Fremont Wreckers promotes boxing, teaches young fighters respect and discipline
FREMONT - There’s a small, dark gym in the back room of a near-downtown Fremont building where longtime boxer Joe Laughlin and his wife, Jody Laughlin, are changing the lives of local youth. The Laughlins own Fremont Wreckers Boxing Club, where youths ages 10 to 20 are training for boxing, as well as life.
The Laughlins, who are certified USA Boxing coaches, don’t simply train their boxers how to avoid an uppercut and keep up stamina in the ring. They are teaching them discipline, respect and the importance of preparing for their futures. Every moment in the gym is scheduled, from footwork to water breaks, and their lives outside the gym must reflect the honor they learn inside it.
“We teach them responsibility. If they don’t show up for practice, they better have a good reason,” said Jody, who is training to be one of the few female boxing officials in the sport. “I meet with their school counselors. If they don’t maintain their grades, we kick them out until their grades are brought back up.”
The boxers thrive on the discipline.
“I like this club because I like my coaches. They help me learn, and it’s going to make me successful in life,” said Club Captain Elias Jimenez.
Jimenez to box in Buddy Lauglin Memorial show
Jimenez, 15, will be in a featured bout in the Coach Buddy Laughlin Memorial Boxing Show at Terra State Community College on May 27. The USA Boxing-sanctioned match will feature boxers from across the Midwest competing in Olympic style boxing.
The event will serve as a fundraiser for the club, which trains its boxers free of charge.
Joe’s father, Buddy Laughlin, became owner of the Fremont Wreckers in the 1980s, and Joe took over after Buddy died in 2021. Joe runs the club the same way his father did, with a focus on giving local youth the opportunity to reach a potential they never knew they had.
“My dad never charged kids, and I don’t charge kids,” Joe said. “There are a lot of good kids who can’t afford sports, so I give them a shot here. It’s always been that way.”
Wreckers is a nonprofit operation
Fremont Wreckers is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that relies on fundraisers and donations to exist. On May 13, the club will host a car wash at Advanced Auto to help with club costs. Those funds help keep the doors open for young men like Jimenez, who pushes himself five days a week to mold himself into a champion boxer.
“He runs to practice, and he runs home,” Jody said. “His mom said his whole demeaner has changed — and his grades have improved — since he started coming here.”
Also featured at the Coach Buddy Laughlin Memorial Boxing Show will be 20-year-old Elijah Burkholder, a 2020 Port Clinton High School graduate who will face a 38-year-old boxer in the ring. Burkholder is approaching the match with humble confidence.
“He may have more experience than me, or he might get gassed quicker,” Burkholder said. “I fought a 36-year-old last year and let that get to my head, but in the ring, he was no different than any other.”
Each week, Burkholder returns to the club to train and to help Joe with the younger boxers.
“I have a full-time job, and I just graduated from college, but I help whenever I can. Coach does all this for free, so I try to help,” he said.
Fremont Wreckers will soon offer a Peewee class for kids ages 5 to 9. The club is looking for a larger gym space to accommodate its Olympic-size ring. For now, the boxers practice in a very small room.
“If we had a bigger gym, we could take more kids,” said Jody, who sees firsthand her husband’s influence on the youth. “This is his life. He never gives himself glory, but he won nationals three times.”
The Buddy Laughlin Memorial Boxing Show will be held at Terra State Community College on May 27 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $12 in advance and $15 at the door and are available at Ballville E-Z Shoppe, Genesis Hair Salon, Fremont Athletic Supply, and Big Shots Pub. For more information, call 419-650-0231.
Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Fremont Wreckers Boxing Club emphasizes more than a jab and a stance
