Charles Conwell Jnr left home at the age of 13 to pursue a career in boxing. Today, a few years later, He’s opening his own gym in Cleveland. His goal: Pass on everything he’s learned along the way to the young fighters now in his old boots.
Conwell is coming off a 7th round knockout of Gerardo Luis Vergara at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California on December 14. The fight is considered a knockout. This is his third stint with Golden Boy Promotions since signing with the promoter in February.
But getting there is a difficult road. Conwell launched the TUFF Combat and Fitness team in September as an acknowledgment of those struggles.
His quest for a world title appears tantalizingly close in 2025, but Conwell remembers being a teenager uprooted from his home and family in Cleveland to start a life on his own. What was it like (or initially felt like) in Toledo, Ohio? That was 14 years ago.
“To be honest, it was something I didn’t even want to do,” Conwell said of the move. “I didn’t want to go to school in Toledo and start training there. It is the anxiety of the unknown.”
You have to meet Charles Conwell Snr to understand it fully. Charles Snr’s favorite sport was boxing, and he trained like a boxer to stay in shape. Charles Snr, a bricklayer, recommended it to his children. He knows boxing. Including two daughters who also box.
The story begins with Charles Jnr’s half-brother Isiah Steen, better known as “Z-Wop” Charles Snr, beginning to train him in St. Louis. Charles Jnr began a few years later. And they started going to the gym when he moved to Cleveland. Charles Snr recalls a Christmas when Charles Jnr received a set of gloves. He loved this gift and tables around the house were quickly moved so he could practice. Now this is a fond memory of the family.
Charles Snr became friendly with a coach from Toledo, Otha Jones II – the father of today’s professional lightweight, Otha Jones III – who began bringing his son and other fighters to Cleveland to fight as amateurs. The top two at the time, Charles Jnr and Delante “Tiger Johnson” (both would become USA Olympians – Conwell in 2016 and Johnson in 2020) Jones II. Started a home gym in Toledo called Soul City Boxing Gym.
On one trip to Cleveland for practice, Jones II saw something.
“He didn’t do anything,” Jones II said. “The coaches didn’t coach him. He just stood around. So I asked his father, ‘Let me train your son.’”
The elder Conwell knew his son needed more attention when it came to refining his craft. Charles Snr had to work long hours and was unable to devote the time needed to train his son.
“’Chuck, let me help you get your son ready for the national team,’” Charles Snr recalled Jones II telling him, explaining that he didn’t have time to go to the gym. And he had to rely on others to help get Jnr ready. Charles Snr heard words that his son was quite good. And with his mother’s blessing They therefore agreed to send Charles Jnr to Toledo.
“He is the type of fighter who needs constant attention and training in boxing. He didn’t get that at home,” Charles Snr said. “That decision was a difficult one for me. Because it’s like letting your child go.
“The decision is bigger than me. So the decision depends on what is best for him. and doing so I lost many friends in this city.”
His father said that even Charles Jnr himself did not agree at first.
“Charles never complained to me. But he complained to his mother all the time,” Charles Snr said. “He would say, ‘I don’t know them. You guys are making me come down there and train with them.’”
The parents explained that they were doing what they saw as their son’s best interests. Charles Jnr had shown great talent. And they want him to get the most out of it.
“He ended up going to school there with his younger brother,” said Charles Snr. “I gave legal custody to Otha. Even though Toledo is only an hour and a half from Cleveland, But we let him go to school in Toledo and come home on the weekends.”
Looking back, Charles Jnr believes the decision helped build a young man’s mental toughness.
“I was out there on my own, with no mother, no father to rely on,” said Charles Jnr. “The only person I could rely on was the coach. Which eventually became my family.”
Then the bet was off. The turning point came at the Junior Olympics.
“I won the Junior Olympics,” Charles Jnr said. “At the time it was like a really big deal for me. I thought it was the National Youth Olympics. And you must pass the state qualifiers and regional qualifiers to win. I feel like that was the turning point in my amateur career.”
At this point Another important figure came into the life of Charles Jnr: Roshawn Jones, another son of Otha Jones II. Roshawn, a boxer and wrestler, would act as coach for Charles Jnr. He was given another important role. Although Charles Jnr There were two younger brothers in “Z-Wop” and Marlon Steen (who died last July), but Roshawn gradually became as influential a brother as he was to him.
And soon after, Roshawn said, the turning point came for Charles Jr.
“Charles won the 2014 and 2015 Junior National Golden Gloves Championships and multiple Ringside World Championships,” Roshawn said. “His continued victories demonstrate his natural talent.”
Charles Jnr’s road to the Olympics remains a rocky one. Without the end of Hollywood He won the Olympics. But that meant Charles Jnr had to qualify for the Olympics through international performance. Traveling around the world for boxing was a bonding moment for Charles. Junior and Roshawn are growing up.
“Charles got to compete in three professional WSB (World Series of Boxing) bouts,” Roshawn said. “This took us to Morocco, Miami (where Charles Jnr faced Team Great Britain) and Argentina. Where he fought against the best in the world.”
A constant voice throughout has been Roshawn, who has been by Charles Jnr’s side for the victories and the low moments, such as when Conwell lost in the opening round of the Rio Olympics to Krishan Vikas.
“He traveled all over the world with Roshawn,” Charles Snr said. “He was like a big brother to him.”
“Being a big brother to Charles means leading by example,” Roshawn said. “We are now focused on helping Charles reach the pinnacle of his career.”
Charles Jr. calls Roshawn and The Jones “good people” and realizes the whole deal could have worked out very differently.
“We abandon faith and feelings. And everything went well,” he said.
Now, more than a decade after his first trip away from home, Charles Jr. is back in Cleveland and a new gym. It’s named after the non-profit organization his parents created.
“It stands for Tightly United Family Fighters,” he said. “I’m continuing what they’ve been doing. And I want to keep the name alive.”
“Z-Wop” works at a gym, as does former professional boxer Willie Nelson.
Charles Jnr, now 21-0 (16 KO) as a professional, is no longer looking for Olympic gold medals. But it’s a world championship belt. He wanted to take it back to his gym. And give it time to stay in Toledo.
It would have been a nice addition, but Jones II saw something special – something different – in Charles Jnr’s gym in 2019. Charles Jnr knocked out Patrick Day in a fight in Chicago. After the competition, Day never regained consciousness. He passed away a few days later.
“We’ve been combining boxing and mental health for 12 years,” says Jones II. “A lot of it has been about transitions, like Charles going back and forth from Toledo to Cleveland, transitional things. Things that affect the child’s psyche
“When he experienced the Patrick Day incident. It reminded him of the mental health exercises we do to deal with different stages of life. He wanted to put that structure in place so he could help children. these in the community He will do so through seeing his parents fighting. I saw parents fighting, going to court and children being separated.”
The way Charles Jnr sees it, he’s not just running in the gym. He wants to share some life lessons with young fighters that will help him build a healthy, well-adjusted life. at the same time He also realized that his own mental health and fighting preparation had benefited from his time in Toledo.
“When it’s time for me to go to camp, I train at Soul City,” said Charles Jnr. “It gives me peace of mind. Anxiety about staying at home and the distractions of staying at home faded. I feel like being two hours away helped me a lot.”
When he’s not at camp, Charles Jnr is back at Team TUFF Combat and Fitness and is close to his two children, Cameron (4) and Caitlin (1).
“When you create a champion or any type of athlete, Everything has to go well,” said Charles Snr. “It’s not just one thing, everything has to line up. A lot of great athletes don’t go because of circumstances. They may have had the right people in their corner, but things just didn’t work out.”
The gamble taken by the Conwell family has not yet fully paid off in producing world champions. But it was a bold move that helped lift Charles Jnr to impressive heights – perhaps just a few steps away from that ultimate goal.
“Charles has always been like a grandson to me,” said Jones II. “His dad is really cool. It’s like seeing your children. My or my grandson grows up and becomes a man. And so he is. He is definitely a man.”
Now Charles Junior can look back at the hesitant 13-year-old who was transferred to a new, unfamiliar environment. But in the end it was warm and caring. And you can clearly see how he got to this point.
“When I got there,” he said, “it was a match made in heaven.”
