Further evidence of my stance that journalism is a right place/right time endeavor: Over Memorial Day Weekend, Louden and I went up to the Penn Charter soccer field, track and playground, which is our normal routine.
There, we saw something unusual: Several people using the playground as a makeshift training ground, a gym if you will. One of those people was James Barnett. That day, his mother Uvaunka (or Trina) showed me cell-phone video of James in a boxing ring. He was fighting, and fighting well.
From there, I made three visits to the gym where he trains: Bozy’s Dungeon in Germantown. Found Barnett’s story so intriguing that I posted it on NewsWorks today:
“He’s always fighting bigger boys, boys with cuts in their arms, at least three inches taller, a few years older,” his mother said, admitting she used to cover her face with a jacket when her son fought. She’s only look when the cheers told her that her son was winning.
“Each time I see him fight, I’m a little scared,” she said, mentioning another son with a heart condition and the ever-present fear of concussion. “The way he moves, he barely gets hit. His steps are so slick, he never really gets tagged.” [NewsWorks/WHYY]
Is 13-year-old James ‘Too Sharp’ Barnett the city’s next boxing legend?