POST January/February 2015

up front
Don Simpkin, Director of
the St. Martin Boxing Club
Murray—the goal of the program isn’t looking
for the next champion. It is creating successful
people.
What is “success,” though? Collazo, who
started boxing as a 12-year-old in Puerto
Rico, says, “Success is when they amount
to something. I want them to become better
people. Even if they quit boxing.” Can the
measurement of success be found in the list of
adult graduates who have become counselors,
social workers, police officers, pastors,
tradesmen, and teachers, which Simkin says he
needs to update? Is it making it to adulthood
alive, which most have, but some have not? Can
success be measured in a percentage? Simkin
doesn’t think so.
“It’s hard to measure exactly,” he says. “It’s
a little bit of an issue with me. You can make
any figure you want. When you get into social
sciences, there’s no way to do this number stuff.
The best way you can tell is to interview these
people—a year, five years, 10 years—after they
leave. All you can do is see the effect you have.”
Charlie Fitch, 44, of Macedon, saw the effect
first-hand. “To me, (Simkin)’s the closest of
anybody I’ve met to being a saint. He’s got a
huge heart. I’m not saying he’s perfect, but he’s
trying to do the right thing. He’s affected so
many lives. Thousands of lives. He provides a
good place for them. He gives them a place they
can be more productive members of society.”
Growing up boxing in Syracuse, Fitch
developed a healthy respect for St. Martin’s
boxers. He says, every time he faced one, he
lost. When Fitch moved to Rochester after high
school, he decided if you can’t beat ’em, join
’em. He says his time at the club helped mold
him into the man he is today. “Winning the fight
in boxing is the same as winning the fight of life.
You don’t give up. If something doesn’t work
out, you try a different avenue.”
Fitch admires how Simkin keeps St. Martin’s
plugging along. “It’s not getting the money
coming in, but it’s a super successful program,”
he says. “He doesn’t have time to write grants
because he’s too busy helping these kids to
be successful. Successful in the sense of kids
being active. Kids becoming better human
beings.”
St. Martin’s Tracey McGruder, a 23-year-old
student at Monroe Community College, is no kid,
but he sees his life changing because of boxing.
McGruder, who was introduced to boxing
to train for football, says his dedication to the
sport keeps him out of trouble. “I don’t have
time to think about trouble,” he says. “There are
no negative influences pulling me in. I’m focused
on this.” Although some younger members have
been with the club longer, some for as long as
seven years, McGruder says the team turns to
him for leadership. “Even though I was new,
I learned quick. The kids looked up to me. I
always try to set a positive example.”
With older members acting as mentors
and additional guidance from coaches (Simkin,
Collazo, Orlando Santiago, Genardo Ortiz, Larry
King, Eric Martinez, and other volunteers), the
current crop of St. Martin’s 15 to 20 boxers
have a chance at a bright future. Inside the ring
and out.
—Kyle Johnson
Sometimes You
Feel Like a Nut
“I like to eat breakfast alone, and almost never
before noon; anybody with a terminally jangled
lifestyle needs at least one psychic anchor
every twenty-four hours, and mine is breakfast.
In Hong Kong, Dallas or at home — and
regardless of whether or not I have been to bed
— breakfast is a personal ritual that can only
be properly observed alone, and in a spirit of
genuine excess. The food factor should always
be massive: four Bloody Marys, two grapefruits,
a pot of coffee, Rangoon crepes, a half-pound
of either sausage, bacon, or corned beef hash
with diced chiles, a Spanish omelette or eggs
Benedict, a quart of milk, a chopped lemon for
random seasoning, and something like a slice
of Key lime pie, two margaritas, and six lines of
the best cocaine for dessert… Right, and there
should also be two or three newspapers, all mail
and messages, a telephone, a notebook for
planning the next twenty-four hours and at least
one source of good music… All of which should
be dealt with outside, in the warmth of a hot
sun, and preferably stone naked.”
—Hunter S. Thompson, from “The Great Shark
Hunt,” originally published in 1979
42 POST | Issue 9 January / February 2015
Mike Martinez