One Minnesota athlete heading to the Paris Olympics may never be seen in front of the cameras.
It suits his style perfectly.
Adonis Frazier, the fitness director at the famed Minneapolis gym that produced WBA welterweight champion Jamal James, is an assistant coach for the U.S. boxing team.
During a call from the U.S. training camp in Saarbrucken, Germany, Frazier paused as he heard several teammates walk by and loudly comment on the “S” pendant he was wearing.
“It's supposed to represent Superman,” he says, “but sometimes I wonder if it represents 'stress.'”
The Frasers tend to do whatever they can. Adonis' father, Sankara, is the founder, executive director and head coach of Circle of Discipline, a gym that teaches life skills through boxing and does other forms of community service.
Sankara is coaching James, a former champion who is looking to gain another shot at the title.
“Jamal continues to work the club and give back to society,” Adonis said. “My dad always told us, 'I don't care if you're a world champion, if I don't feel like you're giving back to society, I'm not going to be involved with you.'”
Adonis is a former boxer whose career was upended after a car accident, but now he's become a coach, like his father, and is aiming to help the United States win its first men's boxing gold medal since 2004 and its first women's boxing gold medal since 2016.
“I've been a part of the U.S. team since 2017 and have worked with the youth and elite teams,” Adonis said. “We've gone to Pan American, Holland, Thailand, Italy, Colombia, Guadalajara. I've been to Colorado Springs a couple of times to work with the U.S. team. We've traveled a lot, but I don't talk about it much.”
Boxing is doomed in the modern sports world; it has to work to get any attention at all. James recently threw out the first pitch at a Twins game, and people in his circle were surprised it didn't get talked about. They're also proud of three young boxers who have come out of the gym and competed in the national Silver Gloves and Golden Gloves tournaments: Luis Ortiz, Demarcus Murphy and Stevie Gomez.
COD also runs a training camp for children in Burnham, Minnesota, with support from the Armory Foundation and MEI Total Elevator Solutions.
“I was hesitant to take on the Olympic coaching role because that was our No. 1 goal as a family – to make the circle great,” Adonis said, “but my mom, my wife, my dad, the whole family, they all said, 'Come on, go for it.' It's part of the circle's tradition and everything that's been built under the Frazier name, so I thought I'd take the plunge.”
The tradition is growing. James has won titles. Fraziers is a celebrated coach and a role model. Former North High School star Omar Brown played safety at Nebraska and signed with the Denver Broncos. “He's our cousin, and he grew up in the circle, too,” Adonis said.
Adonis' son, Dasan, is a popular social media influencer and actor. “The funny thing is, when I was growing up, I didn't want people to know what I was doing,” Adonis says. “I don't understand social media, but he does. He just had his first roll call with Tyler Perry and he's going to meet me in Paris.”
Adonis' daughter, Nia, boxes, and another from the Circle, JT Baker, attends Cornell University and works for JP Morgan.
Jamal James is 35 and still wants to compete at a high level. Adonis said he's had to turn down some recent opportunities because of Sankara's illness, but “now that I'm 35, I still have time.” Boxing may never return to its glory days, but the Frazier brothers have proven that, at least in Minneapolis, it can hold its own.
While coaching his daughter at a national tournament, Adonis took a photo of her and later noticed the slogan written on her back shirt.
“It said, 'Once you try boxing, everything else is easy,'” Adonis says. “I love that quote. My youngest son is boxing now. We have five generations of fighters. I am where I am in Germany today because of the passion my father instilled in me.”
“My wife works at the Circle. My mom is there, my dad is there. Everybody puts in the effort and we work together with The Rink.”
The charity, “The Rink,” was founded in 1991 by Vikings players Jim Marshall and Oscar Reid.
When asked what his goals were in Paris, Adonis said: “I would like to say 'make history' but I think it's important to say 'make good history'. That's the history we're going after.”
