If Joshua Clottey manages to knockout Manny Pacquiao tonight in Dallas, he will instantly become a full-fledged star, and in doing so, give a major boost to the Bronx gym where he trains.
Clottey might be the fifth-ranked welterweight in the world (according to Ring Magazine), but even in New York — where he lives and trains — few people know who he is. For the last few years, Clottey has built up his resume while working out here:
From an article I wrote about John’s Gym for amNY:
Since its founding 30 years ago, John’s Gym, on Westchester Avenue in Melrose, has seen its share of quality boxers — but few have gotten a shot to become world champ.
Not that many people outside the Bronx give Clottey much of a chance against his foe. But many of the gym’s trainers believe the Ghanaian native can help bring Bronx boxing back to its glory days.
“It’s a big deal. It’s great for Clottey, it’s great for the gym, and especially the young kids coming up, looking forward to a championship,” said Richard Jenkins, 64, a trainer at the gym for 16 years. “Just the other day, someone comes in and says, ‘Well how many champs you got here?’ and you just point up at the wall and there’s Josh Clottey. It’s really a big deal if the gym has a champ.”
Bronx Boxer’s Big Boost
John’s Gym has quite suddenly found itself at the center of New York boxing. It not only has one of its own with a chance to be the welterweight world champion, but it also recently absorbed the membership of another Bronx institution: the Morris Park Boxing Club, which burned down in December.
For decades, the club — where former world champions Aaron Davis and Lou Del Valle trained — was the Bronx’s most famous boxing venue, until an electrical fire destroyed the facility, But few of the club’s over 100 paying members missed more than a day of training, Davis, the club’s co-owner, said.
“The owner here is a good guy. The day of the fire, he came over and told me that my guys could come here and work out for free for one month. No problem,” said Davis.
Davis — who is planning to open a new gym this spring — is among a slew of trainers at John’s who hearken back to the borough’s golden era. One of John’s trainers in particular, Edwin Viruet, knows from firsthand experience that even losing — but fighting well — against a legend is something to be proud of.
Viruet lounges ringside on most afternoons at John’s Gym, reclining in a battered leather desk chair as he gives orders to teenage boxers-in-training as he listens to music on an old brown am/fm radio. In the 1970’s, he twice boxed Roberto Dur?n, who in 2002 was ranked fifth in Ring magazine’s “80 best boxers of the past 80 years.” Although he lost both bouts by judge’s decision — boxing fans and media heavily criticized both rulings at the time — Viruet still boasts about his accomplishments in those fights.
“I went 25 rounds with Dur?n. The Dur?n,” said Viruet, referring to their two fights combined. “In that second fight, I went fifteen rounds without getting knocked out. No one had ever done that.”
Clottey looms large over John’s Gym (Photo by me, for amNY)
While early betting odds place Clottey as much more of an underdog than Viruet was, many at John’s Gym think those odds are off. “He don’t get the respect, he should get,” said Gjini.
Davis thinks Clottey is underrated because he lacks notoriety.
“A lot of people don’t know him,” said Davis. “I think it’s a good fight for Clottey. I’d like to see him win….he’s got a hell of a chance.”
