Detroit native Khali Sweeney founded the gym in 2007. “Boxing is really just the hook to get the kids in the door, because it’s easier to tell your friends you’re going to a boxing gym than an intervention program. In a sport ripe with analogies for life, perhaps none represents Detroit’s Downtown Boxing Gym (DBG) better. to helping students ages 7-18 by providing them with teachers and volunteers, math & literacy programs, boxing lessons and learning that ‘Family’ can be an all … Khali knew if he did not work to change his community, the city would produce yet another poverty-stricken, under-educated generation. Sweeney says he has seen most of … Khali Sweeney, known as Coach Khali, is the founder and CEO of the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program, a nonprofit organization he started in 2007 to provide academic support and boxing lessons to empower Detroit students.Sweeney established the organization to provide an education-focused safe haven with tutoring, mentorship, and boxing lessons for boys and girls, ages 8–18. Downtown Boxing Gym Founder and CEO, Khali Sweeney. "I wanted to give kids something to do and somewhere to go. "We didn’t have rec centers in the area; most were closed down," he says. The odor of sweat and the din of slapping leather in a dimly-lit basement. The 49-year-old Detroit native has made the gym and helping give the next generation of … Courtesy of Downtown Boxing Gym. "I wanted to give kids something to do and somewhere to go. “The gym was always meant to be a safe place.” Says founder and CEO, Khali Sweeney. The nonprofit Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program, founded by Carlo "Coach Khali" Sweeney, 48, is a modern take on that scene. A popular boxing maxim says that it’s not about how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. In 2007, Sweeney opened the non-profit Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program.. It uses boxing as a tool to get kids on the right track with school. Khali Sweeney, known as Coach Khali, is the founder and CEO of the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program, a nonprofit organization he started in 2007 to provide academic support and boxing lessons to empower Detroit students. "We didn't have rec centers in the area; most were closed down," he says. The boxing gym as a sort of school of hard knocks is an ancient cliché from movies and books. Carlo "Khali" Sweeney is the founder of the Downtown Boxing Gym. When Carlo "Khali" Sweeney first founded the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program in 2007, he did so solely with the intention of giving kids in his neighborhood on Detroit's east side a safe place to go. Since that time, founder Khali Sweeney and his team have provided a free, after-school, safe-haven for Detroit youth between the ages of 8 and 18. Sweeney, a … At Khali Sweeney's Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program in Detroit, around 100 children get training and academic tutoring five days a week. Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program (DBG) opened its doors in 2007. Khali Sweeney with students. Eminem Releases Limited-Edition … My philosophy is ‘books before boxing’ because education is plan A. Boxing is a hobby. For the first three years, he worked night and day to run the 4,000 square foot gym for 25 kids, funded out of his own pocket. The boxing gym is a free after-school academic tutoring and self-development program, which is dedicated full-time (yes, even in the Summer!) When Carlo "Khali" Sweeney first founded the Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program in 2007, he did so solely with the intention of giving kids in his neighborhood on Detroit's east side a safe place to go. Life lessons imparted from the corner of the ropes. In 2007, Khali Sweeney opened Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program. From humble beginnings in a former car wash with only a handful of students, DBG has grown to currently […]