Boxers With Parkinson's Are 'Fighting For Their Lives'

DENVER (CBS4) - It's Saturday morning and the punches are flying in the basement of the Salvation Army boxing gym on High Street and East 29th Avenue in Denver. It looks and sounds like a typical boxing workout, and is being led by four-time Gold Glove boxer Anthony Mora.

"He's wonderful," said John Carlin, looking around the gym with a sly smile. "Is he in the room?"

Carlin is 57 and was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease 14 years ago.

"We are a motley crew," Carlin joked again.

But kidding aside, it's a serious workout, with boxers who are using the sport to help fight the symptoms of Parkinson's.

The group was started by Rich Schwartz, a former minor league baseball player and successful television sports producer in Denver who was forced into an early retirement when he was diagnosed 15 years ago.

"My doctor said, 'You have Parkinson's, what are you going to do now?' " Schwartz, now 68, remembered. "And I had no idea."

On the advice of his doctor, Schwartz is active, and eventually tried boxing, where his path would one day cross with Mora.

"My first reaction was, 'Damn this old man hits hard,' " Mora said of seeing Schwartz working out at a gym. "And I said, 'Are you interested in training with me?' "

From that chance meeting with a seven-time state champion, Schwartz said everything else for the group just fell into place.

LINK: Power Punch for Parkinson's Boxing

"It is really serendipity in a lot of ways," Schwartz said.

Schwartz got the backing of the Parkinson's Association of the Rockies, the Salvation Army offered use of the gym, and he even found physical therapy students at the University of Colorado to supervise the workouts.

"I sit here sometimes and I look around and I feel good, not because I did it, but because they are getting the benefits I thought they'd get out of it," Schwartz said.

The boxing group is diverse -- male and female, young and old -- but what they share is an unwillingness to let Parkinson's completely control their lives.

"It was pretty devastating. It was like hearing my worst fears confirmed," said Liz Easterly, 44, about being diagnosed four years ago. "But then I woke up the next morning and I am like, 'Well I just heard the worst news I could hear and I am still here.' "

"I didn't know what to think," Carlin remembered. "When you get diagnosed you go to the window sill and say, 'I am going to jump,' or you come back and fight it. Everyone here has come back out to fight it."

And research has found one of the best ways to fight against the debilitating symptoms is boxing.

"On the days that I am boxing I have a lot more energy," Easterly said. "Fatigue is a problem, so on the days that I am boxing I have energy that lasts all day. It is very invigorating."

The workouts help with hand-eye coordination, mobility and dexterity. The numbered punching sequences help keep the mind sharp, and the ability to take out some frustrations -- well that's just an added bonus.

"Of course I do," Schwartz said laughing. "If I get a good one in and Anthony goes, 'Oh,' that's fun.

And that's why every Saturday they keep coming back, for the fun. And for the fight.

"You have no-so-good days and really good days," Schwartz explained about living with Parkinson's. "And with doing the boxing workouts the not-so-good days are less, and the really good days are more. So I will take that any day of the week."

"The biggest thing is they are fighting for their lives," Mora said. "Not for a trophy, not for prize money, not for championship or a belt, but for their health and life."

Mark Haas is CBS4's weekend sports anchor and sports reporter. Read his bio or follow him on Twitter @markhaastv or on Facebook.