Gail Martin 

Independent Editor

Two young boxers from Elmira are enjoying success on an international level.

Last week, brothers Tevin and Terrell Piper competed at the Ringside World Championships in Kansas City, Missouri. 

The international competition saw 1,500 boxers come from all over the world — Canada, the United States, Mexico and even Ireland, to compete against one another in a weeklong tournament. 

Fourteen-year-old Terrell, who already has a national title under his belt, made it to the semi-finals, winning one match and losing the other in his age group and weight class. His second bout was against the U.S. junior national champ.

Tevin, 13, won both his matches, winning the novice title in the 95 lbs. division.

“I felt good,” said Tevin. “We’ve been training a lot for weeks.”

Tevin and Terrell both train at the Waterloo Regional Boxing Academy. Their father, LeVar, coaches the duo, and they have also enjoyed training opportunities with Mandy Bujold, who narrowly missed a chance at the London Olympic Games.

They currently train six days a week. In the summer, they have been going for strength and conditioning classes in the morning, with boxing training in the evening.

On top of that, the brothers can often be seen jogging through the streets of Elmira, to keep their weight down for their fighting class.

That’s an awful lot of dedication for two young teenagers. LeVar said that his sons have caught on to something that not everyone does — “at the level they are competing at, they have to have their own work ethic.”

LeVar said that in boxing, athletes get to see quite directly the impact that comes from training hard.

“The difference between boxing and different sports is you can see directly what input you need to succeed,” said LeVar. “You can see how it makes a difference.”

Both Terrell and Tevin say that one of the things they like about boxing is the individual aspect of the sport. When it comes down to it, their performance and success depends entirely on themselves.

“I like how it’s an individual sport,” said Terrell. “You don’t have to rely on others, just yourself.”

Both young athletes have lofty goals for the future, envisioning future performances at the Pan-American Games, or even the Olympics.

But for now, they are just happy to continue in the sport they love.