While the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas is known for drawing its share of headlines, just down the street a little bit you will find another quality facility in the Pound 4 Pound Boxing Gym. Nestled in between a business complex on the West side of Las Vegas, Pound 4 Pound has slowly been gaining a reputation as one of the more sought-after gyms in the area, and for good reason.
Such trainers as Kenny Adams, Luis Tapia, Jeff and Floyd Mayweather Sr. have walked through the doors of Pound 4 Pound, with such fighters as former super bantamweight champion Celestino Caballero, former heavyweight titlist Samuel Peter, lightweight prospect Sharif Bogere, undefeated middleweight Brandon Gonzales and WBA female lightweight champion Layla McCarter all having plied their trade inside of the building.
<--- Slideshow: A look inside Pound 4 Pound Boxing in Las Vegas
It is only when getting to know the gym’s owner, Mike Newson, that you get a deeper sense of what his real purpose is with the facility. Born in Las Vegas in September of 1978, Newson recalls being interested in the sport around the age of ten and it was a passion the he could never shake. “I remember watching Mike Tyson and my Mom’s favorite fighter Julio Cesar Chavez,” Newson claims. “My mom thought the sport of Boxing was too brutal so she kept us in football, but I always new somehow I would end up in the sport of boxing.”
Newson began competing in Taekwondo and Kickboxing during his offseasons from football, all the while growing a closer connection to the combative nature of everything. He eventually took some time away from sports to begin working and turn his focus to his college education. Newson got a job at a local Boxing and Cardio Gym a few years later and has found himself training fighters ever since.
All the while Newson had a vision of opening up his own practice but it was obviously something that was easier said than done. In 2008 he would meet his current partner Rich Barrientes at the gym he worked out of. The two men always talked about going into business together and would eventually pour their time and effort into making Pound 4 Pound a reality. Newson says without ever meeting Barrientes his dreams of owning his own gym would have never came about.
Asked what makes his facility unique, Newson claims to keep the drama on the outside.
“I always envisioned having a gym were fighters could come and be in an environment were there are no distractions,” says Newson. “Where everyone was one the same page, with dreams of becoming a champion. I always envisioned having national champions on our amateur Boxing Team from the ages of 8 and up. We are already on that path. I guess when you have a good thing going the best will come.”
Asked how hard it is to run a gym, Newson claims it all comes natural to him, pointing to his business savvy as a huge benefit. In closing Newson gave his take on the Las Vegas scene and how it can improve itself. It’s obvious in hearing him speak that he is out to better as many lives as possible.
“I think some of the gyms in Las Vegas could help out a lot more with the kids but that’s one of the main reasons we decided to open Pound 4 Pound. We want to play a big role in getting the youth, especially the troubled youth off the streets, into the gym. Boxing has so many things to offer, from discipline to structure. We have a long way to go in Vegas to compete with the surrounding states such as Arizona and especially California, but I think we are on our way.”
