Landing punches at Westover’s fitness center

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. James Bishop
  • 439th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. --  On a rainy Saturday morning in October, 35 boxers gathered at the base gym to spar.

Some of the athletes were stationed at Westover. Others were students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Former Marine and boxing veteran Rocky Snow coached them all.

Snow brings 36 years of boxing experience to the program. After serving as a Marine during the Vietnam War, he used boxing as his post-war therapy. It worked. He won the Golden Gloves amateur boxing championship in 1976, and then toured the East Coast for 10 years as a professional boxer.

Snow has coached at Western New England College, Central Connecticut State University, and the Junior Olympics before coming to UMass in 2010.

One month after revitalizing the UMass boxing team, Snow brought boxing to Westover. Since March 2010, he estimates that he has trained about 150 reservists, active duty, state and city police and dependents at the base gym.

"I enjoy being able to train young people in the art of boxing - because it is an art - and see their overall quality of life and health improve," Snow said.

In addition to practicing on campus, UMass boxing team members travel to Westover each week to train with more experienced fighters and military members. Snow volunteers to train boxers at Westover for up to eight hours a day, Monday through Thursday.

"He's like family," Josue Lopez, a UMass junior, said of Snow. After training with Snow at Westover and UMass, Lopez took first place the Eastern Tournament at Pennsylvania State University and went on to earn third place in the nation at the 2011 National Collegiate Boxing Association Finals held at West Point, N.Y., in April.

"He's tough on you, but for a purpose," Lopez said.

Holding a white towel to one boxer's bloody nose after a bout at Westover gym Oct. 1, Snow said, "When I tell you to jab, I mean jab. Don't come out swinging with your right hand!"

The fighter wiped blood from his face. His lungs heaved. But he looked straight at Snow and nodded. "Ok, coach. Sorry. I'll get it next time."

SMSgt. Robert Hanson, isochronal inspection dock chief, trains with Snow at Westover alongside his 15-year-old son Jesse. "We're lucky to have [Snow] here as a volunteer coach," SMSgt. Hanson said. "Usually, you get what you pay for, but not in this case."