KALAMAZOO, MI - The story of Junior Edward "Eddy" Bridges starts in a tar-paper shack by the railroad track in Risco, Missouri, a town of 300-some people near the banks of the Mississippi River.
Those humble beginnings fostered a love for boxing, which he carried with him to Kalamazoo and he used to spark a revival of the sport throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
Bridges died Sept. 7 at age 89, and his life, including his contributions to the Kalamazoo boxing landscape, will be commemorated on September 29th from 4-7 p.m. at the VFW Red Arrow Post 1527, 1920 E. Kilgore Service Road in Portage.
After moving to Kalamazoo in the late 1960s following a transfer from a General Motors plant in Flint to the former auto plant on Sprinkle Road, Bridges partnered with fellow trainer Henry Grooms to create the Kalamazoo Boxing Academy, where he mentored aspiring sparrers and welcomed renowned professionals, such as Muhammad Ali, Leon Spinks and Floyd Mayweather Sr.
The KBA folded in the mid-1980s, following Grooms' departure, but during its two-decade run, Bridges made a name for himself as one the area's top trainers, producing dozens of state champions, plus Golden Gloves and Toughman Contest winners along the way.
Arnold Mackey, now 67 years old, was one of Bridges first students in the late 1960s and started his training at a small gym/wrestling room at Lincoln Elementary School.
"I had been boxing in high school, and I told my mom that if she ever hears anything about a program getting started to let me know," Mackey said. "I bet it wasn't two weeks later, there was an article put out that Eddy Bridges and Henry Grooms were starting a boxing program. I got rides to go to Lincoln School, and I trained at the gymnasium there that we called the 'hot box' where they wrestled."
Mackey went on to become a champion fighter in the Marine Corps and a Toughman champ in 1981, and he never forgot where his career took off.
"I never forgot him, no matter where I was," Mackey said. "When I won the Toughman title, my first instinct is to get back home and call my mom and dad.
"It was in the middle of the night because I had to drive back from Jackson, (Mich.), and the person I called first was Ed Bridges. I woke him up in the middle of the night.
"He made me more conscientious in turning me from someone who just wanted to slug someone to an actual boxer.
"I could always take a punch, so I thought it was easier to slug than to box, but with his help, I realized that if you want to win something, you better learn how to box."
Lionel Ford first met Bridges when he walked into the KBA in December 1969, and under Bridges' tutelage, he went on to become a Golden Gloves champion and a professional boxer.
"I met coach Bridges, and he was so affable, we just hit it off like that," Ford said. "Immediately, he had an impact on my life.
"I never had role models other than my father, but he eventually became as close to someone I could call someone a role model in my life."
Even early on in his career, Ford recognized Bridges and the rest of the trainers at the KBA were the real deal, and it wasn't long before he saw the sport take off across Kalamazoo.
"We knew that something was happening," Ford said. "The Kalamazoo Boxing Academy also brought back the pride in boxing because they had these uniforms -- these blue and gold uniforms that had a kangaroo on them, and they had these blue and gold leather jackets.
"They were all over town."
As accomplished of a trainer as Bridges was, Ford said the thing he'll miss most about his former mentor is his generosity.
"When he died, it felt like I lost a part of me," Ford said. "Eddy had heart. I remember some of the fighters, they'd always want to borrow money from Eddy. Sometimes, Eddy would go pick up fighters for practice every day and take them home or take them back to his house and feed them."
Before becoming a trainer, Bridges was a successful boxer in his own right, posting a 16-1 record until a shattered nose forced him to retire.
Throughout his glory days in the ring and the decades he spent in the corner, Bridges bucked the stereotype of the braggadocious boxer or fiery trainer, instead maintaining a soft-spoken demeanor throughout his career.
"He was never the type of guy who wanted any glory," his son Danny Bridges said. "I don't even think he liked his name in the paper, to be honest.
"He said, 'I don't have to go around to all these coaches and tell them did this, I did that. My fighters do the talking for me. If they listen to me and do what I tell them to do, they'll do good.'"
Bridges' legacy, along with that of other area fighters and trainers from the 1960s to 1980s, will be on display as part of a documentary film and exhibit on the KBA at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, which is scheduled to run from June to October of 2020.
The museum now occupies the building that once held the KBA, so it's a fitting home for the project, which is being led by Bridges' granddaughter, Dacia Bridges, who added that the research has been challenging due to Eddy's aversion to talking up his own accomplishments.
"He never talked about himself," Dacia said. "He never talked about what he did or the impact he had on anyone. He was super humble. He was strictly about the fighters."
https://www.mlive.com/sports/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2018/09/kalamazoo_boxing_pioneer_who_h.html
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