" PUGILISTIC HEAVEN"

"Now whoever has courage, and a strong and collected spirit in his breast, let him come forth, lace up his gloves, and put up his hands."...Virgil

GLEASONS GYM, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY.

Through the years, I've trained at some of the most famous boxing gyms around the world - Johhny Tocos, The Wild Card , Lochee boys club, but when I re-visited Gleasons Gym in New York, I realized that this place was a special place to train.

After paying my $12 cab fare from my Lexington avenue hotel, I crossed the road under the Brooklyn Bridge and climbed the old stairs that led to Americas oldest working gym. I was greeted by Hector Roca, one of the oldtime trainers in the gym. This quiet man had seen it all through the years and knew the boxing game inside out. I told him I was there to workout and hang with the up and coming boxers.

Gleasons has been host to some of the biggest names in the sport of boxing over the years. Fighters like Jake La Motta, Ali, Tyson, Roy Jones, Juan La porte, Mark Breland, and more recently Vivian Harris, and Zab Judah.

In all, 127 world champions have worked out there. They have had countless Golden Glove champions and a tremendous amateur pedigree within the gym.

Gleasons consists of 3 fullsize rings, heavy bags, uppercut bags, exercise benches, and a free weights area, with plenty of space for skipping and shadow boxing.

After a quick chat with Roca, I wired into my own training, with a vengeance, and in between rounds, I would check out all the early morning" white collar" boxers punching it out in the rings ,before heading off to punch out numbers on Wall Street. I also noticed a steady flow of ladies coming through the doors , dressed for battle.

When I finished my workout, I got a drink and was happy just to sit and watch the lads and lasses do their thing.
I got talking to Mike Smith, another trainer at Gleasons and we talked about the fight. He introduced me to one of his boxers, Apollo Welch. The 24 year old motor mechanic, was dripping with sweat, as he had just finished his morning run across the Brooklyn Bridge. After a short chat with his trainer , he began hammering the same heavy bag that countless champions had hammered before him.

Welch was a Brooklyn fighter who had an outstanding amateur career of 37 wins and 4 losses. He also won the New York Golden Gloves title 3 times , and was now making the transition into the paid ranks. With confidence soaring, he told me he would be the next featherweight champion of the world.

I said goodbye, and walked across the gym to meet owner, Bruce Silverglade, and asked him about the highs and lows of managing a boxing gym. I asked him about the fighters , the characters, and the fights that made them characters. I could have listened to his stories all day, but I had a plane to catch. Just as I was about to leave, world champion, Zab Judah walked in. We had a quick chat and I asked him what his plans were. He told me he wanted to fight Tszyu in a rematch, but was concentrating on Spinks. He said he would knock him out first, before unifying the division.

Time was pushing on for me, but I thought I would do one more lap of the gym, just to say goodbye before leaving.

I flagged a taxi and made my way back to my hotel, and thought about my morning training session at Gleasons gym, and realized then that I had strived and gone to pugalistic heaven."

CONTACT DETAILS:
Gleasons gym.
83 Front Street, 2nd floor, Brooklyn, New York city.
Monday - Friday 600am 10pm.
Saturday - 800am - 600pm.
WEBSITE

Photo courtesy of EVERLAST