The Underworld Of NYC Boxing

“Killa Mike” and “Caveman” are just two of many individuals who fight and have their own set of reasons for doing so. These two were focused on their match ups at FNT, with DJ and promoter Bekim Trenova in his regular role of hosting the leagues event. Trenova was born in Atlanta Georgia and is the “Ring Leader” of FNT according to earphones website “House of Marley”. Caveman is a regular and popular in this league, while Killa Mike was making his first appearance, “I was invited here by Staxx, who is a fighter at FNT, and fought at our league BX Fight Club once, after that we became friends and he invited me over here.” Continue reading →

From undisclosed sketchy locations, ring card girls, booze and blood, the underground boxing scene has developed almost a cult following. Two leagues I have become aware of are Friday Night Throwdown, a 5 year old league that doubles as a party scene that just happens to have a boxing ring nearby, and the BX Fight Club, a relatively new upstart league, looking to promote boxing while encouraging people to not engage in violence and put the guns down.

However, Just who are these boxers, where did they come from, and why are they even involved in this form of boxing? Continue reading →

• Underground Boxing isn’t restricted to New York City, it’s expanded to the UK, Bare-Knuckle style. The fighters in the UK aren’t too fond of boxing gloves, instead choosing to fight the way it’s done in the streets. (Cool-Material, Video by Vice)

• NYC photographer Devin Yalkin discovers the boxing underworld through his camera lens. He heard about the event like most people do, through word of mouth, there are no ads on the subway for these type of events. (Time Light Box)

• Boxing event in the Lower East Side attracted police attention and was shut down at 1:30 am. Entry into this event required a $15 cover charge but that’s the easy part. In order to attend the event you need to know someone and be invited via email, then receive a text message the day before with the location. (New York Eater)

• Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is starting to take the underground by storm with a league called the “Underground Combat League.” MMA events were banned by New York State in 1997 and Peter Storm created the league instead of waiting for a change. (Fightland)

• Friday Night Throwdown, an unsanctioned boxing league in NYC draws some interest from New York Times Magazine writer Jacob Brown. FNT’s event had it all, models, promoters, a “star” by the name of “Rockstar Charlie”, booze, and three ringside judges away from being a legal event. (New York Times)

At an undisclosed, somewhat sketchy area in the Bronx, there was a boxing event. This isn’t your typical sanctioned fight, in fact, the cops aren’t too fond of these events, shutting it down before. The BX Fight Club is a new league but is slowly making a name for itself in this form of boxing. The fights have usually taken place outside but on this night, it was inside a boxing gym. The cover charge was $20, a relatively small fee for 6 fights but also the first time the league has ever charged before. Yonkers Rapper Jadakiss was the host and instagram comedian “Loopy” was also in the building.

El Barrio Gym on East 115^th street, which is located on the 3^rd floor of a 3 story building on top of a corner store, is the gym Malik Rodriguez, the Marine and boxer profiled in an earlier post, usually trains at. However, the gym is in a fight of its own to keep its doors open after a West African man by the name of Souleimane Konate, purchased the two floors above the deli from the landlord for almost $14,000. The marine still trains there but the question is for how long will he be able to before owner of the gym Jose Sanchez is forced to move out.

Rodriguez has found other ways to train as well, being resourceful and using what’s around him. Continue reading →

Malik Rodriguez, an ambitious 23 year old Marine with big expectations for himself when he steps into the ring, but these aren’t the bright lights in an area, more like the street lights in a neighborhood. “I got started by literally just walking in and asking to fight,” referring to his first appearance at BX Fight Club, a new underground set of boxing matches, where the location is not disclosed publicly, attending one of these events are not based on what you know, but who you know.  Sometimes it may be held in a park, maybe in a parking lot, locations vary, but the police have the discovered the unsanctioned event before and shut it down. ‘You have to know somebody to get the address” Rodriguez said, “My friend invited me and he only knew about it through his friend.”

Continue reading →