Mark Ozaki, Kauai’s boxing cop, wants to punch out youthful distrust of the police. Ozaki, a Kaua’i County Police patrolman for almost three years and who had more than 80 amateur bouts between 1987 and 1997 in rings from Oahu
Mark Ozaki, Kauai’s boxing cop, wants to punch out youthful distrust of the police.
Ozaki, a Kaua’i County Police patrolman for almost three years and who had more than 80 amateur bouts between 1987 and 1997 in rings from Oahu to Colorado Springs, Colo., wants to spread fistic aloha to the island’s youth under the auspices of the national Police Athletic League (PAL).
Ozaki said pugilistic skills transcend the squared circle.
“Boxing teaches you life skills. It teaches you to never give up and how to push yourself,” Ozaki said.
The 10-year veteran of the ring, who stated proudly that he was never knocked out in more than 80 amateur bouts (including decisions he lost to Lonnie Bradley, who went on to a world professional championship), was in front of the county’s Police Commission Friday afternoon, lobbying for community support of a PAL program that would start with boxing and then branch out into other sports.
“PAL puts the police officers and the youth in a different mode,” Ozaki said, noting that officers’ first contacts with juveniles are frequently “when we are arresting them after they broke the law. Often, they hate the law. PAL can turn the hate into a mutual respect.”
PAL, which involves kids from 6 to 18 years old, began in New York City in 1937.
Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain was a PAL hoopster as a youngster. And Muhammed Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Shane Mosley, Roy Jones Jr., Evander Holyfield and Oscar De La Hoya began their boxing careers in PAL programs.
Ozaki said every Hawaiian island except Kaua’i has a PAL program.
Commission chairman Norman Holt asked Ozaki about liability if the county sponsored a boxing program. Ozaki assured him that PAL provides coverage.
Ozaki also noted that perceptions of youth boxing being dangerous are incorrect.
He said hopes to have a centrally located gym in the Lihu’e area for the boxing program. He said his “wish list” includes a space in the new police building under construction near Vidinha Stadium.
He is seeking funding from the county and local businesses.
Ozaki is also seeking 12 to 15 community members islandwide to serve on a PAL board. He can be reached at the Police Department’s Waimea substation at 338-1831.
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
