A Fighting Chance
by Dan Heilman
Loddy and Scott Tolzmann. Ugandan boxer Ismail Muwendo trains at their gym.
Minneapolis attorney Loddavahn “Loddy” Tolzmann understands what it’s like to pursue a new life in a strange land. At age 1, Tolzmann moved with her family from Laos to the United States, a dangerous journey about which she heard harrowing stories while growing up in Chaska.
Her family was imprisoned trying to cross the Mekong River into Thailand; in the process, Loddy became sick and nearly died. It was only through good fortune and by greasing the right palms that the family made it to Minnesota intact.
“When I think about the clients I come across, and realize what a difficult process it is to make a home in a new country and to gain legal status, I certainly don’t take for granted how lucky I’ve been,” said Tolzmann, who practices immigration law at Davis and Goldfarb. “My background was my primary reason to go into immigration law.”
Tolzmann takes the impulse to help outside the walls of her office. She and her husband Scott, who runs a contract maintenance service, own and operate Tolzmann’s Twin Cities Boxing. The north Minneapolis facility serves not only as a breeding ground for young athletes, but also as a refuge.
The gym, founded about a year ago, is run by volunteers. It frequently functions as something of an annex to the Tolzmanns’ nearby duplex home. The couple takes into their home both international students and boxers whose who are in need of a more stable environment.
“The downstairs is our home, and upstairs is a one-bedroom studio,” said Scott Tolzmann. “Put it this way: We no longer live downstairs. Every room is inhabited.”
The Tolzmanns conceived their gym as a nonprofit entity that would double as a productive, secure place to go for north Minneapolis youths who want a place to compete away from the temptations of the street.
The gym receives funding from such groups as the Minneapolis Police Athletic League, the Hennepin County Juvenile Probation Department, the YMCA Beacon Center at Nellie Stone Johnson School and other schools and neighborhood organizations. Some of the help comes in the form of operating cash, while other groups help promising young boxers receive training scholarships.
Aspiring boxers who use the Tolzmanns’ home consider Scott a mentor and a confidante, often calling him at all hours to talk about issues in their lives.
Scott said that the negative influences faced by these athletes can be powerful.
“It can be a real struggle, because the issues these young men face don’t just go away,” he said. “We know the time and energy we spend on them can be undone as soon as they walk out the door.”
Loddy said that boxing is a great outlet for the kids because it’s a demanding, raw sport that requires a strong sense of individuality — once you’re face to face with your opponent in the ring, nobody’s going to help you.
“Boxing is the type of sport that really seems to draw kids from poverty,” said Loddy.
Scott agreed. “They’re high risk because they’re very intense, passionate, sensitive kids,” he said. “That energy has to go somewhere, and if we can’t help them work it out, I have a feeling it’s going to go somewhere bad.”
An Olympic hopeful
The confluence of the Tolzmanns’ hospitality and Loddy’s legal expertise helped a promising young athlete get a shot at this year’s Beijing summer Olympics.
Nineteen-year-old Ismail Muwendo is a 126-pound boxer from the African country of Uganda who, along with three teammates, came to Chicago last October to compete in the World Boxing Championships. Two of Muwendo’s teammates went AWOL shortly after arriving.
Scott Tolzmann, who was in Chicago to observe the championships, brought Muwendo and his remaining teammate, Eddy Akora, back to Minneapolis with him so they would have a place to train for their Olympic aspirations. (There were no adequate facilities available to them in their home country.)
“I was surprised when he brought two boys back,” remembers Loddy. “We wanted to keep them both, but we had a full house already.”
Muwendo’s remaining teammate, Eddy Akora, was sent back to Chicago, where he was to catch a plane to Uganda. However, he never showed up at the airport to take the return flight to his home country. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
Meanwhile, Muwendo gladly took advantage of the accommodations the Tolzmanns offered him. He trained regularly at their gym for the African World Championships in Namibia, where his performance would determine his Olympic eligibility. Despite a heroic effort, Muwendo did not finish high enough to qualify for the Olympics.
Nevertheless, Muwendo was grateful just to have had the chance.
“I’d be a nobody [if the Tolzmanns hadn’t helped],” Muwendo said through an interpreter. “If I had gone back home after the tournament in Chicago, I don’t think I would even be a part of the [Ugandan] national team anymore.”
Loddy Tolzmann provided the legal support to make sure that Muwendo was able to stay in the United States legally for the duration of his training. She helped him prepare a P1 athletic package — a special five-year visa for international athletes who can prove that they are at the highest level of competition in their home country.
“It’s a very long, cumbersome process,” Loddy said of preparing the document. “But we have to do it this way. Every day when I talk to clients about immigration issues, I tell them, ‘Don’t screw up. Do everything legally, the way it should be done.’”
The Tolzmann have no plans to slow down the growth of their “boxing family.”
“Boxing is an unbelievably demanding sport, and I demand that these kids put in the work necessary to be their best,” Scott said. “Not all of them are up for that. But I hope we continue to find kids who will embrace this sport.”
