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Violence is down in Philadelphia. At least that’s what the numbers say.
From the start of the year to mid-September, homicides are 20% lower than they were at the same point in 2025. Shooting victim rates are down 30%. Total violent crime is down 3%. The numbers are promising. Philadelphia wants to keep them that way with the help of an initiative investing in local boxing gyms.
The initiative sends roughly $300,000 to seven recreation center gyms in the Philadelphia area to provide stipends to coaches that are often volunteers, help gyms buy better equipment and teach coaches proper training practices.
“If we have twice as many punching bags, that’s twice as many young people we can reach,” said Colin Brady, a member of the USA Boxing board of directors, who was a speaker at a Wednesday press conference unveiling the initiative.
Named “Beyond the Bell,” the initiative comes in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and two local organizations that support youth sports programming: Open Door Abuse Awareness Prevention and the Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative, which will provide infrastructure and support.
“‘Beyond the Bell’ really kind of encompasses that in terms of it’s not only what’s happening within the ring; it’s what you’re building on top of that as well,” said Becca Fagan, chief program and evaluation officer with PYSC.
It’d be hard to talk about boxing without mentioning Philadelphia. Most of the “Rocky” franchise was notably filmed in Philadelphia. Boxing legend and North Philly native Joe Frazier has a statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia renamed 52nd Street as Muhammad Ali Way in 2019 to honor the boxing icon who trained and lived in Philadelphia in the early 1970s.
A 2016 count of Philadelphia recreation centers with boxing programs lists 12 gyms, which would put the city on par with Chicago, per capita. While there is an unwritten rule in boxing to not use the skills you work on outside the gym, boxing is a violent sport. To be good at boxing you have to be good at hitting someone. ODAAP said it wants to make sure young people’s involvement in boxing doesn’t lead to violence outside the ring.
“Most people do boxing and football because they’ve been told they have anger issues and to use these two sports to get it out. They are intentionally courting their kids to this violent sport because they’re angry. What does that equal? More violence,” said ODAAP founder and former football coach Valencia Peterson. “So you have to teach coaches to stop that, to de-escalate that.”
Coaches in gyms receiving investment from the city as part of the initiative will receive a 12-week course from ODAAP teaching them how to recognize and properly coach kids with trauma rather and create an environment that doesn’t encourage violence.
A study published in the Sociology of Sport Journal found that individuals who played heavy-contact sports regularly and dropped out were particularly associated with committing acts of violence. ODAAP says better coaching can keep kids in sports and away from violence.
Just past the lobby of South Philly’s Marian Anderson Recreation Center, where the press conference was held, through a pair of open doors and inside a warm, busy boxing gym, 30-year-old Qwadir Womack was working up a sweat. He comes to the gym almost every day with his 7-year-old son and has been training to reach his dreams of being a world champion. He’s been boxing since he was 17 after his dad told him it might help him stop fighting. He says he just got out of prison after a five-year stint for aggravated assault.
“Not having somebody to look up to or something positive to look forward to, it led me to prison,” said Womack. “That’s why I think it’s so important that these kids have someone to look up to.”
