Cit Pat on Pete Wright

Thursday’s Jackson Citizen Patriot had an interesting piece from Aaron Aupperlee on how community leaders are reacting to a pair of killings near the King Center on Jackson’s East side in April. Increasing youth programming, including boxing, has been a focus of a response:

Long-time boxer and trainer Pete Wright started training young fighters in a supply closet at the King Center three months ago. He bumped into Willis who mentioned he had some space available if Wright wanted to hang a few bags.

The space, a concrete floor and four walls near the center’s basketball court, does not look like much like a gym, but Wright trained fighters for a bit in his garage and made it work. He hung two heavy bags, a speed bag and a double end bag. The ceiling is high enough so the kids can jump rope.

“That’s all you need,” he said.

I’ve reached out to Aaron in hopes of getting in touch with Pete Wright to talk about what Stiff Jab can do to help in his effort. Jackson is exactly the type of place that produces fighters: we have plenty of tough young men with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Kudos to Wright for giving them a positive way to direct their energy.