Ear To The Street
Fighting is in His Blood
Keith Holmes is a boxing technician that has never went into the ring without some sort of plan to knock out his opponent. Although, his specific plans were sometimes altered during the course of the fight, Keith still found a systematic approach to win his fights, and more times than not, his plans panned out.
A native born Washingtonian brought into this world at the infamous DC General Hospital, where just getting out of that place as a newborn was like survival of the fittest, Keith was raised in two of the hardest parts of the city, simultaneously, Sheridan Terrace S.E. with his mother Althea Dyson or across town in Northeast at a place called, get this…Paradise. Paradise? Now, that depended on who you were asking.
If you asked Bedford Edwards, a 24 hour a day crackhead, or one of the puff-pocket hustlers roaming the neighborhood, you'd find that they would prefer Paradise over Heaven. You could easily find a $50 rock the size of an 
eighth of an ounce of crack cocaine. Or, you could quickly line your pockets with wads of money during any shift of the day or night. On the other hand, if you were a normal guy, Paradise was hell, and Keith proved his resilience with flying colors by surviving all of the morass of his childhood environment.
As a very young child, Keith was fascinated with boxing. He loved to see a good puncher knock his opponent out, and two of his favorite boxers were Tommy "Hitman" Hearns and Marvin Haglar. He loved Sugar Ray Leonard too, but he fashioned himself behind brawling technicians. His mother encouraged him to get into the ring because she noticed that he really liked putting his pastime into practice on other kids around the neighborhood.
He started boxing at age 7 at Kenilworth Parkside Boxing Gym under Kenny Millard. Keith showed signs of greatness as he
developed into a young man, but the streets were calling him. Traveling out of town to tournaments and the lure of boxing in the Olympics wasn't coveted by the young Keith Holmes, because he had other endeavors that showed promise to fulfill his dreams. Then, in 1985 Keith caught a criminal charge that landed him in Cedar Knoll, the District's juvenile detention center. He spent a year in jail where he reflected on his future, and how it was nearly about to go down the drain for a temporary financial fix.
When Keith returned to the streets, he took a serious look at his boxing career and got down to business. He started training harder and even went to more tournaments. He finished his amateur career 75 W – 9 L then went pro at the age of 19. Next we'll take a closer look at Keith Holmes' career. Stay tuned to our Keith Holmes series as GFS prepares to honor him and the other top DC Boxers that dominated durung the '90s era.
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Town Hall Meeting
This Saturday there will be a meeting to address the youth violence that has cause quite a stir in Ward 4. Come out and hear what the community is going to do to address the issue.
