LEGENDARY DALEY'S BOXING GYM
Lake Charles, Louisiana
A
Cool Keychain, Jewelry and my Curiosity
I know a cool keychain when I see one—Anyone who knew me in 3rd grade can
tell you I had the BEST collection of keychains on my backpack. I collected over 50 keychains on a little 3rd grader sized
back pack. I remember I had a blue
light-saber keychain that actually lit up, Tamagotchi's, mini versions of
Rubik's cubes and Etch-a-sketches, and many more I can't remember. I'll always
feel a sense of nostalgia when I see someone carrying a cool keychain.
When I first met Mr. Scott Daley,
his surprisingly detailed boxing glove keychains caught my attention.
I told Mr. Scott, “Hey, I like your
keychain.”
He said something about his rings
and boxing that unfortunately, I don't remember.
But I remember my response, “Well
you must have been an awesome boxer to earn that jewelry.
 |
| Boxing glove keychains and the Golden Globe Ring |
Everything I knew about boxing, I learned from
watching movies and television. I loved watching “Boy Meets World” (like
many a 90s kid) and there is an episode that very briefly touches on boxing.
Long story short, in one episode Corey's Dad gives his son a silver gloves
necklace he won in his competitive boxing days...If you are an unfortunate soul
who has no idea what I am talking about—just search for “Boy Meets World”
Season 1: Episode 19.” You are welcome.
 |
| Mr. Scott Daley in front of his "go-car," aptly named for it's great gas-mileage |
Mr. Scott Daley knew that I was
interested in learning about his story and boxing. I told him briefly about my
blog and asked if he would be willing to be interviewed. He said he wouldn't mind if I stopped by the
Daley Boxing Gym to learn more about his story and the history of boxing in
Lake Charles, Louisiana (and beyond). He wrote his information down on an
impromptu business card. A few weeks
later, I gave him a call and...
Tour
with Mr. Scott Daley
On April 2nd, 2015, I took a tour of
Daley's Boxing Gym.
I learned so much—Enough for 3 +
blog posts so I condensed what I learned into a list.
TOP TEN THINGS I LEARNED AT THE LEGENDARY DALEY'S BOXING GYM
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| The walls of the gym are decorated with hundreds of laminated photos of posters, news articles and photos of the Daley's with noteworthy members of the boxing community |
1. Mr. Scott Daley's perfect professional
record
“Awesome Boxer,” does not come close to
properly describing Mr. Scott Daley.
Mr. Scott Daley was a professional
boxer. In 2014, he earned international
attention when The Ring Magazine,
which is called the “Bible of Boxing” published a Top Ten list of retired
professional boxers who had earned perfect records and the most winning
fights.
“It's a perfect record list. In the April (2014) edition I was ranked
ninth. In the May edition, my friends
are calling that I've moved up.”
 |
| Mr. Scott Daley holding the April 2014 edition of "The Ring" Magazine where he was ranked in the top ten list |
Mr. Scott explained the “moving up”
Process. In the April edition of The
Ring Magazine, the writer included Floyd Mayweather who has not yet
retired. The list published in April is
a prediction of what would happen if Floyd Mayweather ties Rocky Marciano's
49-0 perfect record.
In May, a list was again published
which included Scott Daley's perfect professional record at retirement. Scott is ranked 8th of professional boxers who retired with perfect
records. The picture below is of the
actual article. Mr. Scott's perfect
professional record is listed as it currently stands (as of October 2015).
To be featured in the “Bible of
Boxing” at all is a considerable achievement.
However the list Mr. Scott is featured in is significant on multiple
levels.
 |
| Scott Daley retired with a professional record of 24 wins and no losses |
"This list transcends time,
place and weight class. Me and Rocky are
the only Americans on the list," he said.
2. Boxers make boxing look much easier than it is
Mr. Scott's record is even more impressive
because all of his professional matches were won by knocking out his
opponents.
After seeing The Ring Magazines, Mr. Scott explained that he is proud that,
“after countless rounds of sparring, I've never been knocked out.”
“That's incredible. To have the power to just punch someone and
knock them out,” I said.
“Well, you don't 'just knock someone out'
Jessie. There is an art to knocking someone
out,” Mr. Scott said. Later, he
explained “It's a long road to get the World Record.” He had over 332 amateur matches prior to
becoming a professional boxer at the age of 17.
 |
| Artwork commemorating the famous September 23, 1952 fight between Jersey Joe Walcott and Rocky Marciano |
Knocking someone out is an art form, and just
like art you need to develop the skills needed to paint that masterpiece, or
draw that picture—like the one above-which depicts one of the greatest boxers
who lived, Rocky Marciano. Marciano won
the fight by knockout, earning the Heavyweight Champion title. Marciano, holds the number one spot on the
list where Mr. Scott is featured.
Marciano holds a record of 49
professional boxing match wins and 0 losses.
 |
| Mr. Scott said this is actually how "Jersey Joe" looked after Rocky Marciano's match winning punch |
Hollywood makes “Knockouts” look
easy. Think about it. How many times have you seen on tv, or in
movies a protagonist punch the bad guy in the jaw knocking him out instantly. For me personally, it's more than I can
count...
3. Womens' Boxing is respected:
 |
| Claressa Sheilds was the only United States Boxing Gold Medalist in the 2012 Olympic Games |
“If it weren't for women's boxing in
the 2012 Olympics, we would have finished with no Olympic Gold Medals, period,”
Scott Daley.
4. Mr.
Phil Daley: A Condensed History
Mr.
Scott introduced me to his father, Mr. Phil Daley. Mr. Phil Daley runs the Daley's Boxing
Gym. You can find out more about the gym
at their website: daleyswarriors.com
 |
| Mr Phil Daley is a Hall of Fame Training Boxer |
 |
| Mr. Phil Daley sparring with his brother Richard. Sparring, Mr. Scott explained, is "practice fighting." |
Mr. Phil Daley began boxing at three
years old. Mr. Scott also began boxing
at the age of three. It's difficult for
me to imagine three-year-olds duking it
out in a boxing ring. Currently, a child
must be at least 8 years old before they can begin training as a boxer.
Back in the day, boxing was more
prevalent in schools. Mr. Phil's high
school had a boxing team. He was
competitively successful and earned a boxing scholarship.
 |
| Mr. Phil's scholarship to college which he earned after winning first place at a boxing rally |
Later, Mr. Phil, served his country
by joining the Marine Corps.
Private Phil Daley won the fight
(pictured above) in the first round in 26 seconds. Back when Mr. Phil was in the service, the
boxing matches would generally last three rounds. Mr Scott explained that he was a Marine.
. Parris Island is perhaps most
recognized, by civilians at least, as the setting for Stanley Kubrick's film, Full
Metal Jacket.
Mr. Scott said a few years ago, some
of his relatives who were in the service called to say that “Uncle Phil still
had the fastest knockout record in the Marine Corps.” In every branch of the military, they have a
boxing team, to this day.
“The gravity of that, holding the
fastest record on Parris Island. Do you
have any idea how many Marines come through Parris Island for boot camp? Do you understand the gravity of that
record? It is an extraordinary thing to
think about how many service men have boxed on their boxing team,” Mr. Scott
said.
5. Promoting of Boxers: Good, bad and sometimes incredibly shady dealings
Phil Daley would promote boxing events in Lake
Charles, Louisiana. He was a big time
promoter back in the day before there were matches broadcast on Showtime and
four different ESPN channels.
 |
This is a smaller professional boxing
promotion. Mr. Phil Daley has promoted
large events which have even aired on HBO and were filmed at the Civic Center in Lake Charles,
Louisiana!
“A lot goes into promoting a boxer. You're the manager, you're the trainer,
you're the promoter. It's a 3 part
job. Back in the day, I was managed,
trained and promoted by my Dad.” Mr. Scott said.
To understand the intricacies of promoting
boxers, Mr. Scott suggested I watch the movie Rocky 5.
“It's the worst Rocky movie in the series but
it's true to life in that sense,” he said.
Like a Rocky Film, the real world has it's
villains. Mr. Scott shared a story about
the dark side of promoting boxers.
One night, the well-known boxing promoter, Don
King took boxer Hector Camacho, AKA
Macho Camacho, to the tenth floor, the top floor, of a building. Don King knew that Camacho had a weakness for
nice sports cars. King handed Camacho a
boxing contract as a red Ferrari pulled up to the building. Camacho signed the contract agreeing to fight
under King's representation. Just three
months later, Camacho finds out the Ferrari was a leased vehicle. It was all a trick. The Ferrari was just a prop used to coerce
Camacho to sign the contract.
“Believe me.
Don King. Everybody knows Don
King. He's a promoter. He's the most unscrupulous person in the
world. I mean, you've got good guys, like
Bob Arum. Oscar De La Hoya, he's
a good guy but then you got the Don Kings, the list goes on and on of the bad
guys,” Mr Scott said.
A promoter who Mr. Scott refers to as “the
richest man I ever met” traveled all the way to Ragley, Louisiana to attempt to
sign Mr. Scott and his brother to contracts which Mr. Scott explained “were not
copacetic.” This wealthy promoter
enticed boxers with promises of money and fame.
“A lot of boxers would have jumped for that,”
Mr. Scott said.
Mr. Scott and his brother turned down the
promoters offer. Mr. Scott was managed,
trained and promoted by his father.
“I wouldn't have it any other way,” Mr. Scott
said.
6. Every professional Boxer has a “Boxing Name.”
A unique tradition in the Boxing community is to
give boxers a “Boxing Name.”
“My Dad's favorite fighter was Joe
Louis from the era before Muhammad Ali. Joe Louis was known as 'The Brown
Bomber.' I'm proud to be named after
'The Brown Bomber.' He is one of
boxing's all-time greatest fighters. He
was a very humble man—he was in the service, he served his country. Joe Louis was an all around great guy,” Mr.
Scott said.
 |
| Pictures of Scott "Blonde Bomber" Daley |
The tradition of the boxing name is not limited to boxers, but also may include their coaches as well.
 |
| A door in the gym labeled with Philip Daley's boxing names that he has acquired throughout the years. |
7. Every
professional boxer needs a great boxing song
There is a special characteristic of
professional boxing matches which sets the atmosphere apart from amateur boxing matches. All professional boxers enter the ring to a
signature piece of music.
“You've got to pick out your song before you
make that first [professional] entrance.
Amateurs, they don't have songs.
You just line up everybody just jump in jump out. “You win, get out. You
win get out” Mr. Scott said.
The entrance song Mr. Scott chose was Bad to the
Bone by George Thorogood & The Destroyers.
“Every time I hear that song to this day, it
puts me climbing back through those ropes and doing what I've always done,” Mr.
Scott said.
8. Boxing
Builds Confidence Which Transcends the Ring
Mr. Scott introduced me to a long time friend,
named Cloyde Kimble. Kimble's boxing
name is “Rev” because of his work as a Reverend. His work requires frequent travel, however,
when he is in Lake Charles he visits The Daley Boxing Gym. Rev and Mr. Scott have been friends since
they were both 25 years old.
Rev and his wife Latonya visited the boxing gym
so that he could “work pads” with Mr. Scott.
“Working pads” is a level of conditioning for boxers.
I learned there are three levels of training
which boxers complete prior to actually competing in the ring. The first step is bagwork. After a boxer is proficient in punching
punching bags, they will graduate to pad work.
The picture below shows the Rev completing a combination of pad
work. A coach like Mr. Scott will yell
out various moves which Rev will complete.
It's hard work and a great workout.
The third step of training is sparring which is practice fighting.
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| I had so many pictures but these guys were sparring faster than my camera could keep up! I didn't want to include any blurry pictures. I need to upgrade to a camera that is between what I have which I lovingly refer to as my "Sassy Grandmother at the Christmas Concert Camera" in between somewhere to "Nationally Geographic capturing the wingspan of the "Ruby Throat Hummingbird |
After Mr. Scott and Mr. Kimble were finished
with the pad work I had the chance to ask Rev a few questions. He explained to me what inspired him to
pursue boxing.
“I was in Middle School and I walked into the
bathroom and four football players picked me up and started to put me in the
toilet. After that, I watched
boxing. Scott and I met and bonded” Rev
said.
It's hard to picture someone like Mr. Kimble,
being bullied by anyone, especially after seeing him complete a round of pad
work.
“When I was younger, people used to pick on
me. I used to walk in fear, but not any
more,” Rev said.
Mr. Scott explained that Rev has taken boxing
“more serious than most.” He comes to
the gym and takes notes.
In addition to boxing, Mr. Kimble is a retired
six degree Black Belt.
It's clear that boxing has instilled confidence
in Mr. Kimble which translates outside of the ring.
“I went
to his service and felt like it was James Brown. Reverend tops the chart,” Mr. Scott said.
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| The Rev and his wife Latonya. Latonya comes to the gym to support her husband. |
9. Hollywood
and the “Cowboy Party”
After I learned about "The Ring
Magazine" article, Mr. Scott showed me this picture taken at a party which
was thrown by his Agent Steve Stevens and his wife Rosemary.
 |
| The man second from the left is none other than Mr. George Takei (circa. 1988 or 1989) |
Mr. Scott, partied with THE MR.
SULU! Mr. Scott said that this picture
which was taken in 1988 or 1989 at a party for Mr. Scott which was thrown by
his agent and his agent's family. The
party was attended by actors from the tv series Star Trek—James Doohan
(Montgomery Scott), Walter Koenig (not pictured), and George Takei. Mr. Scott lived between Los Angeles and Las
Vegas at the time and met them at a party.
This means that the degree of separation from me, Jessie, to Mr. George
Takei has decreased to ONE! This is a
big deal.
“Why are you all wearing cowboy
hats,” I asked?
“I was from the swamp, I was the
only country person at the country party.
They had crawfish at the party...it stuck in my memory. Every day is a festival in Louisiana, in LA,
it is a different breed. That particular
party was a cowboy party,” he said.
I am embarrassed to say that prior to Mr. Scott's story about the
awesome cowboy party and Scott's agent, I had assumed that in Hollywood it was
a fend-for-yourself kind of place. I am
happy that this is another stereotype that has been debunked because of M2M!
At the time, Scott was boxing with
Tin Goose Boxing. Mr. Stevens built a
gym in his garage so that Scott had a place where he could train for
matches. Mr. Scott also trained Mr.
Stevens' son.
“They are family to me. You never forget the people who were good to
you. I was a country boy from Ragley,
Louisiana in Hollywood. They took me
in,” he said.
10. The
Legend Continues:
Boxing is a big part of Mr. Scott's life, but
the most important is his family.
Mr. Scott is a father of 12
children.
“I've had twins twice, and I've adopted 3
children,” he said. He is also the
grandfather of 2 children.
Mr. Scott had a special request regarding this
blog post. He wanted to include his two
eldest son's because, “Without their
assistance and with me having Parkinson's disease I wouldn't be able to do the
things I do... These guys hold the pads
for them, spar with them, assist me and I can't help everybody every second,” he
said.
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| Brothers Trinity Daley(pictured left) and Blake Daley (pictured right) |
I spoke with two of his sons, Trinity and Blake
Daley. Trinity and Blake are both
currently enrolled at Sowela Technical Community College in Lake Charles, LA and
are studying to be electricians. They
are signed to professional boxing contracts and will both be making their
professional boxing debuts soon.
“They've got their man strength. So now’s the time to make the move into the
pro ranks with them,” Scott said.
Until then, Trinity and Blake stay busy with
school, family and helping at the gym.
They both agreed teaching boxing students is one of their favorite parts
of boxing.
Both Trinity and Blake stress that they do not
teach kids how to be bullies.
“Half the little kids are like 'Oh, I've got a
grudge against so-and-so, I want to beat them up.' You tell them, that's not what you want to
do. You come, we'll teach you how to fight in case you want to get in the ring
and do it as a sport. It teaches
you to protect yourself if someone was
picking on you. But we don't encourage
them to go beating up on people and bullying. We are the exact opposite of
that. We don't want them bullying but
as far as protecting themselves, we want them to be able to do that. I have a son myself. He is only two now but I certainly want him to
be able to protect himself and not be a bully,” Trinity said.
“Is there a pressure that comes with having the
Daley last name,” I asked?
Blake and Trinity laugh.
“Don't lose. We don't come to lose, we come to win. We
come to fight. Unless we get ripped off
but we don't look to go to decision, Blake said.”
Trinity agreed that there is a pressure of
having the Daley last name but the pressure is a motivating factor and a source
of pride.
“You know of course there is [pressure]. Everybody expects you—'Oh that's that Daley
boy. Don't mess with him.' It's a good feeling,” Trinity said.
I asked Trinity and Blake if there was a
stereotype they would like dispelled about the boxing community.
Blake explained the stereotype he would like to
break is the image that boxers are domestically violent.
“[The stereotype] that we beat women. You know what I mean. Floyd Mayweather—There's big time boxers that
have done various things like they beat up anyone on the street. They'll beat up on anyone just because they
can. You got people like that that beat
on women. It's not cool,” Blake said.
“It doesn't
spell the same for everybody. We're not
all like that,” Trinity said.
I asked Trinity what stereotype he would like
eliminated.
“Ignorance.
You see a lot of these guys, I hate to name names. Floyd
[Mayweather]—I've seen videos where he can't read. I've seen a lot of boxers get up there and
they don't sound like the brightest people.
Me and Blake are both High school graduates, going to college,” Trinity
said.
Mr. Scott
expressed his dislike of the “knucklehead” stereotype. After Mr. Scott retired from competing as a
boxer, he earned a bachelors degree from McNeese State University.
“I may be a knucklehead but I'm an educated
knucklehead,” Mr. Scott said.
Mr. Scott agreed that these stereotypes need to
be broken.
“Right now in the world of boxing...you've got
lawyers who are professional boxers.
You've got the two doctors I mentioned earlier, the Klitschko's. It
isn't just for knuckleheads anymore.
They don't call it the 'sweet science' for nothing...You've gotta have a
strategy. And if that strategy isn't
working you've got to be able to change your strategy on a dime. I don't know many knuckleheads who can do
that,” Scott said.
I asked Mr. Scott if he had any final
statements.
“I love my boys and I'm their biggest fan,” he
said.
In Conclusion...
 | |
| I feel a little like "Gracie Lou Freebush." If you don't know what I'm talking about--watch the movie Miss Congeniality. You are welcome. |
When Mr. Scott showed me his record
in print in The Ring Magazine, he said, "The boxing world never forgets
you but the rest of the world forgets.”
I think that sentiment rings true
for many activities—It's hard for outsiders to appreciate the successes and
achievement that take place. I am an
outsider of the boxing community.
However, I learned so much at the Daley Boxing Gym that I felt like I
left an amazing museum! I hope the Daley family will consider opening a museum
about boxing some day. There is so much history, literally on these walls, it
needs to be shared. I have a vivid
imagination, I know, but it's really not a stretch for me to envision
elementary school students visiting the gym for an educational, engaging lesson
about the boxing community. I know if I
could travel in time, 3rd grade Jessie, with her ridiculously heavy keychain
backpack, would have LOVED the opportunity to visit here on a field trip.
Speaking of keychains, as I was
getting into my car, leaving the gym, Mr. Scott waved to me. He stopped to thank me for visiting and gave
me this.
My very own boxing keychain!
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