MDOC promotes the boxing program for inmates, but lawmakers say the money could be better spent

Boxing in sanctioned matches in a ring donated by rapper Jay-Z. Throwing and catching a football in the garden. Against each other in table tennis matches.

Sports teams have come to Mississippi's prison system, offering inmates a creative way to stay active, change their attitudes, build sportsmanship and aid in their rehabilitation, corrections officials said.

We encourage our prisoners to take part in sporting activities as this combats laziness in prison. We have created many different teams to allow them to get out of their dorms and be active, Commissioner Burl Cain said in a Wednesday news release.

Research has found that prison sports programs have social, mental and physical benefits, and that participation in sports can help reduce harmful health effects people experience during their captivity.

But the bipartisan chairmen of the Legislature's corrections committees question why incarcerated people are allowed to participate in boxing, which they say could create a violent environment and leave the state on the hook for the boxers' medical care if they are injured .

House Corrections Chairman Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, and Senate Corrections Chairman Juan Barnett, D-Heidelberg, said there are better ways to use the MDOC budget than a sport that is as harmful as boxing.

They would prefer to see the department focus on a number of other efforts, including drug and alcohol treatment, job training and housing placements to prepare people to leave prison and not return.

We need to make sure we don't teach them how to box, said Currie, who is serving her first session as chair of the committee. This is not what we should be spending our time and money on.

Barnett said incarcerated people should have access to backyard recreation and leisure, and he sees how supporters can see the rehabilitative value in boxing and other sports teams. But those are less of a priority than MDOC's main role: correcting people, he said.

Boxing programs exist across the country in state and federal prisons, including in Louisiana.

Angola's state prison, where Cain served as a guard, has a team. Henry Montgomery, who founded the program as a prisoner, helped form the boxing teams there. Montgomery was released from prison in 2021 at the age of 75. Are case led to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that all states were required to retroactively implement the ban on mandatory death sentences for juveniles, as announced in the earlier ruling in Miller v. Alabama.

In the press release, MDOC said the boxing team members will be required to take drug tests and undergo a pre-match physical.

During the matches, medical personnel and trainers are present at ringside, as well as referees, timekeepers and official judges. Randy Phillips, chairman of the Mississippi Athletic Commission, has helped with boxing training and ensures MDOC's safety equipment meets standards, the news release said.

According to MDOC, Parchman's first boxing match was in November against incarcerated boxers traveling from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility to the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. Creating a boxing program at CMCF is cited as a reason why the women were moved from the 1A-Yard to unit 720 in 2022.

A pamphlet shared with Mississippi Today shows a March 28 Fight for the Title event hosted in Parchman. The list included the 22 members of the boxing team, 14 of whom were fighting in matches that day.

Tangya Allen-Elliott attended both boxing events to support her cousin Carlos Allen, who coaches the boxing team. She said the March event had a good atmosphere and the matches looked professional and safe.

Allen, 35, was named coach of the boxing team because of his leadership, Allen-Elliott said. Before his incarceration, he played sports, refereed and coached.

He has been in state prison for three years and in Parchman for more than a year, his aunt said. Allen was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison for drug trafficking, selling fentanyl and possession of other drugs. Additionally, he was sentenced as a habitual offender, meaning he is not eligible for parole.

Being part of the boxing team has allowed her cousin to have a positive impact on others and mentor younger men, all of which gives him hope in prison.

She said the sport is a great opportunity for men, and she hopes it can serve as a guideline for other states, like Alabama, where she lives.
They're on the right track, Allen-Elliot said of boxing in Mississippi prisons.

I had never seen a prison do something with this impact.