A community boxing club in South Philadelphia
Everybody fights. Nobody fights alone.
A ring, twelve bags, one bell and sixty-three years of neighbours teaching neighbours to box. Ages eight to eighty, every level, no contracts, and your first session is on us.
- All welcome
- First session free
- Ages 8 to 80
Tonight and every night — the card
Six bouts. Pick yours.
01Boxing fundamentalsStance, footwork, the jab, the one-two and how not to get hit. The class everybody starts in and most people never leave. Gloves and wraps to borrow.All levels · 60 minutes · every weekday at 17:30
02Technical sparringHeadgear on, sixteen-ounce gloves, a coach in the ring and the bell every two minutes. Light, technical and never before three months.By invitation · 75 minutes · Tue · Thu · Sat
03Youth boxingFootwork, bags and games, with sparring only for the ones who ask and whose parents say yes. Free for any kid whose family cannot pay. Always has been.Ages 8–15 · 45 minutes · Mon · Wed · Sat
04Women’s boxingRun by Coach Dee since 2011: the same boxing, the same bell, a room that is yours. Half of our squad came through this class.Women only · 60 minutes · Tue · Thu at 17:30
05BoxfitRounds on the bags, the ropes and the floor, with the clock running and nobody keeping score. The hardest workout on the block and the loudest.No contact · 45 minutes · every weekday at 06:00
06Competitive squadFor members who want a bout. Sparring, roadwork on Sunday, the corner at every amateur show in the state, and a coach who has been there.Amateur squad · by invitation · Tue · Thu · Fri · Sat
The bill for the week
Seven days. One bell.
This week at the club
Monday
Fundamentals, youth and the bags
06:00 Boxfit · 16:30 Youth boxing (8–15) · 17:30 Fundamentals · 18:45 Open bags
Tuesday
Women’s night and sparring
06:00 Boxfit · 17:30 Women’s boxing · 18:45 Technical sparring · 20:00 Squad
Wednesday
Fundamentals and youth
06:00 Boxfit · 16:30 Youth boxing (8–15) · 17:30 Fundamentals · 18:45 Open bags
Thursday
Women’s night and sparring
06:00 Boxfit · 17:30 Women’s boxing · 18:45 Technical sparring · 20:00 Squad
Friday
Fundamentals and fight-night prep
06:00 Boxfit · 17:30 Fundamentals · 18:45 Squad · 19:45 Open bags
Saturday
The long morning
09:00 Youth boxing (8–15) · 10:15 Fundamentals · 11:30 Sparring day (invitation) · 12:30 Open gym
Sunday
Rest, or roadwork
09:00 Club run from the front door · 10:00 Open gym until noon
Doors open twenty minutes before the first class. Your first session can be any Fundamentals, Boxfit or Women’s class — just turn up with a water bottle; we have gloves and wraps to lend.
The board
Day pass$15
Any class, any day
First month$49
Unlimited, no contract
Monthly$89
Unlimited classes
Youth month$59
Ages 8–15, three classes a week
Private round$45
Thirty minutes with a coach
Hand wraps$8
Mexican style, 180 inches
Club gloves$65
14 or 16 oz, club colours
Mouthguard$12
Boil and bite
Club t-shirt$22
Cream or oxblood
Fight-night ticket$10
Members free, guests
Hand-painted in 1962, repainted every spring. Prices in dollars; nobody has ever been turned away for not having them.
The corner
Coaches who fought out of this ring.
Eddie Marchetti
Head coach · 41–7 as an amateur · at the club since 1979
Walked in at eleven, fought out of this ring for a decade, and has run it since his own coach handed him the keys. Knows every member’s name by the second visit and every member’s jab by the third.
Ray Okonkwo
Squad coach · 28–4 · two state amateur titles
Corners the squad at every show in the state and runs the Sunday roadwork himself. Believes the hardest round is the one you do on your own.
Dee Alvarez
Women’s program · 19–3 · coaching since 2011
Started the women’s night with four members and a borrowed bell. Misses nothing, says little, and has sent more women into the ring than any coach in the city.
How a beginner is built
Twelve rounds.
Rounds 1–2 · Stance and footwork
Where your feet go before your hands do. Southpaw or orthodox — we find out which you are in the first week, and you are allowed to be surprised.
Rounds 3–4 · The jab
The most important punch in boxing, drilled until it is boring and then drilled some more. Everything else in the gym is built on it.
Rounds 5–6 · Defence
Slip, roll, parry, block. You learn not to get hit before you learn to hit hard, which is the order the old men insist on.
Rounds 7–8 · Combinations
One-two, one-two-three, the hook off the jab. The month your hands and feet start agreeing with each other.
Rounds 9–10 · Bags and mitts
Power on the heavy bag, timing on the mitts, rhythm on the speed bag. Where the club gets loud and you stop noticing.
Rounds 11–12 · Sparring, if you want it
Technical, headgear on, sixteen-ounce gloves, a coach in the ring. Never before three months, and never without asking you first.
From the members’ book
Clippings.
My father boxed here in 1971 and my daughter boxes here now. The ring is the same. So is the smell. I would not change either.
I came for a workout and found a second family. Eddie remembered my name on day two and my bad habits on day three.
Women’s night is the best hour of my week. Hard, loud, and nobody is watching you except Dee, who misses nothing.
Fifty-eight years old, two new hips, one jab. Still the proudest I have been of anything.
Tuition, printed on a ticket
Three ways in. No contracts, ever.
First month
$49once
- Unlimited classes for thirty days
- Gloves and wraps to borrow
- A coach assigned to you
- Walk away after, no questions
The honest way to find out.
Monthly
$89per month
- Every class on the bill
- Open gym and the Sunday run
- Sparring, when you are ready
- Free entry to fight nights
Cancel any month. Pause for injury, free.
Annual
$890per year
- Two months free
- Club gloves and a t-shirt
- Your name on the wall
- Pays a youth place for a year
For the ones who know they are staying.
Youth boxing is $59 a month and free for any family that cannot pay — tell Eddie, nobody else needs to know. Students, veterans and anyone over sixty-five train for $20 less on any plan.
What people ask at the door
Do I have to spar?
No. Most members never do. Sparring is by invitation after three months, headgear on, sixteen-ounce gloves, light and technical, with a coach in the ring. If you want it, you will be asked; if you do not, nobody will mention it.
How old do you have to be?
Eight for the youth program, which runs to fifteen. Adults from sixteen, with no upper limit — our oldest member is eighty-one and hits the speed bag every Tuesday. Over sixty-five trains for less.
Is there a women’s class?
Tuesday and Thursday at 17:30, run by Coach Dee since 2011: the same boxing as every other class, in a room that is yours. Women train in every other class too, and in the squad.
Do I need my own gloves?
Not to start. We lend gloves and wraps for your first month. After that, buy wraps ($8) and, when you are ready, a pair of club gloves ($65) from the board. Sparring needs headgear and a mouthguard; we will tell you when.
I am not fit. Is that a problem?
It is the reason most people walk in. Fundamentals and Boxfit are paced for beginners; you rest when the bell says rest and sit out any round you need to. Fitness arrives on its own in about six weeks.
First session free — always has been
Come spar with us.
Tell us who you are and which class you fancy. We will reply within a day with a session to try and a coach who will be waiting by the ring with a pair of gloves your size.
