Boxer Pulled from the Scrap Heap

Pittsburgh area scrap dealer Randy Castriota is the topic of a recent feature story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about a second chance for an ex-con.

“A friend in his corner” is the title of the accompanying Web slideshow to the feature story about Castriota and Larry Chisholm, a former convict who accepted a job at Castriota’s scrap yard and is subsequently trying to open his own boxing school and gym in Pittsburgh.

According to the Post-Gazette story, Chisholm was an eight-time convict who met Castriota when renting an apartment from him. Castriota offered Chisholm a job, and so far the opportunity has created a favorable path for the former inmate.

“It's as though the world opened up. Very rarely do you find a gentleman of Randy Castriota’s caliber reaching out to a guy with a history like mine,” Chisholm tells Post-Gazette writer Cristina Rouvalis.

As a prisoner, Chisholm pondered the concept of opening a gym in his former Pittsburgh neighborhood.

The story recounts different childhoods and young adult years—Castriota learning about scrap metal recycling from his father and then starting his own business and working 12-hour days; Chisholm joining a street gang and learning how to try to make money, thus avoiding the 12-hour work days but earning stretches of time behind bars.

“I learned a lot from Randy,” Larry tell the Post-Gazette of his current situation. “As an African-American, I figured they would never afford me the opportunity to do anything. I had a long record. Randy convinced me that I could be a part of the American dream.”

Castriota says he likewise has learned from Chisholm, and “was struck by how this supposedly hardened criminal who had wasted decades in jail was so articulate and likable.”

Currently, Chisholm is trying to turn donated space from a Pittsburgh mosque into an adequate place for boxing lessons and training.