Mr. James was born and raised in New York City. He moved to South Dakota in 1980 to play football at Yankton College and then South Dakota State University, from where he graduated. With no previous training, only an interest and determined willpower, Mr. James started boxing in 1980 on his last day of college and he has enjoyed an extremely successful career. Mr. James was the top-rated amateur boxer in the U.S. at 165 pounds in 1988 and he made it to the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He became a police officer after his boxing career and retired from the Sioux Falls Police Department in 2006.

Career Highlights:

• Several time South Dakota State Champ, Regional, and National Champion
• Member of the USA Elite Boxing Team
• Middleweight boxer, 1988 Olympics
• Inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame

Jerry enjoys coaching boxing at Peak Performance to children 10 and older and adults of any skill level. When he is not coaching he flies planes, trains dogs as a master dog trainer, and raises chickens, which are his therapy pets. In addition to boxing, he is also a 4 th Dan tae kwon do.