The Contenders: In an old barn-like gym, local boxers learn the sweet science in time for weekend bout

Four months ago, Holly Keefe was looking for a good male role model for her 10-year-old son Devin.

Then she found the Flathead Boxing club.

"He didn't want to come at first," she said after a recent practice. "But the first night I brought him and when I came to pick him up he was just grinning from ear to ear. He was just super excited, super happy and was like 'I really like this, mom. I'm glad you made me.'"

Now, Devin is an everyday pugilist along with roughly 14 other boys who range in ages 8 to 22 that make up Flathead Boxing, an amateur team affiliated with USA Boxing.

The non-profit group, founded and led by Phillip Moore and Jesse Uhde, meets three times a week at the old Kalispell Jaycees building on River Road and goes through a rigorous training regime, from knocking the speed bag to sparring in the ring.

"I enjoy it for him," Holly said of her son's participation. "I think it's good for boys to get active like that, and the encouragement that he gets from (the coaches), they're really supportive and they don't put them in the ring until they're ready."

At the evening practices, bloody noses and black eyes come often, but Holly said her son is taking a lot of good from the whole experience.

"I just thought it was a great opportunity for him to get some male role models in his life," Holly said.

"I like it too, that if he can prove himself in the ring, he doesn't necessarily have to prove himself on the streets, you know, that kind of mentality," she added.

At the Elks Lodge on Saturday, Flathead Boxing is holding its first event, a match bout smoker, and the boys who are ready will step into the ring and put their skills to the test against boxers from across the state as well as from Idaho, Washington and Canada. The head-to-head fights begin at 7 p.m., with the proceeds going to Flathead Boxing, and in turn, helping keep Moore and Uhde's dream team on its feet.

Moore, a 36-year-old professional boxer who grew up fighting in Idaho, landed in Kalispell six years ago and met Uhde, 30, who grew up in Lakeside. The pair began training together and discussed organizing an amateur team that would give boys and girls who were interested in boxing the chance to do so. Then, two years ago, the opportunity came up and they took a swing at it.

"I've been around the sport 20-some years, off and on all my life, and I just feel like it's a big part of what made me who I am today," said Moore, who works with troubled adolescents while running the sports and fitness program at Montana Academy in Marion. "I just always knew that I'd give back someday. Jesse's the same way, and it's kind of played out for us … Now there's no turning back, really. We can't just decide 'Ah, it's too much' and walk away."

Uhde knows what that feels like. When he was 15 years old, he joined a boxing club and finally found a sport that suited him, until his coach quit.

"Right in the middle of the season, he closed the gym up and walked away, and I was kinda lost," Uhde said. "I wasn't in to other sports. That's the last thing we want to do to these kids."

Moore, who has won two professional bouts, has fond memories of growing up around the ring and he hopes to bring that to Kalispell.

"The way it always worked out, it was almost like a family," said Moore. "It only works with everybody's support and that's how it's working for us."

It's working for 17-year-old Elijiah Weller. Looking for a good group of people to surround himself with, he joined the team just over three months ago with no boxing experience. These days, he wears a black eye at practice and works a sweat training for this weekend's bout, which his family is traveling to town to watch.

"It's something that will make you work real hard and it'll show you how much character you got," he said about his new favorite sport at a recent practice. "'Cause it's easy thing to quit. There's a lot of people coming in and end up quitting, and I'm really trying to stick with it."

"Stick with it" seems to define 11-year-old Dillan Guzman, the nephew of Flathead Boxing's premiere fighter, 22-year-old Kenny Guzman. Dillan has been on the team from the beginning and proudly admits to introducing his uncle to the sport. The fifth grader, who holds an 8-4 record, deals a barrage of hefty jabs during practices with dreams of becoming a professional one day like his coach.

"It feels good when you accomplish stuff, like when you win a match or something," he said. "I'm doing good now and as soon as I'm 18, I'm going to try to get pro."

On a day-to-day basis, Moore, Uhde, and a few assistant coaches who Moore credits as key to the team, help the group stay focused on meeting their goals.

"Success is pushing yourself through the moments of doubt, you know, whether it be in training or in the ring," Moore said. "When you start to doubt 'I can't go anymore,' and you actually push yourself through that, well then you're successful whether you get your hand raised at the end of the fight or not. As long as you pushed it and gave everything you had, you're successful and it's the same way in other aspects of life. And that's how boxing relates to helping these kids be better people, you know. It's not like we're in here teaching a sport of brutality and we want kids hurting each other. It's more about principles, the discipline, the dedication, the hard work, and that will play over into other aspects of their life."

For information on Flathead Boxing, call 270-6812.