DETROIT, MI -- As he sits in his black Ralph Lauren jacket waiting for his interview, 14-year-old David Davis of Detroit doesn't look to be the most imposing individual that you could lay eyes on.

With his sharp looking black-framed glasses and his 4-foot-10 slim physique, it is all the more astounding that Davis is a national champion boxer.

Sitting on the lonely Saint Aubin Street in Detroit, the small building known as the Downtown Boxing Gym has been the home to Detroit youth like Davis for many years now. Welcoming children raised in a city where outsiders are likely to write them off as future trouble makers, the Downtown Boxing Gym has been shaping those coming through its doors into capable young adults ever so modestly.

With Davis being the studious, soft-spoken and lightweight size that he is, boxing has changed his life from being a potential target to bullies or gangs to a confident individual who uses his head before his fists.

"To be honest, if I hadn't been here, I think that I would probably be in trouble," Davis said. "I would probably be hanging in the wrong crowd."

He doesn't have to worry about making time for school work during the school year because the tutors at the gym offer help to keep him sharp and on top of his homework.

"Before I came to the gym, I used to get into trouble a lot," Davis said. "My grades weren't so good. I was borderline a 2.0. Ever since I started coming here, it hasn't been nothing but 3.5's, 3.0's and up."

Looking to join the club when he was just 10 years old, Davis initially received a lot of opposition from his mother, Sheba McKinney. After all, it would only be natural for a parent to be wary about letting a child spend an afternoon sparring with other kids.

Finally giving in after saying "no" to her son a few times, McKinney began to see the positive impact that the gym was having on her son.

"I started coming more often because I was driving him back and forth," McKinney said. "I was watching him and grew to appreciate it more."

Downtown Boxing Gym 8 Gallery: Downtown Boxing Gym

Davis and his mother quickly learned that boxing is a very intense sport with high expectations. As the kids put themselves through the gauntlet and stuck with it, it began to shape the character of each one.

"The ones that do come back, you can see that they are really, really dedicated." McKinney said. "It's truly a hard sport. The training is brutal. They're running outside and doing I don't know how many jumping jacks. After sparring in the ring, they might workout again."

Although Davis may have joined the gym because the thought of being a boxer sounded cool in a number of ways, he quickly found that it is more than just letting his fists fly.

"Boxing isn't just people trying to kill each other," Davis said. "When you box, you learn how to be disciplined. You exercise your body so you keep your body in shape. Those are the main two components."

The Ringleader

Surrounded by vacant lots with abandoned work buildings slowly fading away in the area just east of I-75 and south of I-94, the nonprofit Downtown Boxing Gym hardly resembles the typical American Dream. The tall fence topped with barbed wire that surrounds the small, gated parking lot of the gym is a stark reminder that there is more to keep out than the overgrown golden waves of grass across the street.

But for Carlo Sweeney, his rough-around-the edges gym is a dream realized. A large hand-painted logo of a winged shield is proudly displayed with "Detroit Boxing Gym" framing it for all to see. The silhouette of the GM building is in the center of the shield to show Detroit pride.

After walking in through a door with a fenced-off window with the words "Train Hard" painted at the top, you enter into a dimly lit training room with a ring in the far right hand corner and a row of punching bags lining the front wall.

Yet, as dim as the place may be, it is filled with the bright personality of Sweeney, who is known as "Khali" to everyone. Since getting the gym to be operational back in 2005, Sweeney has lived and breathed the Downtown Boxing Gym.

"It wasn't going to cost anyone anything," Sweeney said. "Basically, I was using all of my savings to do it. It was my own money so I had the freedom to do what I wanted to do at that time. And that's what I chose to do – to start my own boxing program."

Every dime, nickel and penny that Sweeney has made since opening the gym has gone right back into keeping the program alive. He has never been a guy with a lot of money or time to spare.

Growing up, Sweeney was a fighter in every sense of the word. Through his younger years, Sweeney was struggling to find his place in the world.

"I was a kid that needed direction," Sweeney said. "So some people saw me and told me, 'Why don't you channel that energy you have into something positive? Channel that energy.' So they set out to try and mold me and to show me how to turn that energy into something."

That something happened to be boxing. As a young man who was willing to spare with anyone, Sweeney began to have his skills refined in the gym and the ring. Yet, as restless as Sweeney was in his younger years, the discipline required to be a true boxer took a long time to grasp.

"Mentally, I wasn't ready," Sweeney said. "I was in and out of the gym. In and out, in and out. Later on, I thought to myself, OK, if I'm not going to be 100-percent committed to it – I harnessed the energy and retained the knowledge of it."

Later in his teen years, Sweeney had to take care of those he lived with who had become his family. Unfortunately, good work is hard to find for a guy from the city who never completed school.

"The people that were taking care of me, there was no money," Sweeney said. "So it was like, 'OK, you need to work. You don't have time for this. I was out of school. That means you have to work. Nobody is going to take care of a kid who didn't finish school."

By the time Sweeney was about 18, it was already time to leave boxing behind. Providing for family became the priority.

"I had to start working to feed my family and take care of myself," Sweeney said. "So that dream (of boxing) went down the drain for me. It was all about working and surviving at that point."

Building a foundation

Because of the difficulty Sweeney had making ends meet throughout his life and because of the lack of education, he wanted to make sure that none of the kids that come through his gym doors would ever have to worry about that.

With all of the physical training offered in the gym, it also offers one-on-one tutoring where the kids can receive help on homework assignments and lessons given at school.

"The way things are setup, if you don't have an education, you don't have anything," Sweeney said. "We all know that inner-city kids are graduating with an eighth grade education. Suburban kids are graduating with a first-year college education. So when you fill out a job application, who is going to get the better job?"

If Sweeney was going to let his gym have any chance at accomplishing everything he wanted it to, he was going to need some help.

That is where Jessica Hauser comes in. After working with youth at Birmingham Public Schools and in a number of other programs, Hauser found her way to the Downtown Boxing Gym over three years ago and helped get the program rolling as a nonprofit organization. Once Hauser got the gym squared away, the process of bringing in more tutors for the kids began.

"We brought in four tutors to help build the academic programing," Hauser said. "We had to start building a board of directors ... Really, it was just starting to network with other foundations or other organizations and businesses. Really letting people know that we're here so that we could be successful."

Before long, Hauser was taking over many of the administrative work and is now the Chief Administration Officer of the gym. She instantly saw the impact that the gym was having on the youth that came through its doors.

"When you hear (the children) talk about it, it's like a family to them," Hauser said. "Seeing that their school is not intimidating and that (the kids) have a place to come and work on all of their school stuff, they start to enjoy it."

Suddenly, kids began achieving and more and more kids found a home at the gym. There was only one issue: How much longer will the gym remain a haven for the youth of the city?

Staying until the end

Of course, nothing ever comes easy for a new business in Detroit. For Sweeney, the constant threat of being closed down is in the back of his mind. Despite putting his entire livelihood into the gym and the efforts to raise money, Sweeney continues to press on.

"Every single day, I'm scared that it's going to close down," Sweeney said. "Especially right now. Right now, there is no money, period. I have no savings left."

Sometimes struggling to find a light bulb to keep one of his offices lit, it is a very real reminder of how hard it can be to maintain a successful a business in the city where many businesses try to avoid. In the summers, the temperatures inside the gym can be hotter than outside with all of the activity happening. Two open doors and one oscillating fan are on hand to provide little to no relief – especially when it is 95 degrees outside.

As brave of a building the Downtown Boxing gym seems to be, those that are keeping the place going are truly the lionhearted. Given the task of keeping the beloved gym open, Sweeney has to be the unwavering cornerstone to keep his dream standing.

Despite the gym's best efforts to reach out into the community for help, many companies are too wrapped up in its own financial situations to be able to help Sweeney out.

"You have people who say that they want to donate," Sweeney said. "They say they want to participate. They say they want to help. Maybe they want to do it and maybe they are going to do it in their own time. But right now, time is of the essence. It needs to be done now.

Now 41 years old and keeping the gym running for seven years, Sweeney is completely spent in every sense of the word. The load is heavy and needs to be shared.

"We need some real sponsors," Sweeney said. "We need some real committed, dedicated people to come in and try and help us save this program. Or else this will fall to the wayside like everything else."

But even with his many burdens over the years, Sweeney has never lost his fighting spirit and will remain with the gym – even if he is the last one standing.

"I'm a fighter," Sweeney said. "That's what I do: I'm a fighter. There is no question about that. We're going to be here until they close the doors. I'll be here until they take the bulldozer to the place."

Forever a family

The one thing that will never be lost from the gym is the relationships that have been built between the youth and adults that walk through the door every day. The relationships run so deep that many of the members view each other as family. Sweeney even invites fathers to come help coach the children everyday.

"I was raised in a home where I was not related to anyone there," Sweeney said. "To see these guys to come in and work with their fathers – to see fathers in touch with their sons, to see mothers bring their sons and daughters here everyday – I feel good to see that. It's what I always wanted in life."

Growing up with his father coming in and out of his life, Sweeney can see and feel the impact of how having family involved in the growing process can impact a child's life.

"It's hard to put that into words," Sweeney said. "I'm overwhelmed. Whenever I talk about that – to see fathers and mothers working with their kids – it touches a spot in me. People never see or hear that. When I'm home, I really think about that."

For the members, the gym is very much like an oasis, a source of relief from the hazards of the outside world.

Anthony Flagg feels like the gym kept him on the straight and narrow and – like what Sweeney was looking for in his youth as well – gave him a new direction in life and kept him out of trouble.

"I missed a lot of bad things out on the streets," Flagg said. "The gym is a lifesaver ... It's teaching me how to be a man and stay focused on goals. School's important. You realize the important things in life."

For Flagg, now an 18-year-old and recent graduate of Detroit Martin Luther King, the gym is not only an escape from the perils of the world, but also a place where he can fit in. Everyone in the program is willing to go the distance to keep the kids on the straight-and-narrow road of life.

As far as Flagg is concerned, he knows where he will always belong.

"These are my friends," he said. "Nobody else. They all come here and they are all my friends. Our kids from our high school try to come here and be a part of it. They know that if they aren't a part of something like this, they aren't friends with me."

Just as Sweeney supported his family growing up, Sweeney goes the extra mile to take care of his family at the boxing gym. Whether it is giving a kid a ride home or finding some extra equipment for the kids, he'll do it. Both Davis and Flagg are no strangers to Sweeney's willingness to go above and beyond.

"If I need to be picked up from somewhere, he'll pick me up," Davis said about Sweeney. "It makes me feel special and important because I know he believes in me."

When Flagg had holes in his shoes and they were falling apart, Sweeney showed up the next day after he asked for new boxing shoes with replacements. Flagg also praises how far Sweeney goes for the kids and the families to help keep motivation and spirits high.

"He would do anything for the kids," Flagg said. "Pay the bills, keep the lights on, gas. He pays all the bills. He would do stuff for all of the kids to keep a roof over our heads. We've all been around, tethered for long. So I guess he doesn't want to break that family up."

Doing what he can for the kids is simply in Sweeney's nature; although he'll be the first to pass on the credit though he is well deserved of it.

"In order for me to give kids rides or in order for me to buy kids equipment and shoes, I have to have the help of somebody else," he said. "What I do is, if I have the money, I'll just give it to them, that makes no difference to me."

But for the more generous deeds, Sweeney has to do some work on the side to come up with the money.

"Somebody may say, 'OK Khali, come train me today out here at my house or at another gym somewhere,'" Sweeney said. "I would train those people. Probably not making the money that I should be making as a trainer, but I'll do it. Then, I'll donate the money back to the program. I know the people that I'm training, they're doing it just so I can help other people."

With all of the obstacles, equipment, training, tutoring and money issues, Sweeney knows that the greatest accomplishment of his gym transcends the sport of boxing.

"I don't care if they box or not," Sweeney said. "That's not important to me. I want them to graduate from school. I want them to be self-sufficient. I want them to be able to, in any situation, make the best decision without being a follower. I want to create more leaders."

In an even more humbling act of teaching, Sweeney isn't afraid to use his own failures in life as an example to make sure that the kids find their way to reach any goals that they have waiting front of them.

"I went through a lot of pitfalls," Sweeney said. "And I stumbled over them. So when (the kids) say I talk to them, I talk to them about life. Never glorifying anything negative so they'll know to not go down that road."

As the kids continue to move in and out of the program, people like Sweeney will be there to help kids realize their potential in life. Just don't expect Sweeney to take all of the credit.

"I think about it," Sweeney said. "This is bigger than me. It's not just me. It's like, everybody had a part in that. Everybody was in on that. It was something that was deep down inside that was going to succeed anyway. You just needed to focus them in the right direction. I think it was always in the kid from the beginning."

Writer's Note: To make a donation to the club or to find out more information, visit downtownyouthboxing.org.