Boxer Fights For His Community

Curtis Anderson is fighting to help his community.
A former amateur boxer from a poor, single-parent home, Anderson, 37, has opened Diamond Gym Fitness Center to give kids in the ghetto another alternative to a life in crime and the limited recreational outlets of basketball and handball courts that are commonplace in the city's urban neighborhoods.
&#8220Go to any ghetto,” Anderson says, &#8220What do you see? Only handball or basketball courts.”
Diamond Fitness, located at 162-11 Jamaica Avenue, is Anderson's way of guiding the next generation - a mission fueled by his own troubled, impoverished and unstable childhood.
The youngest - and only boy - of six siblings, Anderson has lived in all five boroughs with his single mother, who was in constant search of gainful employment.
&#8220These kids are our future, whether we realize that or not. I hope to get a lot of the kids off the street. To help them feel good about themselves. They can talk to me. I tell them you don't have to drink, you don't have to smoke.”
The compassionate ex-boxer said that he is giving &#8220hope,” to kids who grew up around &#8220junk, garbage, and drugs.” It was while moving from one tough neighborhood to another that Anderson was bruised and battered from continuously trying to protect his five sisters. At the age of 14, a guidance counselor at I.S. 53 in Far Rockaway, disturbed by all of his black and blue marks, took Anderson to a nearby Police Athletic League boxing facility.
Anderson was hooked from the start, boxing every day after school, with his fighting skills improving to the point that he no longer had to physically battle to protect himself and his beloved sisters. His growing reputation as a skilled boxer kept would-be troublemakers away. He said that he attracted interest from heavyweight champion Mike Tyson's trainer, Kevin Rooney, and assistant manager Steve Lott.
&#8220Boxing gave me the discipline and pointed me in the right direction. It made a positive change in my life. Boxing is the only sport that kids don't need a college education to do, and earn seven figure incomes,” Anderson explained.
&#8220I didn't understand the potential to make money in boxing at that time,” he said. &#8220I did it for the love.” He instead decided to pursue an entrepreneurial path. Anderson founded New York City Trailblazers, a security training school.
Anderson credits boxing with making him the person he is today, giving him the discipline to start his own business through hard work and sacrifice. Anderson, worked menial jobs as a dishwasher in restaurants and at car washes to save up the money to start his own businesses.
Diamond Fitness, which opened in May, couples his two passions, boxing and his community.
&#8220Boxing is the best workout,” Anderson maintains, &#8220the fastest way to lose weight and get into shape.”
Diamond Fitness is free for those who do not need a trainer. For those, who wish to hire a trainer - fees run $200 for the whole year or $10 per session.
As for the kids he hopes to help, will the gym be successful in helping to shape and guide lives towards a brighter future? Anderson says it's too soon to tell, &#8220Drugs, violence, and gangs, that's their environment.”