What Your Kid Actually Does at Overstreet's Top Notch Boxing

Most gyms that take kids will tell you about confidence and discipline. We'd rather tell you what actually happens on the floor, so you know what you're signing up for.

This is a fight gym

That's the first thing to understand. Most of our young fighters compete — real amateur bouts, sanctioned, with officials and headgear and a corner. Not everyone gets there, and nobody gets there fast. But that's the direction the training points.

If you're looking for a place where your child throws punches at a bag for an hour and goes home, we're probably not the right gym. If you want your child to learn something difficult and be held to it, keep reading.

Who coaches them

Leonard Overstreet runs our floor alongside co-founder Azariah King. Leonard came up at the Davenport Boxing Club under Alvino Peña, starting when he was nine years old, and he trained alongside Michael Nunn and Antwun Echols — two fighters who reached the top of this sport.

He's been coaching in Davenport for years. He's exacting, and he's honest with kids in a way most adults aren't willing to be. Parents tend to notice that quickly.

What a session looks like

Warm-up and conditioning built for boxing, not general fitness. Technique work on stance, guard, footwork, and the four punches. Bag and pad rounds. Supervised sparring — only when a fighter is ready, and never before.

Nobody gets put in the ring to be a lesson for somebody else. That's not how we run.

What we expect from your child

Show up on time. Take a correction without arguing. Finish what you start.

That's the whole list, and it's harder than it sounds. Fighters who can do those three things get better. The ones who can't, don't — and no amount of natural talent changes that.

What we expect from you

Get them here consistently. Progress in boxing comes from repetition, and a fighter who trains twice one week and not at all the next is starting over every time.

Come watch. Ask questions. Talk to the coaches.

And let us coach. The hardest thing for a parent is watching their kid struggle through something and not stepping in. The struggle is the part that works.

What it costs

Youth membership is $50 a month. That covers coaching, gym access during posted hours, and corner support at sanctioned events for fighters who compete.

The mentoring is free and always will be. The boxing training is what's paid, because running a gym costs money.

How to start

Come watch a session. Don't sign anything first — walk in, see the room, meet the coaches, and let your child see what they'd be joining.

Overstreet's Top Notch Boxing, 1540 West 12th Street, Davenport, IA 52804. Call 563-340-0097 or email coach@selfworthboxing.com.