Even in the coolness of autumn, there is a humidity inside the dimly lit gym on U.S. Hwy 41. The steady rhythm of jump ropes slapping the floor in time with footfalls landing on the concrete. The air is charged, tacky and hot, with intensity. The intensity is not demanded, it’s given freely as a sign of respect. Not too much is said as most of the participants at Sonny Willis’ boxing ring knows what to do. They start with a run, then floor work like sit ups and crunches, then jump rope and some-times the weighted ball.

“He’s very old-school,” said Ira Rich, 24, who has been boxing a year now. “You see it in the tech-nique.”

It works, though. Rich has competed four times in the welter weight division and has won all four times. He states this as a matter of fact, without any bravado. Most have been Tennessee – Nashville, Chattanooga, Red Bank, and Laverne, but he’s hoping to add some Georgia matches as well.

Willis, 79, has been coaching for about seven years, following a long career as a trainer and boxer himself. He started when he was eight years old in North Charleston, South Carolina. After a stint in the Marine Corps, he came to Georgia in 1945.

Then in the late 1950’s, he had a friend who was coaching.

“He asked me to help him and before long, he was coaching and I was training them. Willis has had several gyms, including Chattanooga and Ringgold, but now, he calls the Resaca-Calhoun Box-ing Club home.

With the help of champion boxer Mike Jones, they get their team ready. The gym at 75 North Drive, across from the Painted Post, is not the first home for the club, which started out behind Jone’s business. But they soon outgrew the space and moved to the current location.

Willis says that the club is a success because of Jones and Tim Brown, who also helps run things if he has to be out.

Clement “Clemo” Bouloiseau, 15, is one of their trainees. The Gordon Central sophomore has been gearing up for his second match.

“My brother started coming here and I came with him, but he quit,” said Bouloiseau, who said boxing changed his life.

“I used to be the fat kid, but boxing helped me get skinny,” he said.

When Rich and Bouloiseau get into the ring again, Willis will be in their corner, coaching. He hopes to have them at some matches in October and November. Bouloiseau isn’t the only one who to see weight come off and confidence go up. Willis said several trainees come just to get in shape, including girls and women.

“I’ve seen kids doing bad in school, having trouble, then they take up boxing and start to im-prove,” he said.

That’s because it builds confidence and self-esteem. Trainees learn what it’s like to work hard.

“They find something in themselves,” he said. And he’s quick to point out that drop-outs need not think they can hang out there. “If you are supposed to be in school, that’s where you’d better be, because I won’t train you.”

Unlike team sports, which are fine said Willis, in the square circle, it’s only “you and the other guy. You have to do it on your own.”

“I’m going to do this for years,” said Rich, adding that his father had been in the Golden Gloves. And Rich proves by his presence that if you want it bad enough, you can get it. He also holds a red belt in Tae Kwon Do. He lost his right leg in a lawn mower accident when he was 11. His Tae Kwon Do instructor encouraged him to push past the disability.

“I could do this for the rest of my life,” he said.

He and Bouloiseau agree that Willis pushes them hard, “because he doesn’t want us to get hurt.”

“He’s like a father-figure,” said Bouloiseau.

“Or a grandfather,” said Rich.



Open Monday through Thursday from 6-830

75 North Drive

Calhoun, Ga

706-264-6397