Leaders of the Augusta Boxing Club say they were stunned and saddened to learn that one of the clubs’ trainers, Tyrone Anthony Guy, 45, was among 19 arrested and charged in a cocaine trafficking sting operation. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests March 7.
Guy, who has been with the boxing club for 17 years, was charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
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During the course of the investigation, 18 search warrants were executed, and investigators were seized 1.29 kilograms of cocaine, 5.33 ounces of methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), 3.65 ounces of methamphetamine, 8.11 ounces of marijuana, 43 oxycodone pills, six Alprazolam (Xanax) pills, nine firearms, $50,174 in cash and seven vehicles.
Investigators plan to seek federal and state indictments. Guy is currently out of jail on $50,000 bond and has been ordered not to have contact with the boxing club as a condition of bond.
Augusta Boxing Club Director Ray Whitfield and board member Lenny Pulley say they are confident that the club itself was never, in any way, involved and that news of Guy’s arrest came to them as a complete shock.
“We didn’t notice anything wrong with him at all; he was one of our best trainers; I honestly don’t know what might have happened to draw him back into that lifestyle,” Whitfield said.
Pulley agreed and said such an arrest is the very antithesis of the club’s mission to keep young men away from drug and gang culture. The group’s motto is “It’s better to sweat in the gym than bleed on the streets.”
“We deal with the kids no one else wants to deal with, we work with the most at risk kids out there. Do we have a 100% success rate? No, I wish we did, but it is just not possible,” Pulley said.
While the club may not have a 100% success rate, its actual successes have been stunning. Whitfield, who is known as “Stingray,” is a professional boxer and a former World Title Challenger. Whitfield credits the boxing club for saving him from becoming a crime statistic.
The Augusta Boxing Club was founded by Tom Moraetes in 1976. Moraetes was a probation officer at the time and wanted to find an outlet that would intervene with young boys and men before they found themselves in the court system.
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According to Pulley and Whitfield, Moraetes chose the sport of boxing because of its macho nature.
“The kids from those neighborhoods aren’t going to go to the local community center to learn arts and crafts, but boxing gives them an outlet where they can show they are tough and they can prove their manliness without getting into trouble,” Pulley said.
Guy’s arrest comes at a sensitive time for the boxing club, according to Whitfield and Pulley, because the club has recently had to purchase the building the club has occupied for decades. The club has applied for American Recovery Act funding through the city to help with the debt incurred from the building’s purchase.
Despite the arrest of Guy, who is considered innocent until proven otherwise, Whitfield and Pulley say they remain focused on the group’s mission with the knowledge that there are going to be disappointments in the future as there have been in the past.
“In many cases, we become these kids’ family. We are all they have. They come to the club to hang out even when they aren’t training because it is a fun and safe place to be. We can’t stop, and we won’t stop even though we know that we can’t save everyone,” Whitfield said.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
