PITTSBURGH — Step inside Steel City Boxing on Pittsburgh's North Side and you'll see kids from tough backgrounds learning discipline, respect and skills that give them a fighting chance.
Brothers Joshua and Jessee started training at Steel City Boxing several years ago.
"I thought, 'This is an opportunity to save these boys,'" said Steel City coach Geo Heinlein.
Heinlein got the young brothers to the gym to give them a break from a life of extreme poverty.
"It was actually an escape from the trouble and the violence where I lived. I escaped it by coming up here," Joshua told Channel 11's Peggy Finnegan.
Jack Mook, a veteran Pittsburgh narcotics investigator, became Joshua and Jessee's coach, mentor and friend.
"They know drugs. They know shootings. Jessee is 11 years old and he's as wise as any narcotics cop I ever worked with," Mook said,
So when the brothers suddenly stopped coming to the gym, Mook was worried.
He said they had moved into a dangerous foster home.
He said, "There was heroin. There were drugs in the house, feces on the floors."
"It's not a place I would want any human being to ever live," Joshua said.
Mook used his connections and got the boys into a new foster home -- his.
The bachelor detective is now creating a safe, and loving home for Josh and Jessee.
Last September he made it a permanent, legally adopting them.
"I bite my lip wondering if I did it right or not. Did I punish them too strong? Did I not love them enough or show them enough appreciation for this?" he said.
But his sons feel their dad has parenting down pat.
"When I went with Jack, I actually found a purpose in life," Joshua said.
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
