By TOM HASSLINGER
By TOM HASSLINGER
West Hawaii Today
KAILUA-KONA — Josh Wong, as tiny as a speed bag, wants to even the score.
Wearing boxing gloves as big as his head, the 9-year-old worked a hanging target inside Sonny Westbrook’s gym in round-like intervals, pouring sweat like a pro.
“Hands up, hands up,” Westbrook, a Golden Gloves boxer, star bodyguard and teacher, called out. “Push.”
A horn sounded, and Wong rested. Then the horn sounded and he was back at it.
“His dad, tells me, ‘Oh, these kids, man, if they don’t go to the gym, they get upset,’” Westbrook said of Wong. “You know, I’d rather see them come down to the gym than go somewhere else.”
Somewhere else means ending up nowhere good. Wasting time, finding trouble, that sort of thing. And not just Wong, anybody. It’s the reason Westbrook is still running his gym of 24 years, the no-frills Kona Boxing Club at Old Kona Airport Park.
Westbrook likes offering an outlet where kids learn discipline, hard work and respect for others, which comes from honing the craft of boxing and kickboxing.
“Not all the kids are football players, not all the kids are basketball players. They all find different interests,” said Westbrook, who earned some national fame body-guarding in the realty show, Dog the Bounty Hunter. “That was my thing. And boxing was my thing that got me out of trouble. It made me learn how to take care of myself, and not be afraid of things.”
While he’s been coaching keiki for two decades — boxing himself for 50 years with 170-some bouts to his credit — Westbrook is reaching into a old, new bag of tricks by resurrecting boxing matches for kids. The club is holding its first kickboxing event of the year today at Thelma Parker Gym in Waimea. Fights start at 6:30 p.m. and features fighters from 7 to 17 years old, from Kona, Hilo, Waimea, Kohala, and Honolulu.
It’s been years since tournaments were routinely scheduled but Westbrook wants to give something that will give kids a focused goal — all the more incentive to train. Kona Boxing Club hosted Fight Night last year, and Westbrook and assistant coaches Kaleo Padilla and Bodie Paahana, wants multiple events a year.
Which is where Wong comes in.
He has a score to settle. His fighting record is 0-1 — but that first fight was a while ago when he was still new. Now, with over a year of training under his belt, he’s ready to get his first win on the board.
“It just tells me to worker harder, try harder for this fight,” he said about what he took away from the loss, adding that he’s a little nervous because his opponent today is 3-0.
But he knows what he needs to work on and where he excels.
“I think I need to improve on my breath, cuz I’m usually pretty tired,” he said. “But I think I’m really good with my kicks and moving around.”
Olivia Santini just turned 18 so she will take part in the exhibition matches. Santini works as a security guard and has absorbed all the lessons kickboxing has imparted: Discipline, respect for others and confidence.
“I mean, I’m a girl and I do security but really, if anyone came up to me …,” she said. “He’s taught me so much. I’m like, I’m not scared of anyone. I know how to handle myself.”
Same with Ademar Herredia, 16, who’s learned all the same things and whose confidence was clear.
“I want to win,” he said. “I’m confident I’m going to win.”
It’s exactly what Westbook wants to get across. He’s watched so many former pupils learn, grow, leave, come back, and bring their own families back into his gym. That’s the best part.
“Generation by generation,” he calls it.
Which is the best part.
“It helped me a lot, so I want to pass it on, you know what I mean?” Westbrook said. “I can’t take it with me, I got to pass it on to the kids.”
Tickets: Fights will be for kids 7 to 17 years old. Tickets at the door for ages from 7-12 are $8 and for and 13 years old to adult is $12. Fights will be for kids 7 to 17 years old. Exhibition bouts will take place for those 18 and up.