LITTLE HAITI — Young men and a few women were hard at work on March 25 at Brooklyn’s Cops & Kids Boxing gym, logging time on treadmills, lifting weights, and plugging away at speed bags.

A powerful odor of sweat-drenched togs permeated the sweltering space, but the boxers pushed on, furiously training for an upcoming national Golden Gloves qualifier on March 28 at Bay Ridge Catholic Academy.

Joining them was an athlete they affectionately called “Brother Lou” — a man old enough to be their grandpa.

Lou Sandoval, 60, pounded a full-size “heavy” bag to train for a day-long-plus endurance challenge on April 15 at the gym.

Called “Punching Out at Depression,” the marathon event aims to boost awareness of depressive disorder, commonly called depression. Sandoval’s goal is to punch the big bag for 33 hours.

Sandoval, a lifelong Catholic, battles depression, which, he said, can spur a malaise targeted by Satan and his minions. His response: punching a bag for hours to discipline his mind against their lies.

“This whole thing is about spiritual combat,” said Sandoval, an artist from Gallup, New Mexico. “I had to set a physical goal that was extreme to pull me out of the inactivity.”

Depressive disorder is a common but serious mental condition that negatively affects how people feel, think, behave, or perceive their surroundings. According to the World Health Organization, it affects 4% of the world’s population — roughly 280 million people. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Health estimated that in 2022, about 59.3 million adults in the United States — nearly 23% of people 18 or older — dealt with mental illnesses.

Sandoval is working his way up to ultimately try and break the Guinness World Records heavy-bag marathon of 55 hours, set last year by a 42-year-old man in India.

He has already clocked 24 straight hours at the big bag, but the 33-hour challenge is part of his ramp-up toward the world record at a later date.

Sandoval — who also is an artist that draws and sculpts — had a tough bout of depression that began toward the end of 2023 while working in Desert Hot Springs near Palm Springs, California.

He was about to start work on commissions for three sculptures that would have fetched a total of $85,000, but the funding fizzled. Next, his car stopped running.

Sandoval said he felt “sequestered” in Desert Hot Springs, where the demons dragged him into self-loathing. He turned to alcohol.

“I just got napalmed,” he said. “I think that a lot of the behavior that comes from addiction is really the unwillingness to sit within the wound.”

Consequently, Sandoval said, addiction causes people to “fall into the pull of something” that distracts them from dealing with their problems. 

With no car to shop for groceries, Sandoval said he sort of stumbled into a time of fasting and prayer. He began taking long runs in the heat of the day. Then, he turned to punching the heavy bag.

Meanwhile, filmmaker and author Craig Syracusa — who Sandoval befriended while working on a commissioned sculpture for him in New York City — checked in to see how he was doing. 

Syracusa was so moved by the update that he started making a documentary featuring Sandoval’s bounce back from depression, and the quest began for the new heavy-bag world record. To that end, the filmmaker secured a training opportunity for Sandoval from Pat Russo, a retired NYPD sergeant who is the director of Cops & Kids Boxing.

This organization for young people, ages 12-21, has three locations, including two on Staten Island and another under development in the Bronx.

Its Brooklyn gym is tucked away in a basement of the sprawling Flatbush Gardens housing development of the borough’s Little Haiti neighborhood.

Russo, the boxers, and coaches embraced Sandoval as one of their own.

“I love the story,” Russo said. “How could I say no? We got a lot of kids here that have had drug problems. But they take the full discipline and the work ethic that the gym creates.”

They subsequently discover a “new addiction,” which Sandoval exemplifies, Russo said.

“It’s about getting in shape, and boxing, and being around good people,” he said.

Russo and Cops & Kids Boxing are featured in Syracusa’s 2017 documentary “Ring of Faith.” Syracusa noted that the new documentary will also include other people’s stories of how they dealt with depression, with Sandoval’s journey as the centerpiece.

“Depression often leads to substance abuse, addiction, and loneliness,” Syracusa said. “But this story is about one man’s determination to fight back.”

Sandoval agreed that not everyone will battle depression by developing the discipline to train for 33 straight hours of pounding a heavy bag.

Still, discipline is needed for the afflicted to stay with a treatment that works for them. Otherwise, he said, the demons would resume their tormenting lies.

The Punching Out at Depression marathon will take place on April 15, the Tuesday of Holy Week. 

Sandoval asserts that Christ’s passion is “the greatest victory in the history of our species.” Thus, the goal of 33 hours also reflects the age of Jesus at the crucifixion.

“We don’t always take it in,” he added, “but that’s our warrior king.”