Atlas Cops & Kids Boxing Program Produces 1st Olympian Marcus Browne
This summer in London, Staten Island light heavyweight (178 pounds) Marcus Browne will be the first Atlas Cops & Kids Boxing Program product to compete in the Olympic Games, representing Team USA.
Coached by Gary Stark at the Park Hill Boxing Club, Browne is a two-time National PAL champion and 2012 USA Boxing National gold medalist who officially qualified to box in the 2012 Olympics by defeating Felix Valera (Dominican Republic), 12-6, in a quarterfinals match last weekend at the American Qualifier in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Browne went on to capture a gold medal.
The Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by renowned boxing trainer and television analyst Teddy Atlas in his father’s memory, currently leases gym space for $1.00 a year for its Brooklyn and Staten Island locations. Operational costs, however, are approximately $50,000 for each gym.
The money is used to pay coaches and to purchase equipment for the boxing program, and to pay a certified teacher who runs the educational component of each gym The Atlas Cops & Kids Boxing Program presently operates two gyms, in Park Hill and in East Flatbush in Brooklyn, with two new gyms scheduled to open this month at the Berry Houses in Staten Island and in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.
