop by everyday after-school? Well, Tony sees something in
them too.
Each day, local youth step off the street and step into the ring. They can’t afford
to pay, but Tony knows he can’t afford to turn them away. For these kids, Tony’s
gym is their last chance.
Tony is a mentor to kids like Quaeshan Lewis, who calls this gym his second
home. He comes here everyday to escape his daily struggles.
Everyday Tony worries about the young kids he mentors. He worries what might
happen if his gym wasn’t around? What might happen to kids like Quaeshan?
He worries they might fall in with the wrong crowd. He worries they might turn
to a life of drugs and crime. But worst of all? He worries they might end up dead,
a victim of the shootings that Tony says occurs almost every weekend.
As Tony bluntly told me, he can’t turn these kids away. He can’t because, “it’s a
matter of life or death.”
I asked Tony, “Do you remember a time when this gym was in real danger of
closing?” There was silence, and then he said, “That’s today.”

3. You see, Tony doesn’t collect a salary or write himself a paycheck. He doesn’t
keep his retirement checks either. Everything he has goes into this gym. The
money here today would go a long way in helping to keep Tony’s good work
going.
It would help offset the cost of letting kids in off the street. A cost that Tony
willingly pays to keep these kids safe, and keep them alive.
It would help sponsor a youth membership. That way these kids never have to
worry about being turned away to the harsh realities of the streets.
But most importantly? It would go towards keeping this gym open and keeping
Tony’s inspiring work going.
And not just for the kids who walk through his doors today, but also for future
generations who will look for a place they can call home. A place where they can
find hope.
If you ever get the chance to visit Tony’s gym, there’s one thing that stands out.
It’s a poster of Muhammad Ali above the ring that stares down at every fighter.
But before Ali was the greatest, before Ali was a poster on Tony’s gym wall,
Muhammad Ali was just a scrawny 12-year-old kid. He was not unlike the many
kids that walk through Tony’s front door.
But a fact that you may not know about Muhammad Ali growing up? The reason
Ali put on a pair of gloves for the very first time? The reason he became the
greatest? It all started with a police officer that took him under his wing, a police
officer just like Tony Bell.

4. Today, these kids have the potential to be “the greatest”. But how can we help
them reach their full potential? We have to put on the gloves and fight!
Let’s fight to ensure these kids have a safe place to go, a place where hope lives.
Let’s fight to keep Tony’s good deeds going, so that these kids will always have a
person to look up to.
And let’s fight to keep open the doors to Tony’s Gym. Let’s make sure Tony
doesn’t ever have to worry about closing them.
When these kids need him the most, when life knocks them down, Tony Bell is
always in their corner. He’s helping them stand back up.
Join me today and stand in Tony’s corner. Let’s help an underdog like Tony pull
off the upset victory? A victory for Tony’s kids, so they can live to fight another
day.
Sources
Recorded interview and tour of Tony Bell’s Boxing Gym and materials he gave
me.
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/10/tony-bell-uses-boxing-gym-to-help-kids-
81390.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali