Johns Boxing gym

So, I am going to be a bit bias since I have a lot of history with this gym and have been apart of it since I was a teeny, tiny, baby when it was a block down in a now abandoned little warehouse like building and it was called «Jeromes Boxing Gym». This gym and Gleasons in Brooklyn have been a mainstay of my fathers since he trained and went pro. His name is Angel Torres and was a Golden Gloves winner. Plus my aunt co-​owns the place and well, more exposure ain’t going to hurt no one. AND I will keep it one hunned with my opinions.
Lets get down to some detail:
Décor/​Atmosphere: Depending on who you are you’re going to love or hate it. This gym is by no means pretty. No towel service, no colorful, beautiful, organic fragrances of citrus oil and aromic scents. Its straight up sweat, blood, guts, tears, pain of gain and hardwork and thats what it smells like. There’s pictures of boxing greats plastered throughout. The showers work but are dark and dank, the locker rooms arent pretty either. Personally, I prefer these types of gyms.
There’s two boxing rings, battle ropes, and some extra equipment scattered throughout. Nothing crazy. Very bare bones. A good number of heavy bags too. About 6 – 8, maybe more. Its not a very big gym either. Pretty small and on top of a Spanish restaurant.
Clientele: The demographic of the place is probably more eclectic than you would imagine for the area the gym is in. You have lots of Latino and Black people who are boxing for greatness or just for fun and/​or Black and Latino kids who are keeping occupied to stay off the streets. A good number of Albanians. You also have your White collared groups of people who come in for a workout, White people who work in the area, the humble athletes to name a few. Its a good group of people that come here regardless. Since its small, you get to know people a little better and you get to know the regulars.
Trainers: A lot of the trainers here are old school and have lots of knowledge and experience. Unfortunately, some of them are also old and out of shape. On the flip side, you have my father who is 52 and in bad ass shape, and still bust younger folks up in sparring. I kid you bot. There’s other good trainers but I don’t know much about them, so I don’t want to false advertise.
Location: This gym is in a pretty convenient area. Take the ²⁄₅ train to 149^th 3^rd ave and walk about 2 blocks down to the gym. From 149^th and 3^rd Ave, you can be in midtown (West if you take the 2) Manhattan in about 20 minutes. Maybe even 14^th street in 20 minutes a little more or less. For instance, The 5 train can get you down to 14^th street/​east side a lot faster than the two since there’s fewer stops. The area is pretty sketchy and not pretty but if you’re not there late at night, then there shouldn’t be a reason to be deterred. Though its in the South Bronx, its not far from Manhattan and a quick train ride off the ²⁄₅ and even 4.
Cost: Its 10 dollars if you want to train and just workout and hit the bag for a day if yoh want personal training and all that, you can hit up the gym. I honestly don’t know more than that but I can update later.
Misc: If you go, ask for Angel Torres. He is a little bit of a screwy Louey and is flighty and all over the place but be knows his shit when it comes to boxing and he will make you work and push you.
–Say hi to my aunt Frances.
–This gyms holds lots of events for certain causes
Verdict: I give this a ³⁄₅. I love the gritty, bare bones, no non-​sense atmosphere but there are some kinks that can be fixed, a little more attention to detail in certain areas. I say stop by if you want some real deal boxing atmosphere. If you want to be pampered and spoiled, I say loom else where. If anything, at least give it a chance and stop by. Feel it out. Thanks.

Unfortunately, I have to change my original review to reflect what’s going on there now. I wouldn’t want people to be surprised when they enter the place that it’s not what they thought it was described by the review.
John’s has move to a new location on E149th st. The place is a little cleaner but it’s a lot smaller, also there are no showers at the new location. I always used to go to the gym before work or before going out. Now that’s not possible any more. There’s only one ring instead of two as well. John’s gym used to be a really affordable place to be a member of. Not any more. The rates have almost doubled. I understand it’s because the rent of the new location is higher then the old spot, but I’m not the kind of person who would pay a lot more money for a lot less gym and services. I miss the old building that was falling apart, that could cave in at any moment.