Boxer Alphonso Bailey’s redemption story fuels philanthropic rally

Alphonso Bailey’s eyes light up when he talks boxing.

“It was always a thinking game,” the 64-year-old Indianapolis native said with enthusiasm. “That’s what I love about the sport. You’re always maneuvering and thinking and planning ahead.”

Slipping. Weaving. Setting up an opening.

Bailey was a standout amateur in the 1980s, rising to a No. 1 USA Boxing Rank. He followed that with a solid professional career.

His low point, though, was deeper than a loss in the ring.

The 1979 Shortridge High graduate was once a standout football player with a scholarship to Kentucky State University. But while Bailey was a junior in college, his father passed away, devastating him. Bailey fell in with the wrong crowd and bad ways, stealing and robbing and eventually landing in prison.

There he found redemption by embracing boxing and faith.

That’s where the name of his longtime nonprofit comes in: Down But Not Out, or DBNO, which this month opened an east-side boxing gym aimed at mentoring young people mentally, physically and spiritually. Classes are slated to begin in June.

For years, Bailey has wanted to use boxing training to mentor young people. Now, thanks to a team philanthropic effort, DBNO has a home, the Down But Not Out Boxing Club, at 5825 E. 38th St.

The transformation of the new DBNO gym from a vacant auto repair shop is the result of a diverse array of Bailey’s friends and Indianapolis-area businesses providing time, goods and services through donations or discounted rates.

DBNO’s backers saw the potential for young people to empower themselves through the discipline of training and the inspiration of Bailey’s story.

“I gave my life to Christ in prison,” Bailey said. “I just wanted to change, man; I wanted to just have a better life. I just believed I could, and boxing played a key role in opening doors up for me, giving me opportunities.”

Bailey sees the power of personal improvement in boxing training—a pursuit that, while physically exhausting, demands skill, patience and discipline.

The Down But Not Out Boxing Club is a gleaming gym equipped with a ring, heavy bags, a large mirror for refining technique, reflex bags to practice head movements, jump ropes and focus mitts.

DBNO programs focus on boys and girls ages 10 to 18. Kids are grouped by age and skill levels. The first 60 minutes of class are spent on boxing-technique instruction, conditioning and ring awareness, with the last 15 minutes spent in “The Huddle,” a guided conversation where the youth and trainers/mentors discuss life inside and outside the gym.

The young boxers at DBNO do not spar or compete in matches. Full or partial scholarships cover or help cover class costs.

The youth “need guidance,” said Andre Jackson, a DBNO trainer and who worked about 25 years as a corrections officer with the Michigan Department of Corrections. “And sad to say, some of them need men in their life … positive role models.

“And put the guns down,” Jackson said. “Put the guns down. Give them another avenue besides the streets.”

Jackson and Bailey met while the two worked at Marion County Juvenile Detention Center. “We hit it off from day one,” Jackson said.

Bailey’s journey of public outreach has been a long one. He was ordained as a minister in 2002 and founded DBNO as a ministry in 2006.

Eventually, he incorporated boxing instruction into DBNO to reach young people.

Before the pandemic, Bailey was teaching boxing skills at Warren Central High School. There, he met then-18-year-old Jaylen Beckwith, who had just transferred to Warren Central because his charter school, Indianapolis Lighthouse East, was closing.

Beckwith, nervous in a new school, was studying boxing on his own.

“I wanted to, kind of like prepare myself, in case I had to defend myself,” he said. “So I was teaching myself how to box watching YouTube videos—how to throw a jab, how to throw a hook.”

He was thrilled to discover Bailey’s boxing lessons at Warren Central.

“I was also a loner, so [I was] finding my own friend group doing that,” Beckwith said, “and Coach was teaching about character.”

Beckwith, now a DBNO trainer, called the new gym a “beautiful gift.”

Indeed. The story behind the gym is a tale of generosity and networking among Bailey’s friends, rippling out to many Indianapolis-area business leaders.

The 38th Street building was donated several years ago by Ashley Borneman, who met Alphonso’s and Marsha’s daughter, Portia, at an Indy Chamber event. The two got to talking and discovered their fathers both boxed.

Borneman’s family had owned the 38th Street garage and used it for storage. She was looking to donate the building to a good cause and loved the mission of DBNO.

The garage refurbishment started with Dan Liotti, retired CEO of Midwest Mole of Greenfield, who met Bailey through a neighbor almost 20 years ago and became a longtime DBNO supporter.

Liotti said the COVID shutdown hurt DBNO, so having a building was huge. “He had a pretty good thing going at Warren Central High School,” he said. “He was doing after-school classes and had a big following.”

For years, Liotti and Bailey talked about renting a facility for a gym. Now, thanks to Borneman, DBNO had a building, but it was one that needed significant repairs. Liotti and some of his Bible study friends started work by pressure washing the building’s exterior.

Then others jumped in to help.

Liotti said the DBNO gym and property were renovated “on the cheap” for about $110,000, thanks to discounted rates from multiple local contractors: CPMi for interior renovation, Globe Asphalt and Paving for the parking lot, FSR Contractors for roof repairs, CBMC Lighting Solutions for lighting, Performance Mechanical Contracting for HVAC, James Babcock for electrical, and Grey Plumbing for plumbing.

In addition, Liotti talked with Brittany Krier, co-founder and managing principal of Indianapolis consulting firm Mapt Solutions, about discounted services for DBNO. Instead, Mapt selected the group as winner of its third annual Transformation Challenge, a grant that provides the nonprofit with $75,000 worth of strategic planning services and $25,000 cash.

The grant helped with business tasks that included web, logos and signage, content and strategy. Now, the most pressing challenge is attracting students, volunteers and support; the DBNO crew is out talking with churches and other organizations.

“For about the last four or five months, we’ve been building a nonprofit [from the] ground up,” Krier said.

DBNO’s most compelling story is its founder.

Bailey was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame last November. For about five years, he was based in New Jersey fighting under the moniker Jersey Alfonz Bailey.

“He scored some upsets he wasn’t supposed to win,” said Henry Hascup, a boxing historian and ring announcer who serves as president of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame.

But Hascup said Bailey’s induction was as much about his personal redemption and community service as his performance in the ring.

“Sometimes you think things are really bad, but maybe there was a reason. He went to prison, and he found two things: boxing and religion,” Hascup said. “Everybody makes mistakes. He picked himself up and made something of himself.”•