People came together on Sunday to clean and remodel a gym in Houston’s Northside, part of a community push to stop violence in the city after recent teen shootings. The 4 Corners Boxing Gym is currently closed as it gets fixed up, and the owner says the changes are meant to make the place bigger and better, with more room for children to train and a stronger sense of community.
The Gym’s Plan
Gee Githoro, the owner of 4 Corners Boxing Gym, told ABC13 that the remodel is about giving young people a safer place to be and a stronger connection to each other. “We want to teach these kids to put gloves up and put guns down,” he said. “The motto is gloves up, guns down, so we could prevent all these senseless killings happening in the city.”
The gym is closed while the work gets done. Githoro said the goal is to get the space up to code and make it large enough to serve more children.
The Recent Deaths
The remodel follows two separate killings that recently took place. Last month, 15-year-old Royce Witchet and 17-year-old LePaul Warren were shot and killed near their high schools.
Both teenagers died close to the places they went to school. Their deaths have drawn grief from the community, and the boxing gym is one of the answers being offered.
A Coach’s Dream
Andrew Zimmerman with Iron Walk for Kids said the remodel is important for change in light of recent violence, but also beyond that for the youth. He wants young people to learn lessons from construction and chores around the house, as well as from boxing.
“Teach the kids how to come out and the gyms and help clean, help move things around, how to do construction work – so they can be at the house and help their parents wash dishes, mop, sweep, cut the yard, do things around the house as well and then they can come to the gym and train,” Zimmerman said.
His words carry the idea that skills learned in the gym can carry over to home life.
Zimmerman said the gym will offer three months of free training when it reopens. He also noted that training is already underway for 17-year-old Levar Adams Jr., a young boxer who has won 10 titles.
Levar’s Story
Adams Jr. moved to Houston about four or five years ago and came straight to 4 Corners Boxing Gym. He has faced hard times, including house fires, but he got through it.
“I been through a whole lot, like house fires, just a lot of ups and downs, but I got through it, that’s why I’m here to help the kids,” he said. He said he just made his professional debut in August.
His father, Levar Adams Sr., said the gym has changed his son for the better. “Just have to come, because otherwise you’re going to be pulled in with the streets and it’s not going to be good, could go to jail and that’s what we don’t want,” he said.
The Free Program
Organizers said they hope to reopen the gym in the next month or so. When it opens, they want to start a free mentorship program to keep pouring into the next generation.
The free training is part of that plan. Zimmerman said the gym will offer three months of free training when it reopens. For now, the training is already happening for Adams Jr.
The Bigger Picture
The remodel is a direct response to recent teen violence. Githoro’s motto, “gloves up, guns down,” is a simple one, but it speaks to what the community sees as the problem: young people carrying guns instead of boxing gloves.
The deaths of Witchet and Warren are part of what organizers are reacting to. The gym is one of the ways people are trying to answer the question of how to protect children in a city where shootings have taken lives.
What Comes Next
The gym is closed for the moment, and the work is not done yet. Organizers said they hope to reopen in the next month or so.
When it opens, the free mentorship program will be part of the plan. The three months of free training will be available, giving young people a chance to learn boxing without paying.
The idea behind the program is that young people who learn to train hard will also learn to work hard in general. Zimmerman’s point about helping parents with chores is that the skills are not just about boxing — they are about being a useful member of a family.
Our Take
This is a story of people using tragedy as a reason to build something better. A gym owner sees young people carrying guns and wants them carrying boxing gloves instead.
Githoro’s motto, “gloves up, guns down,” says exactly what the community wants to see happen. The gym, with its free training and mentorship program, is a place that gives children a reason to stay out of trouble.
The deaths of Witchet and Warren have brought attention to the issue. The community is responding with action.
The gym will open soon, and when it does, it will be bigger and better. That is the point of the remodel — to give more children a safe place to be and a sense of community.
Whether the gym can stop violence on its own is not something anyone claims. But it can give young people one place where the streets do not pull them in. That is worth doing, and it is worth watching.
Source material: “Community remodels boxing gym in Houston's Northside in light of recent teen violence,” ABC13 Houston.
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