Pubdate: Wed, 03 May 2006
Source: Midweek, The (IL)
Copyright: 2006 The MidWeek
Contact:  http://www.midweeknews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3747
Author: Diane Strand
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

UP OFF THE MAT

Former Boxer Alphonso Bailey Tells Sycamore Students About Beating 
The Opponent Known As Drug Abuse

Several Sycamore students recently had an opportunity  to listen to 
an inspiring message.

Former amateur and professional boxer Alphonso Bailey  visited 
Sycamore High School on April 21 to talk to the  students about the 
dangers of drugs and alcohol and  about the importance of following 
their dreams and  accomplishing their goals.

Bailey started his presentation by showing a clip of  one of his 
boxing matches that was aired on the USA  Network. He then talked to 
the students about his past  experiences and how he overcame one of 
his toughest  opponents, drug abuse.

Bailey received a football scholarship to attend  Kentucky State 
University; however, his life started to  change while attending 
college. He said his father died  during his sophomore year of 
college, which negatively  effected his life, because he had a close 
relationship  with his father.

"He had a lot of influence in my life, and when he  died, I didn't 
handle it right," Bailey said. "I had no  one to talk to, and I felt 
like my father had deserted  me."

Bailey said, after his father's death, he began hanging  around the 
wrong type of people and began using drugs  and alcohol. He said he 
and his friends also began  robbing stores and participating in other 
types of  criminal activity.

"Doing drugs will take you on another level that you  don't know 
you're on. You think it's cool and everybody  else is doing it, but 
don't get caught up in that...,"  Bailey said. "It's like a snowball 
effect. It keeps  rolling and rolling and gets bigger and bigger. 
Before  you know it, you're in a mess, and this is what 
was  happening to me. I was constantly getting high."

Bailey said he was eventually arrested one day during  football 
practice. He said many of his teammates  watched while he was being 
escorted into a squad car.

"The cops came over, and they handcuffed me. I was  embarrassed. The 
whole team was looking at me, because  I was getting arrested on the 
football field," Bailey  said. "They just put me in the car, and 
little did I  know my life was going to change at that moment."

Bailey was sentenced to 15 years in prison, 10 years in  Kentucky and 
five years in Indiana. Bailey told the  students that despite what 
might be portrayed on  television, prison is not a glamorous lifestyle.

"Prison is a place that I call where bad is considered  good, and 
good is about as good as it's going to  get...," Bailey said. "When I 
got there it was like a  nightmare. Don't believe prison is all this 
stuff you  see on TV, the glamour and the excitement. It's not  like 
that. That's a lie. Prison is bad."

While in prison, Bailey began reading the Bible and  started to 
overcoming some his negative habits.

"When I first got to prison, I cussed real bad. I could  make people 
cry. I had a terrible mouth. So, I tried to  stop cussing for an 
hour, then I stopped cussing for  three hours. Sometimes, I stopped 
cussing for a day.  Pretty soon, it was a week, then it was a 
month,"  Bailey said. "I was developing good habits. Habits 
can  either make you or break you. They can make you strong  or make you weak."

Bailey said, eventually, he also overcame drug and  alcohol use.

"I just quit. I didn't want to do it anymore, because I  looked at 
drugs as something that was taking control of  me. I don't like 
anything having control over me,"  Bailey said. "Drugs take control 
of you, and they had  me doing things you normally don't do and 
saying things  you don't normally say."

While in prison, Bailey became introduced to the sport  of boxing. He 
said he was trained by another inmate  named "Snake," who taught him 
the proper techniques of  the sport.

"'Snake' had two life sentences, but he was one of the  greatest 
light heavyweights I ever met in my life,"  Bailey said. "He could 
hit real hard. This guy was bad,  and nobody bothered with 'Snake.' 
He was tough, and he  was my trainer, and he showed me all kids of 
tricks, and I got really good."

Bailey began to fight as an amateur boxer while in  prison. Two years 
and nine months into his sentence,  Bailey was released from prison 
and sent to Louisville,  Ky to train as an amateur boxer.

"When you put positive things into positive things,  you're going to 
get positive results, and I felt like I  did a lot of positive things 
during that time in my  life, which turned it around, and I got a lot 
of  positive results," Bailey said.

During his amateur career, Bailey participated in a  national 
tournament in Indianapolis. Bailey said, even  though he did not win 
the tournament, he defeated the  top-ranked junior middleweight boxer 
in the country. He  said, about two weeks after the tournament, a 
boxing  magazine named him the number one junior 
middleweight  amateur boxer in the country.

"That was one of the most positive times in my life,  because I 
remembered when I was leaving prison, I was  telling the guys the 
next time they are going to see me  is in a boxing magazine or 
fighting on USA or ESPN," he  said.

Bailey was named to the USA International Boxing Team  about nine 
months after he was released from prison. He  said competing on the 
USA team was a positive  experience in his life.

"We were fighting the Russians in Buffalo, New York,  and they had 
our team in the middle of the ring with  the American flag, and we 
were all holding the flag,  and I started crying, and several guys on 
the team  looked at me and said, 'Why are you crying?' I said,  'You 
guys don't know where I was nine months ago.'  You're life could be 
going bad one day, and it could be  going great the next," he said.

Bailey later became a professional boxer. He ended his  career with a 
17-3-2 record with eight knockouts.  Bailey told the students to 
follow their dreams and to  never give up on themselves.

"Keep dreaming. Keep your imagination growing. It's an  awesome thing 
to have dreams, and always try to stay  young," Bailey said. "I 
always try to stay young,  because I know I'm always in a position to 
grow. Whenever you stay young, you're always in a position to  grow."

Bailey is currently an ordained minister in Indiana. He  conducts 
presentations at schools, churches and jails  throughout the country 
to encourage people to stay away  from drugs and to make positive 
choices in their life.

"This is my passion. This is my life," Bailey said. "I  felt I was 
called to the ministry."

Bailey recently completed a documentary about his life  entitled 
"Down But Not Out." Bailey said he revisited  the places where he 
grew up as a child and the prison  in Kentucky while filming the documentary.

"It brought back a lot of memories, and I had to relive  that all 
over again," Bailey said. "Even by telling the  story, I'm back there 
once again."
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