'Drop your guns, pick up our gloves': Boxing club uses movie premiere to share mission

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A local non-profit boxing club used the premiere of a new movie to share its mission with the community.

"The mission is to provide a healthy, diverse resource center for the underprivileged and at-risk youth," Frank Porter said.

Porter, who took over Ace Boxing Club in 2008 after his father, Del Porter, passed away, tells CBS 58 the gym has been focused on uplifting youth and young adults since his father opened it in 1960.

"It is like they're wild horses, and you have to tame them," Porter said jokingly about training the kids.

He calls it a labor of love that he loves to do.

"There's nothing better than seeing them grow," he said.

The gym has a one-time suggested donation of $40 to pay for equipment, but Porter does not impede anyone from entering the ring at the club located at 2160 South 10th Street in Kosciuszko Park.

"We never tell nobody they can't come in here because they don't have the money. What are you going to do? Get back into the street life. Drugs, alcohol, hospitals, institutions, and death," he said.

The gym's motto is the first thing you see when you walk in: "It's better to sweat in the gym than to bleed in the streets." It is a phrase Porter's father lived by and the reason Ace Boxing Club was born. The motto has impacted many who have joined over the years.

"I have seen a lot of bad stuff happen in our community, and it does mean a lot to sweat in the gym than bleed in the streets because we don't need to lose any more lives, especially due to gang violence," 15-year-old Ace Boxing Club member Dreyon Peace said.

What they do in the ring enters other parts of these amateur boxers' worlds.

"It changed my life," Ace Boxing Club member Angelo Mendez said.

But to keep changing lives, the club needs help. To show how the sport positively impacts the community, the club stopped by a local movie theater as "Creed III" premiered Friday night. They shared fliers and told those who came to see the movie how donations would help them continue their mission.

"If you don't have an outlet, you're going to take it out on others or anything around you," Ace Boxing Club member Cameron Stiff said.

If you want to donate to Ace Boxing Club, visit their website at here or click here for their PayPal account.