Behind the Door of the large, steel building at the Village Oaks Apartments you will find Curtis Cokes: Hall of Fame Boxer and former Welterweight Champion of the World.
Curtis is a jolly man; fun-loving and regularly joking with those he knows well. He's got stories you would hear from your grandfather. Stories of the old days and stories of how things used to be. He was once a Harlem Globe Trotter. He also played baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. He's a simple man and well respected - feared, in a reverent sort of way - by those he trains.
He jokes he chose boxing because the guys who played basketball were too tall. His mother got him involved in boxing at the YMCA when he was 17. Four years later he turned pro. He boxed all over the world, well known for how he trained and his mean right arm. The young guys who train in his gym still talk about his right arm as if it were a legend.
Curtis Cokes held the welterweight champion title from 1966 to April of 1969. He left professional boxing in 1972 and opened The Home of Champions gym in Dallas to train young men. The gym was eventually moved to Village Oaks Apartments in South Dallas, where he still coaches today.
Home of Champions is home to champions - several actually. Curtis coaches athletes in his gym who have won world titles, and could win more. His gym has even seen the likes of Holyfield train in the ring. And, he presently has two guys he believes will win their weight class in the Golden Gloves of Dallas this year. Then, they will turn pro.
Curtis cares for the guys he trains. He wants the best for them, like a father. Boxing to Curtis Cokes is not just a sport but also a tool. His mother put him in boxing for discipline and character building. To help him become a man. Now, Curtis is doing the same with the young men who come to be trained by one of the best. His legacy is not just a great, Hall of Fame boxer, but also a good man. And, he wants to help young men grow to be good men, too.
-- Will Dowell
