A boxing club in the basement of a Chicago church offers youths 'other options than the streets'

CHICAGO - Every few minutes in the basement of La Villita Community Church, a piercing ring interrupts the sounds of fists hitting punching bags and jump ropes whirling.

Young men and a few women trickle through the side door of the brick church after getting buzzed in. They bound down the concrete steps and into the sweat-infused basement, where a boxing ring is as central as the altar upstairs.

Every weekday after school, the Chicago Youth Boxing Club in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood fills with boxers - some with little brothers in tow looking for an after-school activity, some former professionals, some Olympic hopefuls - throwing jabs at speed bags, prancing through footwork drills and sparring in the ring as '90s hip-hop plays in the background. By 4 p.m., the gym is full of kids shadowboxing and running laps around