TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo's boxing scene is home to world champions and Olympians and has history that dates back more than 100 years. But the story of boxing in the Glass City can’t be told without one person in particular: Larry Moreland.
He is considered the father of modern boxing in Toledo. In the 1950s, Moreland and a friend, Al Parales, broke barriers and changed the lives of kids all over the city when they became the first people of color to own and operate a gym in Toledo.
“It was a vehicle for them to get kids off the streets and keep them out of trouble,” Lawrence Moreland, Larry's son, said. “Even some kids that got in trouble, he helped them get back on track. One of the biggest pleasures of my dad’s life was when we would be out as a family and somebody would come up to him and tell him, ‘You know Larry, if it hadn’t been for you, I’d still be in jail.’ And that happened a lot.”
Moreland and Parales ran their boxing gym out of their own pockets and with no sponsors, something that wasn’t happening in Toledo at that time. They faced societal hurdles as well because of the color of their skin.
“Dad was the very first Black boxing promoter in Toledo,” said Lawrence. “He had his own shows. He had some roadblocks put in his way to do that. There were some people who tried to stop him from doing that, but he was willing to hurdle those barriers.”
Larry Moreland knew he had to outwork everyone, tackling multiple jobs. When no one would rent him a ring, Moreland put his carpentry skills to use. He built a ring in the basement of the Port Lawrence homes. When staring down the face of clear racism, he taught his fighters to fight harder.
“When it came to fighting decisions, he taught his fighters, especially the ones that were Black and brown, that if you’re fighting somebody that’s not the same color as you, you were not going to win a close decision period,” said Lawrence. “You have to outfight them and if it’s close, you’re not going to win.”
Moreland had an impact on many young fighters in his day. His success paved the way for generation after generation. The latest generation is being represented on the world’s stage by a new young fighter from Toledo, Jared Anderson.
Anderson has become a household name in the boxing world and he certainly has an appreciation for history and the fighters that came before him.
“When I started, I was only 8 years old," Anderson said. "I didn’t know anything about boxing. But when I actually got into it and realized the roots of boxing in Toledo, I fell in love with it. The brotherhood and everybody has each other’s backs.”
As Anderson trains in Houston, Texas, to become the next world champion from the 4-1-9, the African American Legacy Project on Collingwood Boulevard continues to be a shrine to Black athletes who call Toledo home. Inside, you can find a section dedicated to Larry Moreland, keeping his memory alive forever.
“It’s ultimately important that people know about this place, especially young Black men and women because they can see how much Black people had to do with forming Toledo the way it is today,” Moreland said. “My dad started off as a floor sweeper at Doehler-Jarvis, ended up as chief shop steward. So it shows kids, the younger generation, that it’s not where you came from, it’s where you’re going. That’s one of the things that dad preached.”
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