New movie: How a Hall of Fame boxer is changing lives at his Fort Myers gym
Florida Boxing Hall of Famer Steve Canton knows firsthand how boxing can change your life.
“When I was 11, I was starting to get in trouble with kids in the street in New York,” says Canton, 76, of Fort Myers. “The kids weren’t so good. I was actually a gang leader when I was in New York as a young kid. Not so good.”
Then, one day, Canton walked into a police boy’s club in New York City and started boxing. That, along with his ongoing love of baseball, helped him escape the bad influence of those street kids.
It also put him on a track for future success ― included training at least 10 world boxing champs and, as a professional boxer himself, racking up an undefeated streak of 21 wins.
“I liked it,” Canton says. “It gave me focus where I could learn self-respect. You can appreciate others. You can set a goal and achieve it. …
“Between baseball and boxing, that became my focus.”
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Decades later, Canton helps give other kids that same focus at his SJC Boxing, the nonprofit Fort Myers gym that’s now the star of a new documentary premiering Friday, May 19, at the Fort Myers Film Festival.
Since April 2021, Canton has run an SJC mentorship program that takes in at-risk Lee County School District students every day, feeds them, teaches them life lessons and trains them in the “sweet science” of boxing.
The program has mentored 154 kids from 44 different schools since it started.
“We wanted to take kids who were having difficulty in school, whether it be behavior, academics or whatever,” he says, “and give them an outlet to try to help them.”
Canton sees it as his life’s work ― something he's been thinking about a lot more over the years after he almost died of pneumonia in 2007.
“I figured I’ll just help as many people as I can while I’m still in this world,” Canton says. “And when it’s over, it’s over.
“Don’t worry about it: That was my attitude.”
SJC Boxing: Stories of boxing and believing in yourself
Fort Myers filmmaker John Biffar admits he didn’t know much about boxing when SJC’s board of directors commissioned him to make the hour-long documentary “Worth the Fight.” But the Emmy Award-winner soon became fascinated by all the people whose lives were changed by the gym.
“Honestly, it wasn’t boxing that interested me,” he says. “It was really more the stories of these kids.
“One guy referred to himself as, at one time, the biggest coke dealer on Fort Myers Beach and he didn’t want to be that anymore. … Another guy had PTSD and he was a scout sniper in Afghanistan. Boxing kind of saved these kids’ lives.”
Biffar’s documentary follows several of those stories of boxing and transformation. They’re stories Canton knows well.
“These kids are fabulous, the way they turn around,” he says.
Mario Nuñez, for example, was overweight (256 pounds), depressed and drinking too much when he came to SJC Boxing a few years ago to get into shape.
“Now he’s 160 pounds,” Canton says. “He’s won two state titles. And he wants to be an elite trainer and carry on when I’m gone.”
Boxing helped Nuñez conquer his anxiety, he says in the movie. “I’ve always been afraid of life, everything,” Nuñez says. “I’ve always been nervous and anxious.”
The movie also interviews famous boxers Canton has either trained or otherwise worked with, including two-time heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas of Orlando and world middleweight champ Freeman Barr of Naples ― both big believers in SJC's mentorship program. Canton is Barr’s longtime trainer and promoter.
“You have to believe in yourself,” Barr says in the movie. “And that’s what I tell to a lot of kids today. You can be great … I can believe in you, but you have to believe in yourself.”
Biffar says he was impressed with both the nonprofit SJC Boxing and Canton, himself: A boxer, trainer, promoter, ring announcer, TV commentator, judge and part of the 2009 inaugural class of the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.
Canton has trained countless amateur champions and at least 10 professional world champions since he opened SJC Boxing in 1989. He previously racked up an amateur boxing record of 122-3 while serving in the Air Force. And later, as a professional boxer, he went undefeated in 21 fights, including 13 knockouts.
“He never lost a fight,” Biffar says.
It’s all for the kids, Canton says
Now Canton is president of the hall of fame and also runs the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame Museum in three air-conditioned rooms at SJC Boxing. The museum walls display plaques for each inductee and gold-painted plaster casts of their fists, as well as memorabilia such as boxing gloves signed by fight promoter Don King and legendary boxer Jake “Raging Bull” LaMotta.
In addition to that and running the gym, he brings in two to 12 kids every weekday for the mentorship program.
“Steve Canton’s just an awesome guy,” Biffar says. “That guy is just so devoted to these kids.”
SJC’s board of directors commissioned the documentary to spread the word about the mentorship program and also kickstart plans for a legacy trust fund, Canton says. The idea is to keep that program going long after he’s gone.
The movie premieres Friday, May 19, at the Fort Myers Film Festival at Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Then it will be screened Friday, May 26, during a 34th anniversary celebration for SJC Boxing at the gym.
That celebration also includes popcorn, grilled hot dogs and a meet-and-greet with many of the people in the movie. Plus club leaders will talk about their plans for the legacy trust fund.
Despite his central role in the movie, however, Canton downplays his own importance in “Worth the Fight.”
It’s not about him and his long boxing career, he says. It’s really about the kids.
“To me, that’s more important than the professional acclaim,” he says. “I’ve trained many world-champion pros, done all this in professional boxing. That is all irrelevant in comparison to all the kids that benefited from the gym.
“They just came in here and turned their lives around. Their whole lives changed.”
Learn more about SJC Boxing at sjcboxing.com.
— Connect with this reporter: Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. For news tips or other entertainment-related matters, call him at 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him at crunnells@gannett.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), Twitter (@charlesrunnells) and Instagram (@crunnells1).
If you go
What: The documentary “Worth the Fight”
When: The movie premieres at 7 p.m. Friday, May 19, at the Fort Myers Film Festival at Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Then it will be screened at 7 p.m. Friday, May 26, at SJC Boxing.
Where: Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center, 2301 First St., downtown Fort Myers; and SJC Boxing, 4220 Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers.
Admission: $10 for Fort Myers Film Festival, free for anniversary celebration at SJC Boxing
Learn more: sjcboxing.com
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers' SJC Boxing: Movie premieres at Davis film festival
