Javy Martinez Pro Boxer Albany NY Great Article about Javy Martinez Below by Pete Iorizzo of the TU The night he awoke in a hospital bed surrounded by doctors and his mother, his life threatened by yet another poor decision for whom he could blame no one but himself, Javy Martinez vowed to change. One more chance, the 14-year-old boy told himself, and he'd devote his life to steering teenagers away from the kind of childhood he now regretted. He'd already had second, third, fourth chances. But this one, he promised, he'd make count. At the time, Martinez had yet to discover boxing, a sport that in the coming years would play a critical role in helping him keep that promise. That's why Friday at the downtown Albany Crowne Plaza, where he'll fight as a professional for the first time -- and maybe the only time -- Martinez is giving one-third of his purse to charity. "I hope that by doing this someone's life is better because of mine, even if only a little bit," says Martinez, who estimates he'll give about 00 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The fight's promoters, Ares Promotions, will match his contribution. Martinez works in the Colonie Youth Court system as a program assistant, mentoring troubled teens. He got the job after having been through the system himself. Martinez now is considered one of the program's successes, but that outcome wasn't always so certain. In 2001, Martinez and his friend were about 13 years old and mostly ignorant of the anthrax scare ...
Tags: Javy Martinez, Jim Cardinal
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