Golden Gloves: Boxing has provided a stable home for Indiana teenager

As a 12-time state champion in Indiana and a quarterfinalist at the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in Salt Lake City this week, 17-year-old E'Mond Driver has accomplished a lot in boxing.

But it is what the 18-year-old senior at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis plans on doing this summer that has him more proud of anything else. Driver, who spent a few years without having a consistent place to live when he was between 13 and 15 years old, is on track to graduate with his high school class after falling behind academically when his living situation was precarious.

"That will be my biggest accomplishment, by far," he said.

Driver won his first bout on Wednesday, but fell 5-0 to Rafael Medina of Texas in Thursday's quarterfinals.

"He had a lot of stamina, and I didn't fight as well as I should have," Driver said.

The 152-pounder said he will be back in class Monday getting ready for final exams and hopes to attend Ivy Tech Community College next fall, then Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

It would be quite the comeback for a young man who was expelled from school when he was 12 and whose life was adrift, along with that of his 17-year-old brother, Ahmanta. The brothers bounced between living with their single mother and at other places before boxing, specifically a program in Indy known as "Team Achieve," got them into a stable housing situation.

The lightning-quick puncher known as "Moo Moo" to his teammates said he has never been homeless, but acknowledged a difficult upbringing.

Teach Achieve coach James Curles, who is also in SLC helping the Indiana Golden Gloves contingent, eventually got Driver to focus on his schooling as much as his boxing, and it has become a success story in and out of the ring.

"We are so proud of what he's done in school — even more than in boxing," Corles said Tuesday. "He has become a strong leader and part of the foundation of what we are trying to do."

E'Mond, Ahmanta and other at-risk youngsters now live with a paid coach in a home that was donated by Wells Fargo Bank and reconditioned with donations from Ascension Health, Paul Estridge Homes and other corporations in Indiana.

"It's a lot easier to do good in school when you can sleep good at night and you aren't always hungry," Driver said.

His boxing has also flourished. Thursday's quarterfinal loss at the Salt Palace Convention Center to Medina dropped his record to 48-4.

He was worried about being able to breathe in SLC's thin air, as the capital city sits 4,226 feet above sea level, quite a bit higher than Indianapolis, which is about 715 feet. But so far, so good.

"I have been training here for a couple of days," he said. "I think I got it down pat."

Driver defeated Terrance Coleman of Omaha in his opening-round bout at 152 lbs. before running into Medina, who earlier in the tournament ousted Bladimir Estrada, a West High senior.

Utah's Alvarez advances

The only remaining Rocky Mountain franchise boxer in the competition, 17-year-old Diego Alvarez of South Ogden, won his quarterfinal bout on Thursday, taking a 5-0 decision over Timothy Jarman of St. Louis.

Alvarez, a junior at Two Rivers High, an alternative school in Ogden, will meet Detroit's Tommy Robinson in a semifinal bout Friday night. Alvarez is trying to become the first Utahn since Sampson Pouha in 1991 to win a Golden Gloves national title.

"The body shots started working in the first round, and I just went with that," Alvarez said. "I don't really feel any pressure [to carry the Utah banner]. It is just boxing. It is just what I do."

drew@sltrib.com

Twitter: @drewjay