Former national boxer changing lives through sport in western Jamaica

For retired boxer Jasmine Graham, some of her most meaningful victories have come outside the ring.

Graham represented Jamaica at the regional and international levels and earned championship honours, but today, she measures success in a different way: through the young lives she is helping to transform through boxing.

After hanging up her gloves, Graham turned her attention to coaching and community development. As head coach of the Montego Bay Boxing Gym, located at the Cricket Club in St James, she has focused much of her work on young people in and around the Montego Bay area.

With more than 17 years of involvement in boxing, her experience as a competitor, including winning the women’s heavyweight title at the American Confederation Boxing Championships in the Caribbean, has shaped her approach to coaching.

“You know, to be honest, my fights are usually overseas, but I saw that my talents could be used for a greater cause, and it was to actually get the at-risk youths off the streets and to actually mold them into better individuals that I know they could be. So it wasn’t a hard transition for me to make,” Graham told The Gleaner.

For Graham, boxing is about far more than teaching young people how to throw punches, and her philosophy is simple.

“All we require is for you to come, be dedicated, train hard, and represent well,” she said.

Graham’s approach has already had a positive impact on several young people who have passed through the gym.

Anthony Woolery is one of them.

Once considered an at-risk youth, Woolery has used boxing as an important part of his personal development.

“I had a very, very troubled past, and I had issues with violence, and I also had anger issues, and I was told boxing was a great outlet for your anger and a great outlet for stress and problem, and it was also some form of therapy for me,” he said.

Having graduated from high school this summer, Woolery has now moved on to sixth form while continuing to train and develop his skills in the sport.

“Boxing not only bring me closer to people. It gives me family, a new set of confidence. It also gave me all these good things I would never have asked for if I didn’t get pushed towards it,” he said.

Another young boxer, Cleon Harris, has been involved in the sport for about a year.

Harris admitted that he has not always been as committed to training as he should be, but Graham’s coaching continues to push him to improve.

“I have been boxing for a year now, but I’ve been on and off, so consistently, I’ve been boxing for six months, but I plan to continue boxing for as long as I’m allowed to and physically able to,” said Harris.

The young men also have no reservations about taking instructions from a woman coach.

For them, Graham’s knowledge, experience, and ability to command respect matter more than gender.

And Harris pulls no punches in his assessment of her impact.

The Montego Bay Boxing Gym has become a home for a growing group of young athletes, with approximately 34 competitive fighters training there.

denise.walters@rjrgleaner.com