Down in a small warehouse on South Spruce Street, Dominique Azeez trains youths from ages 8-12 on the fine art of boxing with a big tournament coming to Pine Bluff.
A former professional fighter, Azeez doesn't take the idea of his hometown hosting the Arkansas State Silver Gloves for the second time this calendar year lightly.
"It's real important," Azeez said. "Traveling-wise for us is important, plus it's a big help to our community as well, as far as hotels and restaurants and things like that. It's good to see that we're doing something for the community and somebody cares about the kids."
That's why Azeez got into training young boxers about nine years ago.
"I did boxing when I was young and when I was a professional. Once I finished professional, I didn't have anything to do, so I said, 'OK, I'll just give back to the community,'" he said. "I saw a lot of violence going on in the community, so I just decided to join with the boxing."
Of course, Azeez passed down the finer points to his own children.
Iyahweh Azeez, 11, was a runner-up in his age and weight class at the USA Boxing Junior Olympics earlier this year, and he's looking forward to earning gold at Arkansas' Silver Gloves.
It's the prizes that he likes the most about fighting, by his own admission: "That I get to train really hard and get to earn the trophies and medals and belts," he said.
The sportsmanship in boxing is also important to Iyahweh, whose 8-year-old sister D'Azandria Azeez won her 50-pound division at the Junior Olympics.
In fact, the Azeez Boxing Club excelled at the national championships in Lubbock, Texas, posting a 7-1 record and winning the team trophy. That was after they had won the same prize in June's state Silver Gloves at the Pine Bluff Convention Center with a 6-1 mark.
One key to success in the ring is discipline, according to Anthony Waller, who at 12 is one of Azeez's oldest boxers.
"I learned that discipline is the best way to learn how to box," said Anthony, a USA Boxing runner-up at 93 pounds this year who won a national title at age 8. "You have to listen a lot and pay attention."
Another Pine Bluff club, Gloves Not Guns, is hosting the Silver Gloves, and longtime Coach Albert Brewer received a good report on his boxers on the eve of the tournament.
"My assistant coach went over to the Convention Center where they were setting up the ring, and she was impressed with the kids' focus," Brewer said. "Those kids know it's fight time. They know when to take it serious."
Brewer said the Pine Bluff Advertising and Planning Commission stepped up to fully fund the tournament. The commission last month awarded Gloves Not Guns $44,500 to attract more tournaments leading up to national championships like the Junior Olympics and Silver Gloves, as well as local meets for 2022.
The Silver Gloves championships are open to ages 8-16 with state, regional and national stages. They are similar to the Golden Gloves for older amateurs.
Brewer is elated the Arkansas Local Boxing Commission awarded the state tournament to Pine Bluff for the second time, after a lack of funding forced the Region 6 Silver Gloves, which was originally slated to be held in the city, to be moved to Searcy.
"When I say Pine Bluff is a city with raw talent we haven't touched yet, we're just looking forward to great things with it and hope we can go into a great 2022," Brewer said.