Hays native gives back to community through boxing

Hays native John Jay Mount had a long journey before finding himself back in his hometown coaching the amateur boxing club. After a career as a professional fighter from the 1980s to his final career fight in 2017, Mount fell on hard times.

He found himself in prison after being convicted for a felony DUI. After getting released, he found himself living in Billings when the council from his hometown reached out to him and asked him if he wanted to return home and restart the boxing program.

He agreed when the council gave him his own gym, and Mount has been coaching the club ever since. As he found himself back in his own community, Mount believes coaching the boxing club has gotten his life back on track.

"It helped me grow a lot. Knowing these kids depend on me. It keeps me from going back," Mount said. "Knowing they depend on me, it keeps me straight and it keeps me sane."

During his time as the head of the Hays amateur boxing club, Mount coached Bree and Willow Cochrane. Under Mount's coaching, the sisters have had successful careers with multiple national, international and world championships. Mount has also coached his son, who also has had his success in boxing.

"These three kids, they get a lot of recognition for this little community," Mount said. "These girls are pretty well known throughout the nation and throughout the world. They got a big following on Facebook, Instagram, stuff like that."

Along with turning local kids into boxers, Mount hopes to show them a different way of life. Along with his own issues, Mount has seen others struggle with drugs and alcohol in his community. With his experience, Mount hopes his students can learn from his mistakes. He also believes modern technology such as cellphones prevent youngsters from getting accustomed to the real world, so he hopes boxing can toughen them up.

"Kids got to get used to someone being hard on them. There's nobody hard on them and boxing is a hard sport. You'll have to take a little bit of yelling from the coach," Mount said. "Boxing's hard but life's harder."

Mount keeps his boxing club open year round in order to keep his students busy. When he was younger, he learned boxing from his father but the club was only open from October to May. When there was no boxing to keep him busy, Mount found himself getting into trouble. So Mount hopes to keep his students busy so they can build a future for themselves.

"If I can introduce them to boxing, hopefully it can take them somewhere," Mount said. "I always tell these kids, they can fight their way out of here."

Mount and the Hays Amateur Boxing Club are looking to teach the sport to more youngsters with classes throughout this week. From this past Monday through this Thursday, the boxing club will teach 5- to 12- year-olds the basics of boxing such as their footwork, their jab and their left hook.

The club has 10 kids signed up for these classes, but those looking to sign up can reach Mount on the club's Facebook page. Youths looking to participate in these classes will have to pay as the funds raised will be used for the Cochrane sisters' boxing trips to either Nebraska, Ohio, Washington or Hawaii in the coming months.

Right now, the Hays Amateur Boxing Club has five solid boxers. As the non-profit looks to enroll new boxers, Mount would appreciate any donations to fund new equipment and boxing trips. Mount can be reached at the Hays Amateur Boxing Club Facebook page for donations as well as to enroll in this week's classes.