Experienced trainers at the prestigious Gleason’s Gym located in Brooklyn have noticed significant disparities between new boxers and the fighters they have trained in the past. Now, “people come to the gym for bodybuilding so that they can get six packs and look good,” said Rawle Ramsey, a Gleason’s trainer who works with the current Metro Champion Nana, Waris Aminy (3-0 3ko) professional featherweight and #1 amateur Super Heavyweight Pryce Taylor.

Ramsey believes that the gym and the boxing community in general have become much more superficial and are only concerned with showing off. Ramsey says, “the gym used to be better man, everyone was serious. Now you have a bunch of guys who want six packs and look good for the girls. Back then, they were only concerned with becoming somebody. They wanted to fight and make money.”

He says, “the fighters back then were lionhearted, and they would spar hard to make each other better.” Nowadays things are different, and boxers and trainers don’t cooperate like they used to. He says, “they try to kill each other now to show off and the trainers want to have the bragging right.” “Still, they fight like shit now,” says Ramsey. 

Gleason’s gym is a world-renowned boxing gym which is notable for being the oldest running gym in America. The gym is a historic landmark of the New York Boxing scene and has hosted world champions and Olympians from all over the world. The key slogan of the gym is “home of champions” boasting of legendary champions such as Jack Dempsey, Roberto Duran and Mike Tyson who used the gym to train for championship fights.

The gym is notorious in its past for being a hardcore old school fight gym. Stories of legendary gym wars are common and numerous at Gleasons. There are over 50 active trainers in the gym, many of whom were legendary fighters in their own right, most notable being Lennox Blackmoore, former number one contender, Juan Guzman, two-time world champion, and Mark Breland, Olympic Gold Medalist and world champion.

In 2017, the gym moved a few blocks down from its old location in Dumbo to 130 Water street. The gym got a new makeover and much of the older equipment was replaced with new flashier and cleaner equipment. In recent years, the gym took a new direction in becoming more commercial to attract more white-collar workers and fitness enthusiasts but still there are many great amateur and professional boxers who train at the gym for their fights. 

Lennox Blackmoore, an elder statesman of NYC Boxing, says “the old trainers used to be much better, not like these new young guys, trainers like Panama Lewis, they knew what they were talking about.” Lewis is an infamous trainer who is known for his scandals in the sport. Still Lennox says the gym is still strong. He says, “It’s all about having heart and making it happen.”    

I remember in my teenage years I used to train at old Gleasons. The faces of you had seen in the gym were severe and there was always an air of hostility and competition. The gym felt like a relic of an older world. You would hardly ever see regular people at the gym that you would bump into in the streets. The people in the gym were serious, malicious and intentional. There was always some intense sparring going on and people would join in to watch. Everyone would be shouting, yelling and laughing as they would watch the boxer’s fight. The bottom line is the gym loved champions and showered us with love and adoration when we showed out.