Hunting with Mike

Joe Giarmo follow up. None of these guy’s will ever win a beauty contest, but you might think twice about “gettin in their face!” From left to right is me, Kelly Duffy, Frank Furnari, Todd Riggs, Joe, John Martin, and Ryan Wilburn. This picture was taken two years ago just after the opening of Joe’s Boxing Club at it’s new location in the Powerhouse Gym. All of the above are board members, coaches, and former boxers for Joe. Todd Riggs (on the left of Joe) is the head coach now, and had quite a professional career out of the Kronk Gym in Detroit, until an injury forced him to retire. Ryan Wilburn (red hat) is the assistant coach, and has a couple professional bouts under his belt, along with two “toughman” appearances. Ryan’s step dad (Randy Goins) was one of Joe’s best, and I had the misfortune of sparring with him many moons ago. I did learn a “lesson” though, and that’s what’s important!

These guy’s have donated their time and talent’s to help the youth of Monroe. There are even a few girls training under Todd and Ryan, and Chloe Kinsey is an awesome little fighter. She has won several matches and exhibitions, and is a coaches dream-she listens well! Joe’s will be putting on a boxing show at the Monroe County Community College on Feb. 9th. Jake Duffy and Dylon Minton are a couple of the boxers on the “card” for this exhibition. If you get a chance come support these kids, and the “club.” If you see Joe give him a hug, and thank him for caring.

(Disclaimer) I am on the board, but helped coach very little, and never had an official bout. I did train with Joe for a couple years when I was in my late 20’s just to get “in shape!” My claim to fame is having the honor of working with Joe, at Ford Motor Company, in the skilled trades department. Joe is my good friend and mentor for which I am eternally grateful. The other guys in the picture are the backbone of the program, and a credit to our community.

Mike

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 26th, 2008 at 9:11 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.