The gym does not announce itself much, except for a signboard visible from a distance along West Boylston Street in Worcester’s downtown.

On the first floor of the facility, a man who once worked in the corner of one of Ghana’s most celebrated world champions is teaching a room full of teenagers how to survive on their own two feet and chase their dreams.

Towering over the gym is one of sport’s most iconic images: boxing icon Muhammad Ali standing triumphantly above Sonny Liston after flooring him in their famous 1965 rematch.

The legendary image is more than a decoration. It is a daily reminder of excellence. Around it, simple but powerful messages reinforce the gym's philosophy and set the tone for everyone who walks through the doors: "Never Give Up," "Hard Work Beats Talent," "Stay Humble, Hustle Hard," "Excuses Are for the Weak," and "No Excuses."

Across the gym, legendary Ghanaian trainer Daniel Oko Odamtten supervises youngsters perfect their skills with punishing drills.

Few of the young men training around him may yet to fully appreciate that the soft-spoken coach once stood in the corner of one of the world's most feared welterweights.

More than three decades ago, Odamtten helped mould Ike "Bazooka" Quartey into WBA welterweight champion, guiding one of Ghana's finest fighters into unforgettable battles against some of boxing's biggest names, including Oba Carr, José Luis López, Oscar De La Hoya and Ronald "Winky" Wright.

Those were the glorious days of packed arenas in world title fights of international acclaim.

Today, however, Odamtten believes his greatest victories are measured differently. Instead of just training ambitious fighters for title fights in Las Vegas, Paris or the famous Madison Square Garden in New York, he is preparing young people for life, including chasing their ambitions inside the ring.

For the past 17 years, the legendary Ghanaian trainer has quietly built a second legacy in America.

When he arrived, after the successful and longstanding partnership with Quartey ended with the boxer’s retirement, unwilling to sit idle, Odamtten began volunteering at a Boys and Girls Club, because, as he puts it simply, he "hated sitting home."

He later transitioned from volunteer work into a professional facility named Camp Get Right Boxing Gym, which he has spent the past 15 years building into a serious hub of the sport in Massachusetts.

Today, he trains six professional fighters alongside a rotating roster of amateurs, and admits, with the amusement of a man who has seen it all before, that part of the pleasure is simply watching to see "who will get to the top first."

Admittedly, not all who pass through the gym are chasing championship belts; for some the training regimen provides the perfect environment for achieving fitness and healthy lifestyle.

Unlike the famous Bukom neighbourhood in Accra, where boxing was a sub-culture and has long offered talented youngsters a pathway out of poverty and produced champions such as Quartey, the faces inside this Worcester gym reflect a very different America.

Some trainees, comprising Americans, Liberians, Ghanaians, Congolese, among other youngsters of Asian and Latino extraction, arrive after finishing work, parking their own cars outside before paying monthly membership fees. 

Others come to manage the pressures of everyday life and in search of self-discipline, confidence or a safe place to belong.

Whatever brings them through the doors of Camp Get Right Boxing Gym, Odamtten believes boxing offers something far more valuable than learning how to throw a punch.

Ask him what boxing actually teaches, and he does not talk about jabs, uppercuts combinations or footwork.

He talks about discipline, emphasising it as the non-negotiable foundation of everything else. Without it, he says, a fighter should "forget everything." 

During The Mirror's visit to Camp Get Right Boxing Gym last Wednesday, Odamtten revealed that the most important muscle a boxer develops is not found in the arms or shoulders, but in the mind.

"People think boxing is all about punching power, but it's really a thinking sport," he said. "For all 12 rounds you're reading your opponent, anticipating his next move, protecting yourself and planning your own attacks. The moment you stop thinking, that's when you get caught."

What he looks for in a newcomer is not raw talent, which he says is common, but the determination and anger in his boxers.

"I look for the anger in him," he says, explaining his desire to see in the youngster’s inner hunger to become something better.

Many youngsters possess talent, he explains, but only those prepared to embrace relentless hard work eventually separate themselves from the crowd.

Using Quartey as his greatest example, Odamtten insists that the former world champion owed his greatness not to amazing talent but to his willingness to endure "training, training, training" until hard work turned him into what his coach simply calls "a beast" in the ring.

For Odamtten, boxing is not merely about physical strength but about developing character. The fight begins long before the opening bell, with waking early, eating properly, and making weight, respecting others and making good decisions away from the gym.

In Ghana, he lived alongside his world-class fighters, watching over their sleep, their company, their habits, keeping them clear of what he calls "bad stuff."

In the United States, his fighters live independently, and he cannot police them the way he once could to ensure they get enough rest and avoid distractions. 

Self-discipline and the hunger to succeed, he believes, are the single biggest obstacles between talent and greatness in his adopted country, and a quiet reminder of a life and a boxing ecosystem he left behind in his native Accra.