Beat the Streetz Boxing & Fitness Center holds first boxing show

ALBANY — Beat the Streetz Boxing & Fitness Center founder Haven Brady Sr., the father of up-and-coming amateur bantamweight Haven Brady Jr., said the center’s mission is really very simple.

The program provides girls and boys between the ages of 6 and 22 the opportunity to get a great workout, learn boxing fundamentals, and develop valuable life skills like emotional management, self-discipline and mental focus. Classes are an hour long and accommodate youths of all skill and fitness levels. Boxers work on conditioning, core strength, footwork, focus and heavy bags.

“Haven started boxing when he was 6 years old,” the elder Brady said. “I’m from Atlanta, and when we moved here I was looking for a boxing gym. We started over at Turner Job Corps, and then the tornadoes of January 2017 hit. I knew I had to find a way to make up a gym, and that’s when I found the place on South Slappey.

“We’re trying to keep underprivileged and at-risk kids off the streets. We say ‘drop the gun and pick up the gloves.’”

Right now the gym is home to 45 kids

“We have some kids that don’t want to compete, but we have others, like my son, who want to compete in the 2020 Olympics,” Brady said. “We don’t turn away a kid because they can’t pay. We’re got people like Jay Sharpe at U-Sav-It Pharmacy and Bob Brooks. I could tell you a lot about Bob Brooks as to what he means to me and our organization.”

Haven Brady Jr. seems poised as the real-deal contender at 35-2. The 16-year-old Westover High School junior used to play football, but decided to concentrate on boxing “when I noticed every boy around me was getting bigger, but I wasn’t.”

The most disappointed person at the Beat The Streetz Boxing Show downtown Saturday was Sharpe, who was looking forward to making his boxing debut. But Sharpe never even had a change to get his hands wrapped because his scheduled opponent was a no-show.

“I’m disappointed. I just found out when I looked at the bout sheet and my name wasn’t on there,” Sharpe said. “But these things happen, and all I can do is keep working and training for the next fight. I’m most disappointed that I was unable to fight right here in Albany. I really wanted to do that, but that’s OK. You roll with the punches.”