Alexandria’s Troy Isley won his Olympic debut on Monday against middleweight Vitali Bandarenka, and his boxing club at home is eager that he win a medal.
The Olympic games have been Isley’s dream since he boxing at the Alexandria Boxing Club when he was eight years old.
“Everything is one punch at a time in this sport, and Troy is definitely going to get a medal,” Alexandria Boxing Club coach Jeffrey “Steady” Johnson told ALXnow. “He looked really good.”
Isley, a middleweight, is one of three T.C. Williams High School graduates in the Tokyo Olympics, along with sprinter Noah Lyles and high-jumper Tynita Butts-Townsend. After launching his pro debut earlier this year, Isley (now 2-0 professionally) and teammates Keyshawn Davis and Duke Ragan are the first-ever pro boxers to fight for Team USA in the Games.
In his Team USA bio, Isley lists Kay Koroma and Dennis Porter as his coaches. Porter, the founder of the Alexandria Boxing Club, passed away earlier this year.
Johnson said that Isley’s fame has led to a waiting list for kids to be trained.
“We got started with the Alexandria Boxing Club after Sugar Ray Leonard won the Olympic gold medal in 1976,” he said. “Boxing really blew up in the area. That’s why we started. Now we’ve got a waiting list for a while.”
Isley, who lists Leonard as his favorite boxer of all time, next faces Russia’s Gleb Sergeyevich Bakshi on Thursday.
https://twitter.com/USABoxing/status/1419859904387424262
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If you had a chance to enhance a child’s future with a time commitment of less than 2 hours a week, how would you respond? You have that opportunity right now to join over 200 Alexandrians as a reading tutor volunteer with the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium (ATC).
ATC tutors work with one child in kindergarten, first, or second grade in Alexandria public schools who need extra help with reading. Tutors meet with their Book Buddy 1-2 times each week for 30 minutes October-May at school, during school hours. Many struggling readers only receive one-on-one instruction through this program, and it makes all the difference. Last year, ATC served 195 children, of whom 82% ended the year reading on grade level and 96% made substantial reading gains. But the need is great, and we are still seeing learning lags from the pandemic.
This year, ATC plans to significantly increase the size of the program to reach over 250 students and to serve every elementary school in Alexandria. This is very exciting news, but we will only succeed if we can recruit more tutors. ATC trains you, matches you with a child, and provides ongoing lesson materials and support.
If you have been thinking about buying your first home or haven’t owned one in the last three years, THIS IS FOR YOU!
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2023 Alexandria Fall Festival
Food trucks, bounce houses, pony rides, magic shows and more at the 2023 Alexandria Fall Festival, an Alexandria Living event presented by The Patterson Group. Join us at River Farm on Sunday, Nov. 5 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
