More than 40,000 voices echoed through Yankee Stadium as Sid Terris, a tall and scrawny lightweight fighter known as “The Galloping Ghost of the Ghetto,” rose from the mat in a daze.
It was 1927, and his opponent, Ruby Goldstein — who was known for punching hard — stalked in.
But instead of knocking his opponent down for good, Goldstein was met by a knockout punch from Terris — a punch that was so hard it broke Terris’s hand and helped solidify the New York native as an internationally-ranked prizefighter.
Almost a century after that match — as recorded by Arne Lang in Prizefighting: An American History — Terris’s grandniece, Noryn Resnick of Amherst, started training at the Pioneer Valley Boxing School in Northampton as as way to connect with her family’s past.
Her great uncle was recognized for his boxing career last year.
“(Terris) was just inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, which started me on this journey,” said Resnick, 58, a student at the Northampton gym. “I wanted to know what kind of shape he was in. I have a newfound respect,” she said.
At the end of each training session, three days per week, Resnick, who founded and runs HelpOurKids, a nonprofit that helps kids in foster care, says she goes home completely exhausted.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve every done, because it’s a combination of physical skills — it’s endurance, it’s anaerobic, it’s persistence — you’re using every muscle. And you have to think,” she said.
Her coach, Gary Djata Bumpus, 64, owner of the boxing school, says she’s doing pretty well so far.
“She made (Terris) look good today,” he said after a training session. “You can tell she’s got skills.”
Unlike fitness activities like long-distance running, boxing is an activity that requires brief spurts of intense effort inter-spaced by short periods of rest, Bumpus says. This type of training can get an athlete’s heart rate up quickly, burning a lot of calories in a short amount of time, while at the same time building muscle.
And more than being good for physical health, boxing is a practice that can sharpen the mind, Bumpus says, because it requires focus.
“You have to concentrate energy in one particular direction. You have to deal with the person in front of you,” he said.
At the school, which is tucked away in a white building off Pleasant Street in Northampton, hand wraps hang from hooks above shelves of boxing gloves. A small boxing ring is in one room and a few heavy bags are in another. Trophies can be seen everywhere. Near the back hangs a red boxing robe with “Djata” inscribed on it in white.
Bumpus, who is originally from Roxbury, boxed professionally as a younger man. He trained under George Benton and Val Colbert, coaches who’d previously worked with boxers like Evander Holyfield and Sugar Ray Leonard. At one point, Bumpus says he was managed by boxing legend Joe Frazier.
He sparred throughout the northeastern United States and in Canada. In retirement, Bumpus moved to Amherst, to be near family, and started the Pioneer Valley Boxing School in 1988.
These days, he teaches part-time between 15 and 25 students of different skill levels. Over the years, Bumpus has taught many competitive boxers — including his son, Kwame Bumpus, who competed professional for a number of years, and Kirik Jenness, who popularized mixed martial arts as a fighting style and owns Mixed Martial Arts, LLC. More recently, most of his students, like Resnick, train for other purposes.
Resnick, whose grandfather, Danny Terris, was also a pro fighter, took up boxing as a way to find out about her family.
Her boxing journey started at an exhibit at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst that featured photographs of her great uncle Sid Terris from the book Stars in the Ring: Jewish Champions in the Golden Age of Boxing: A Photographic History by Mike Silver. She met Silver at the exhibit, and after talking to him about Terris, decided to try boxing.
At some point in history, Resnick’s family split. She never knew many of her cousins.
“My great uncle (Sid) had an issue with my great grandmother over prizewinning money,” she said.
After doing a little bit of research, Resnick discovered the International Boxing Hall of Fame was going to honor her great uncle. She attended Terris’s award ceremony at the hall in Canastota, New York, where she reconnected with her cousins and mended the family split.
“In that respect, it’s kind of neat — this boxing thing,” Resnick said.
Now when she’s in the ring, Resnick says she thinks of her grandfather and her great uncle. She also remembers Bumpus’s training, she says.
“There’s a lot of things to remember — your feet, your arms, and where you’re going to land the punches. It’s all strategic,” Resnick said. Typically, Bumpus’s lessons are one-one-one and very informative, she continues. She’s learned how to duck and weave, throw accurate punches and how to protect herself.
“He’s very methodical. Every lesson has a specific purpose,” Resnick said. “He’s made me think about things I never would have thought about before.”
While some of Bumpus’s students do spar competitively, most box for physical and mental exercise and other reasons. They’re “people who have the courage to address their insecurities and inadequacies,” he said. “There’s no other activity that requires you to have so much integrity.”
His training methods are intended to help students “grow intellectually” by developing personal discipline in order to face whatever happens both inside and outside the ring.
“I’m not concerned about the fighting part. I can teach anyone to fight. What I’m concerned about is people using those abilities in the way they approach life — being proactive, and not being victimized,” he said. “Personal discipline is crucial. Discipline is inner power and comes from inside.”
A decade ago, Bumpus taught his boxers by having them physically spar with one another. But after seeing friends who boxed often deteriorate mentally as they got older, his methods evolved to prevent head injuries.
“They all made money. But when I see them, they’re not the same people anymore. You can see it in their faces, even guys who didn’t get hit a lot,” Bumpus said. “I’m really concerned about taking punches to the head.”
So instead of fighting each other with boxing gloves on, Bumpus has his students stay far enough away in the ring so their punches don’t land.
“You have to use the same tools and techniques, you’re just not close enough to hit the person. The same blocking, the same timing, the same rhythm, the same footwork, the same movement. You’re actually fighting the person, without contact,” Bumpus said. “It’s the same vigor, the same intensity.”
At the gym last week, Bumpus sat outside the ring as Resnick shadow sparred with Gary Gresh, another student, calling out instructions to both fighters.
“Don’t get too close. … throw some left hooks behind those crosses. … That’s right. That’s right. Amazing,” he called.
After the round ended, Resnick leaned on the ropes in her corner.
“My children think I should take up a sport where I don’t injure myself,” she said.
“My husband (David Sloviter) thinks it’s the greatest thing. He’s already bought me a heavy bag for the basement. He realizes this has been a personal journey for me. It’s a connection to my grandfather and great uncle.”
Andy Castillo can be reached at acastillo@gazettenet.com.
The Pioneer Valley Boxing School is at 518 Pleasant St., Suite 102, in Northampton. Rates are $300 for 10 classes. Lessons are scheduled individually. More information can be found at www.westernmassboxing.com.