We Fill Gyms Not Jails - Retired STL Police Officer with Boxing
Jade Harrell with Anthony Anderson, Sr., Retired St. Louis City Police Officer and Owner of Cass Boxing Gym.
Anthony M. Anderson Sr. a retired St Louis City Police Officer after 20 years of service wants to “Fill Gyms not Jails” with St. Louis area Youth. Anderson, who is currently a Metro Police officer, wants to give our kids a purpose in gyms to keep them off the streets and out of trouble. It is what Anderson has done since he was a kid and continues to do as an adult, which is “getting in the boxing ring”!
Anderson along with several other volunteer coaches and police officers, coach and mentor youth ages 9-21 at the Cass Street gym 5 nights a week. The P.A.L. (Police Athletic League) boxing program has served local youth since the mid 80’s.
Eventually Anderson and his team would like to have a year round program where boxers would receive mentoring, tutoring and other holistic services. Anderson, “boxing is the hook, these kids need so much more, and when we keep them in the gym, we keep them off the streets and out of jail”.
Anderson says boxing and his father helped him do the right thing as a youth and eventually as an adult. His father William “Sarge” Anderson, also a retired St Louis City police officer after 30 years was Andersons boxing coach. Sarge, was a pretty good boxer as well in the 1950’s. He was inducted into the St. Louis Boxers Hall of Fame in 2013.
To honor his dad, Anderson will host “The Showdown” William “Sarge” Anderson Boxing Classic on Thursday, October 22, 2015 @ 6:00 p.m. at the gateway Classic Foundation, 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd, St. Louis Missouri 63106. A portion of the proceeds from this event will go to the St. Louis P.A.L. Boxing program and “Back Stoppers”.
Tickets can be purchased on line @ www.stlringside.org or call Tony Anderson @ 314-448-8484 for VIP tickets and tables.