FORT WORTH, Texas — Boxing has deep roots in Fort Worth, with several world champions coming out of cowtown in the 80s and 90s. 

Those same world boxing champions are now mentors and trainers, who have joined forces with boxing in Cowtown to increase enthusiasm for the sport in their city.

One of them is Donald "Cobra" Curry, who became the first world boxing champion of Fort Worth shortly after going professional.

"I was the welterweight undisputed welterweight champion of the world,” said Curry.

He won several weight class belts during his peak career years and also made the olympics in 1980. 

“That’s one of the most greatest things that ever happened to me coming out of Fort Worth,” he said.

He got involved with boxing in Cowtown with the goal of inspiring and helping form new world champion boxers from Fort Worth.

“We trying to open up some gyms and get these kids involved who want to be in boxing and make sure we can have some world champions one day,” said Curry who also believes it is a good way to keep youth focused and out of trouble. 

Though there are still many boxing followers in the city, those who form part of the group say they wish to see more young kids involved in boxing and make it to professional levels to represent their city. 

Other former olympian boxers from Fort Worth have joined efforts to try to make it happen. 

“I was the co-captain of the boxing team in the same team as Oscar De la Hoya was my teammate,” said Sergio Reyes Jr. who was an olympian for the United States boxing team at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

He hopes Fort Worth has a new generation of boxers who also get that olympian experience boxers like him and Curry remember with so much joy.

“You know we’ve had six world champions come out of Fort Worth and we want more,”he said. 

Gene "Mad Dog" Hatcher is another Fort Worth boxer to achieve world championship in the light welterweight class, who is now doing the best he can to get the boxing scene in his city to a higher level again. 

“Fight business is gonna pick back up,” said Hatcher. 

Though back in his day he didn’t see as many women involved in the sport as he does now, he is thrilled about the passion they share in common. 

“It’s amazing because they are really doing well, they are really getting it on and fighting, more power to them you know,” he said.

It is the same fire inside that made him and his fellow Fort Worth boxers make it to the top.

“Boxing was incredibly good to me and I wanna be good to boxing by giving good boxers back,” said Curry. 

It' s what they hope leads to a monumental boxing in cowtown comeback, like in their glory years.