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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JULY 2014
Fighting
for a cause
Local 197 hosts a knockout boxing event to support local charities
■ BY JOSHUA SIGMUND
■ PHOTOS BY ED CARATTINI JR.
Standing an even six feet tall and weighing in at 290 pounds,
Passaic County Sheriff’s Department Bureau of Corrections Corporal Joseph Teller is about to enter the ring for his seventh fight.
With a 3-and-3 record, the 43-year-old is confident that his training is going pay off. But his mind is still racing.
“Before the fight, I can’t wait to get in there and show what I’ve
learned over the last six months,” Teller explained. “Then you
can’t wait until it’s over.”
On June 6 at the Wayne PAL, Passaic County Corrections Local
197 hosted a Public Safety Charity Boxing Event with nine bouts
of Olympic-style sets of three, two-minute rounds – an event that
it has been hosting on and off for the past decade.
“Every Local has a beefsteak, turkey tray or golf outing,” said
Local 197 State Delegate Matt Markowski. “You don’t hear about
many boxing events that Locals are running to benefit charities.”
These charities include the PBA Survivor and Welfare Fund
and Jayden’s Journey, a fund for Jayden Singer, a 13-year-old boy
who survived severe brain trauma and additional damage after
contracting bacterial meningitis 10 years ago.
Round 1
Local 197 hosted its first boxing event in 2004 after Teller
participated in a similar Morris County Sheriff’s event the
previous year.
“I was asked if I wanted to do it, but I had no skill,” admitted Teller. “I’m a big boxing guy, so I did it just to do it and
because it was for charity.”
Like any good fight movie, the hero has to overcome initial
setbacks. In his first fight, Teller only lasted 40 seconds.
“The guy knocked me down and the ref stopped the fight,”
Teller recalled. “Then I went to a gym to find out more.”
This gym, Joe Grier’s Boxing Academy in Paterson, would
become a favorite training ground for Local 197 members, so
much so that they made owner Grier – a retired Local 197
captain – a Life Member of the Local.
“(Grier) does it for the kids to try to keep them off the
street,” Markowski said about the plan to support the gym
through proceeds of this year’s event, which was approved by
unanimous decision.