Marcus Broadnax makes his first airplane flight Sunday, but he's already in the clouds.
Broadnax, along with his coach, John Brooks, is flying to Las Vegas for the U.S. Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. He is admittedly a little nervous - about the flight, not the fights.
"Combo" Broadnax already has won state and regional Golden Glove titles in his lightweight class. At the Orleans Hotel and Casino next week, the 18-year-old Tampa Bay Tech student will face opponents who have far more experience.
But Broadnax already has beaten his greatest opponent - the temptations that once had him on "the corner" looking for trouble.
"I can't lie," Broadnax said. "When I first started, getting in that ring, doing rounds, dead tired, getting hit, I was like, "Boxing ain't for me.' But I stuck with it because my coach was constantly in my ear. I just stuck with it and once I started getting better, I realized it could be for me."
Broadnax and Brooks are on a mission. Their lives are separated by 39 years, but not much else.
Brooks, 57 and a born-again Christian, laments that as a younger man he never got the chance to be a real boxing champion. Since 1987, he has helped dozens of local kids with his Brooks Boxers program. His goal is to keep kids from going "where I've been."
The program has had a number of homes, and now operates out of a spartan pair of ministorage units on 50th Street near King High School. Brooks has taken out a second mortgage on his home to keep the gym going. The sacrifices he has made are significant, but he talks only of helping kids finding their way off the streets.
"I believe in God, and he wants to me to do all that I can do," Brooks said. "That's how we've been paying rent."
Broadnax, 18, has heard the message, but what makes you want to root for him is that his dreams of a professional boxing career aren't fueled solely by trying to enrich himself.
"I feel like I'm on a mission to make something good out of my life," Broadnax said. "My family, we're living all right, but it's not all gravy at the house."
Broadnax runs 6 miles every morning. Afternoons are spent in three- to four-hour workouts. Three days before his trip to Las Vegas, he was sparring with a partner - bouncing, punching, skipping, moving, ducking.
The partner was 30 pounds heavier and at least a few inches taller. You see, Broadnax is a 5-foot-7, 132-pound dynamo, a little guy in a big man's game.
Yet his arms are flawlessly muscled, and his fists pump like pistons. Every punch was accentuated with an audible exhale as Brooks barked out instructions.
"Keep yourself tight," Brooks said. "You gotta dig in, learn how to fight inside. Stop leaning over to the left."
In the sparring session, Broadnax landed punches, and he took a few. After four rounds, he looked no worse for the wear, but you have to wonder what drives someone to take hits when they could be home taking it easy.
"A lot of people, it takes them years to get to where I'm at and this has all happened in like two years," Broadnax said. "Since I was a little kid, I had a talent for fighting. I figured if I could take it somewhere positive, I probably could make something out of myself with it.
"Plus, I really want to put Tampa on the map."
Here are two weekend events you might be interested in. Today, the Police Department's Operation Commitment in east Tampa wraps up with a picnic at the Eighteenth Avenue Playground, 2902 N 32nd Street, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There will be a live band, a moon walk, arts and crafts, sports equipment, hot dogs, drinks, snow cones, and popcorn. The idea is to thank East Tampa citizens for helping with the initiative.
The other event is Tampa's inaugural Caribbean Festival, which will be held Sunday at the Bayanihan Center, 14301 Nine Eagles Drive, off Racetrack Road in Keystone. Gates will open at 3 p.m. and the show, featuring rapper Mystikal, begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25, and kids 10 and under are admitted free.
