5 days ago
New Springfield boxing gym boosts Indian Orchard downtown
SPRINGFIELD — Isaac Reyes grew up 'rough' mixing with gangs and getting in trouble. Then boxing saved him.
Now the sport has turned him into a business owner. Reyes and his wife Nancy Reyes officially opening Raw Talent Boxing and Fitness on Main Street in Indian Orchard, accepting their first boxers at 5 p.m., Monday.
'It is a passion for him and now it will be our business,' said Nancy Reyes.
Isaac Reyes said he started boxing in the South End and the discipline and other skills he learned helped him change. Later when he had to quit due to injuries, he found himself slipping back to his old ways until he resumed the sport. In 2017 and at the age of 36, his training and hard work paid off when he won the Golden Gloves championship.
With an age cutoff of 40 looming, Isaac Reyes started coaching young boxers, first in Holyoke and then at the Heart of Champions gym in West Springfield.
Isaac Reyes said he started dreaming of opening his own gym as he became a more experienced trainer.
While researching how to get started, the couple learned about the city's small business program and applied and received a $50,000 grant that allowed them to renovate a first-floor store in downtown Indian Orchard and turn it into a gym.
'We were able to build it out, install the flooring, build the boxing ring and we bought gloves, head gear and other equipment for the kids with the grant,' Nancy Reyes said.
She thanked Wilson Darbin, project manager who oversees the small business grants, saying he helped the couple throughout the entire process making it easier for them to make the renovations and navigate the paperwork.
The small business grants come from federal Community Development Block Grant money awarded mainly to urban communities based on poverty rates. Over the years, Springfield has used that money for everything from helping small businesses and increasing affordable housing to improving parks and youth development, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said.
'CDGB it is a lifeline to urban mayors. We are hoping the federal government continues to fund those,' he said.
While there is a lot of focus on boosting downtown, the truth is Springfield has two Main Streets and the city wants to see both expand, Sarno said.
'The grants have helped thousands of businesses. They put blood, sweat and tears into them. It is 24-7,' he said. 'We want businesses to do more than survive, we want them to thrive.'
Thinking back to his days of working at the South End Community Center, Sarno said a lot of youth were drawn to its boxing program. Not only did it teach them life lessons, it also was an incentive for children to behave and keep their grades up because they were not allowed to box if they did not do well in school.
The couple knows all too well how it can help students since Isaac Reyes is a bus driver for Springfield schools while his wife is a first-grade teacher at Frederick Harris School.
'It teaches discipline, listening skills and following directions,' Nancy Reyes said.
Both will continue to keep their day jobs and run the gym at night, planning to be open between 5 and 9:30 on weekdays, Isaac Reyes said.
Raw Talent Boxing and Fitness will offer two classes a week to children and three for adults. There are also women's classes. Classes begin for children as young as five, he said.
The cost of a monthly membership is $75 for children ages 5 through 12 and it decreases to $65 for teenagers and adults, he said.
Read the original article on MassLive.
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