I came up through the amatuers in the STL program. There used to be the saying, "if you can win in STL, then you can win anywhere."
That doesn't hold true anymore, and that statement was most accurate in the mid to late
80's. Even when I was an amatuer from 89 - 94 (took a break to finish college) we still had plenty of fights. The STL golden gloves would have 300-400 boxers. Every "community center" had a boxing program funded by the city. It helped too that one of the Budweiser execs was a huge supporter. STL teams always had the best uniforms, warm-ups, got the biggest trophies. As a young fighter, that stuff was great.
Boxing has slowly declined with the budget cuts that face all govt programs.
Buddy Shaw, Kenny Loehr, and Ben Stewart are/were all national level coaches. Ben coached at the Wellston rec center - not a nice area. Ken Loehr runs the program at the 12th & Park rec center. That is a mixed/decent spot. Buddy - one of my old trainers - used to coach at the Cochran Community Center. Since he is training Cory Spinks, I'm not sure where he may have moved his operation. If you are living across the river in Illinois, Terry Davis runs a gym in Madison, IL. I knew him from my amateur days, and his son Ryan and I shared a dressing room when I fought Audley Harrison in Vegas. Good guys.
