Why These Teen Boxers Train Hard

Hillhouse freshman Matthias Cruz, Hamden High sophomore Brianna Alers, and Wexler Grant sixth-grader Amir Foster returned home with flashy championship belts from a national boxing competition, then got back to work in the ring and at school.

The trio won the belts at the Sugar Bert Nationals Tournament two weeks ago. Two other boxers, Amare Foster, 9 and Isac Alers, 8, competed at the national tournament, as well. 

The group train and compete with Get’em Boy Boxing Gym at 746 Orchard St. 

The team brought six athletes to nationals and came back with the three wins. This was the first time the New Haven team competed in the Sugar Bert tournament, coach Solomon Maye said.

The team also recently competed in a national competition in Kansas City, where Amir and Brianna went to the finals; as well as the Albany Regional Silver Gloves.

The boxers gathered at the gym this week to recount their victories and talk about what brought them into the ring.

Brianna Alers has been boxing for four years. She was introduced to the sport by her uncle and dad, who are often watching boxing fights together at her house. 

After she expressed interest in the sport, Brianna’s dad immediately enrolled his two daughters at a gym. ​“I wanted to learn self defense and get closer with my dad,” Brianna said. 

After getting suited up in pads and gloves for her first boxing training, Brianna recalled, she was told, ​“You can go far with this. You’re really good.”

So she stuck with the sport until her previous gym closed. She then moved to Get ​‘Em Boy. 

The transition to being an athlete was not easy. At the start of her journey four years ago, she often found herself contemplating quitting the sport because she had less time to hang out with friends, couldn’t flat-iron her hair as often, and couldn’t wear long nails.

He dad refused to let her quit. 

“I wanted to be a girl and thought this was a boy’s sport,” she said. ​“But my mindset changed. Now I just have short nails and be cute on the weekends,” she said.

During her recent nationals fight, Brianna said, her win did not come easily. ​“I died out at the end. That’s why our workouts are so intense, because we have to be prepared to be tired,” she said.

Brianna enjoys not only the sport of boxing but also the ​“family” she has found with her fellow boxers and coach.

When she once got suspended for ten days from school for fighting, Maye required her to come to the gym every day to spar for hours in the morning. ​“He gives tough love. He taught me that I should walk away from bad problems like fighting,” she recalled. ​“He teaches life lessons.”

Brianna’s record so far is four wins and three losses.

Her daily schedule consists of going to school, followed by her own lifting workout at the gym. She chills for an hour, then heads to boxing in the evenings. 

Boxing helps clear her mind off when she is mad or stressed, she said, and it keeps her in shape.

Amir, who has been boxing for six years, got into the sport while living in New York. 

His dad introduced him to the ring as a way to learn to protect himself.

He recalled sparring for his first time at 5 years old, which resulted in him getting ​“beat up.” 

That first practice made him want to ​“step up my game,” he said.

His initial goal was to box to learn self defense. He grew more interested in the sport’s ability to help him de-stress and take out his anger on a bag instead of in school. 

He too focuses on school and boxing to maintain good grades in order to stay in the ring.

His daily schedule consists of going to school, doing homework at home, then going to the boxing gym for practice. 

In the past Amir has played basketball and football.

For future practices, Amir plans to practice on relaxing during fights, being sharp with fast and hard punches, and turning into his punches. 

At the Albany Regional Silver Gloves competition, Amir said, he fought in his hardest fight so far. When he learned his opponent had far more fighting experience, he said, he got nervous and shy. ​“I would have won, but the crowd got to me,” he said.

Amir’s record is four wins and two losses. 

He said that Maye helps him through ​“real-life stuff” like school issues and takes the team out to dinner and to have fun.

Matthias has been boxing for the past eight years. He described the sport as a form of therapy, self defense, and a physical challenge.

It wasn’t until two years into learning the sport that Matthias decided he wanted to compete.

“When I saw the trophies and medals people get, my mentality switched, and I wanted to earn my own,” he said. 

At times, Matthias said, his busy schedule can get out of hand because he doesn’t ​“have too much time to think.” 

Over the years he has ​“quit” the sport twice but was always drawn back in. 

“There’s nothing really like this sport,” he said. ​“The rush in the ring is mental and physical work.” 

Earlier this year Matthias tried out track but found it wasn’t as fun as boxing. His current boxing record is three wins and two losses. 

He spends his day focused on school and boxing, he said. He keeps in mind words from his mother: ​“You can’t be a dumb boxer.” 

In addition to boxing, Matthias has been learning to play piano this year and enjoys drawing and music. 

Currently Matthias is working to improve on keeping his right hand up, moving forward more, and being proactive as well as reactive in the ring.

Isac, who attends Church Street Elementary School, started boxing after witnessing his sister’s success. He is working on his balance and keeping his left hand up in the ring. 

Amare, who attends Wexler Grant, got into the ring to follow in his brother’s footsteps. He is currently working to improve on not panicking and throwing more combinations. 

“He’s somebody that has my back whenever I need help,” Amare said of Coach Maye. ​“He believes in me.” 

He added that Maye has helped him to ​“toughen up” and realize ​“I don’t always have to say yes.”

Amare currently has four wins and three losses. Isac has four wins and two losses.

More Than Just Fighting

Maye described the sport of boxing as more than teaching kids to fight — though he also aims to teach his students to ​“not look for them [fights] or run from them.” 

He trains the student-athletes six days a week. 

His goal is to teach his athletes to be ​“aggressive and confident in the ring, but outside the ring be a civil person.” 

Maye, who is 47, said he was kicked out of his home at age 13 and alternated between homelessness and jail in his youth. Now, he said, he tries to be a mentor to ​“do for the kids everything that I wanted to have when I was kid.” 

“If I had me around when I was a kid, I wouldn’t have gotten into so much bullshit I was in,” he said.