Anthony Campbell is from Covington in West Tennessee, but Chattanooga repeatedly has played a huge part in his life.
That happened again this week. The 24-year-old boxer earned a spot on the U.S. national team for the 2015 World Championships and the World Series of Boxing with his unanimous decision over Leshawn Rodriguez of Medford, N.Y., Friday night at the Chattanooga Convention Center before a crowd estimated at 2,000.
Rodriguez had defeated Campbell twice this year, in January in the USA Boxing men's championships in Spokane, Wash., and in May in the National Golden Gloves semifinals in Las Vegas.
He was coached this week by Andy Smith of the local Y-CAP boxing team, with the program's Chad Henley as the second.
"Oh, yes, yes, yes. I dreamed about this my whole life," said Campbell, who is tutored in Covington by Jimmy Glover.
"We made a game plan and he executed that game plan," Smith said, "and he listened to the adjustments we gave him between rounds. He perfected what we planned."
Campbell has made even bigger adjustments in his life based on advice from Smith and his dad, Joe Smith, who directs the overall Y-CAP program. The fighter spent essentially a year with them in Chattanooga twice at crucial junctures, including when he was 16 and again in 2009, when he accompanied a local group to the Dominican Republic.
"The Smiths helped me a lot. They took me in and showed me a lot of ropes -- things like taking care of money and taking care of my family when the time came to do that. Joe Smith showed me a lot of different things, and Andy stayed in touch with me and helped me with my boxing but even more made me more of a man."
Campbell admitted to having been in jail "three times" and said he would be one of two places if not for the Smiths: "jail or dead."
"But when I was under Joe, he showed me Christ and how I should live my life," Campbell said. "I have two children, 7 and 6 years old, and now I know how I can take care of them."
And now his life includes representing his country in world competition.
The 10 weight-class winners Friday night comprise USA Boxing's national team, and the runners-up become the first alternates if any of the winners get hurt or otherwise become unavailable for the international competitions that set up Olympic qualifiers. The bronze-medal boxoff winners from Friday afternoon are the next set of alternates.
Dalton's Sidney Wheeler was impressive this week as a former state champion wrestler still relatively new to boxing, but he lost 2-1 to Joshua Balbuena of Smyrna, Ga., in the 178-pound boxoff. Each of the other boxoffs was either a 3-0 decision or a walkover.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.