COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — A local fitness gym owner and Olympic youth boxing coach is heading to international training sessions and competitions this month. While he trains kids to compete all across the country, he also trains young athletes in Columbus, keeping them off the streets and in the gym.
Darrel Wright, owner of Wright Way Fitness, has dedicated his time to building up children in the community. In and out of the ring, Wright trains kids to be champions in life and in sports, particularly boxing.
While Wright is training Olympic athletes this month, he is also traveling with a boxer he coaches, Melvin Chandler Jr., from Hardaway High School, who is competing in an international competition in Pueblo, Colorado, and the National Silver Gloves competition in Independence, Missouri.
Wright looks forward to Chandler Jr. having the opportunity to experience competing against people not just in the U.S., but in other countries as well. Exposing young athletes to the many possibilities in the sport is what Wright strives to do as a coach.
Chandler Jr. is one of many athletes under the guidance of Wright. The gym owner and coach has also coached his daughter, Kayla Wright, and son Brayden Wright to be nationally ranked boxers. Wright also coaches Mariah Jones, a firefighter and 2024 women’s national champion.
After Chandler Jr. competes in Colorado and Missouri this month, Wright will be coaching athletes in Olympic training sessions and international competitions with the U.S. youth boxing team as being setelected to be a part of the Olympic boxing coaching pool.
Beginning on Feb. 15, Wright has been in Colorado Springs for the youth selection camps and then will head to Bangkok, Thailand, from March 4 through March 15 for a Futures Cup for the youth team. Then, he will go back to Colorado Springs to help with the elite training sessions before their competition in Finland from April 6 to April 12.
Once he returns, Wright will resume coaching local athletes and preparing for his annual community events. In May, Wright Way Fitness hosts its annual event called “Off the Ropes”, where athletes compete for experience, and the event raises money for Wright’s nonprofit…