Jimmy Young in trouble.
Posted: 13 Oct 2004, 12:21
I've read on other Boxing and non-Boxing Websites that former Heavyweight challenger Jimmy Young is in trouble with the law as well as his long running problems with drink and drugs. I don't know many details but Jimmy seems to be in a very bad way.
There is a bit more info on The CBZ but I also found this-
When he was boxing in the 1980s, Alex Ramos used to work out at Joe Frazier's Gym in Philly. He would run into heavyweight Jimmy Young there sometimes.
"When I was growing up I loved Jimmy Young. He was one of my favorites," Ramos said. "He was still boxing and he'd come through the gym and it was great to see him. But you could tell he had a drinking problem. Later I heard he had started drinking more and had started using drugs."
Ramos, who grew up in the Bronx, developed a drinking problem himself and needed the help of several people to get clean and sober. So, when he heard that Young's problem had landed him in legal trouble, Ramos used all the resources available to him through the Retired Boxers Foundation to track him down in Philadelphia and get him some help.
Boxing is the only major sport in which the participants don't have pensions or health benefits. There are a couple of unions trying to establish themselves and sign up boxers, who are independent contractors, so that pensions and health benefits can be provided in the future. But that doesn't help those like Young. Good thing there are people out there like Ramos, a middleweight contender who retired in 1994.
"The unions are a good idea, but they can't help everyone, and when guys sign up for the union how many of them do you think will get fights on TV?" Ramos said. "I've been in this game for 30 years and I'm going to be a fighter until I die. I'm working to help fighters. I'm not going to go to my grave saying what they should have, would have or could have done for somebody. I'm going to do all I can."
Six years ago, Ramos helped form the Retired Boxer Foundation. Jacquie Richardson, a grant writer from Simi Valley, Calif., helped him raise funds. Richardson has raised more than $8.5million in funds for children's charities. It's much easier to get money to help children than to help people who beat up other people for a living. But Ramos said Richardson has worked miracles for the foundation, which operates on $25,000 a year.
The foundation does things like help boxers find attorneys, doctors, housing, get counseling for drug and alcohol addictions. They found an attorney who helped former U.S. Olympic boxing gold medalist Andrew Maynard get military benefits and a job helping boxers in Colorado. Ramos said they're looking at finding doctors for former heavyweight champ Leon Spinks.
Ramos said he doesn't ask a ton of questions when boxers come to him for help.
"I'm like the emergency room doctor," Ramos said. "A guy comes into the emergency room with a bullet wound. The doctor isn't asking him how he got it or why he got it. The doctor takes care of the bullet wound and patches the guy up. I don't ask questions. I help who I can and I don't care whose fault it is that they're in the situation they're in."
I hope Jimmy Young gets the help he needs and fast, he was such a talented fighter and I've heard from many sources a really nice guy.
There is a bit more info on The CBZ but I also found this-
When he was boxing in the 1980s, Alex Ramos used to work out at Joe Frazier's Gym in Philly. He would run into heavyweight Jimmy Young there sometimes.
"When I was growing up I loved Jimmy Young. He was one of my favorites," Ramos said. "He was still boxing and he'd come through the gym and it was great to see him. But you could tell he had a drinking problem. Later I heard he had started drinking more and had started using drugs."
Ramos, who grew up in the Bronx, developed a drinking problem himself and needed the help of several people to get clean and sober. So, when he heard that Young's problem had landed him in legal trouble, Ramos used all the resources available to him through the Retired Boxers Foundation to track him down in Philadelphia and get him some help.
Boxing is the only major sport in which the participants don't have pensions or health benefits. There are a couple of unions trying to establish themselves and sign up boxers, who are independent contractors, so that pensions and health benefits can be provided in the future. But that doesn't help those like Young. Good thing there are people out there like Ramos, a middleweight contender who retired in 1994.
"The unions are a good idea, but they can't help everyone, and when guys sign up for the union how many of them do you think will get fights on TV?" Ramos said. "I've been in this game for 30 years and I'm going to be a fighter until I die. I'm working to help fighters. I'm not going to go to my grave saying what they should have, would have or could have done for somebody. I'm going to do all I can."
Six years ago, Ramos helped form the Retired Boxer Foundation. Jacquie Richardson, a grant writer from Simi Valley, Calif., helped him raise funds. Richardson has raised more than $8.5million in funds for children's charities. It's much easier to get money to help children than to help people who beat up other people for a living. But Ramos said Richardson has worked miracles for the foundation, which operates on $25,000 a year.
The foundation does things like help boxers find attorneys, doctors, housing, get counseling for drug and alcohol addictions. They found an attorney who helped former U.S. Olympic boxing gold medalist Andrew Maynard get military benefits and a job helping boxers in Colorado. Ramos said they're looking at finding doctors for former heavyweight champ Leon Spinks.
Ramos said he doesn't ask a ton of questions when boxers come to him for help.
"I'm like the emergency room doctor," Ramos said. "A guy comes into the emergency room with a bullet wound. The doctor isn't asking him how he got it or why he got it. The doctor takes care of the bullet wound and patches the guy up. I don't ask questions. I help who I can and I don't care whose fault it is that they're in the situation they're in."
I hope Jimmy Young gets the help he needs and fast, he was such a talented fighter and I've heard from many sources a really nice guy.