Student’s boxing gym Rox
Lodo school teaches art of pugilism
By Jeremy Johnson
jjohn308@mscd.edu

Photos by Matthew Jonas  jonasm@mscd.edu
Brad Rollins, 30, unwraps his hands after working out at Rox Boxing Fitness Gym May 1 in Denver. Rollins enjoys excercise of boxing because he says “you can only push yourself so much on a bike.”

   If you step into the ring, the trainers at Rox Boxing are gonna knock you out.
But if you just want to train to fight, Rox Boxing Fitness Gym owners Kala Gutierrez and Kelsey Hoffman are eager to teach.

   Gutierrez and Hoffman met each other while training at the 20th Street Gym and Recreational Center under Rolando Lopez. Gutierrez has been boxing for eight years and was a previously a kick boxer. Hoffman has been boxing for five years.

   Gutierrez was disappointed at her boxing and training options after returning to Denver from Seattle. So Gutierrez – along with Hoffman and silent owner Tia Fuecker – opened up Rox Boxing Fitness Gym at 2601 Walnut Street in LoDo.

   “I came back to Denver and there was no other gym that just did fitness boxing that wasn’t like Tae Bo,” Gutierrez said. “We do something to get people in shape but that also teaches the actual technique of boxing.".

   Rox Boxing is the first all-female owned boxing gym in Denver and likely one of the few in the nation. Female boxing has come into the limelight due to the popularity of boxers such as Muhammad Ali’s daughter Laila Ali and the blockbuster movie “Million Dollar Baby,” but Hoffman also sees it as a movement of women participating in more male-oriented sports.
“Any of those barriers are breaking down,” Hoffman said. “What were strictly men’s sports, women are breaking into.”

   Monday through Thursday nights and Saturday afternoons, the gym offers boxing fitness classes and fitness plus classes, for advanced boxers looking for a more rigid workout. The classes consist of punching, running, endurance and technique exercises ranging from wind sprints to shadow boxing to hitting the heavy bags. And, of course, there is the old boxing staple of warming up by jumping rope.

   After the weekday classes, Rox Boxing opens the ring for advanced pad work and sparring.

   Classes are taught by Gutierrez, Hoffman and former professional boxer, Lopez.
Lopez, who has been boxing since he was 13, went to the Olympic trials in 1984 and competed in 20 amateur fights and 10 professional fights before military service cut his career short. Lopez was also a baseball player in Nicaragua and Costa Rica but said that it didn’t compare to the workout that a person gets learning to box.

   “Comparing all of the sports I did in my life, the boxing routine is the hardest,” Lopez
said And that is why not all members of Rox Boxing go there to fight. Some members just enjoy the fitness that comes with the routine.

   “It’s good getting into it to learn the basics,” said Brad Rollins, a 30-year-old member that works in commercial real estate. “But it’s also good if you want to sweat and get a workout.”

   “Boxing is something that is gaining popularity and people are understanding it is fitness and not just hardcore go-and-get-beat-up type of thing,” Gutierrez said.

Three or four times a year, Rox Boxing showcases some of the fighters they have trained in what they call “Rumble at the Rox.”

   Gutierrez’s staff and gym are welcome novices, but are willing to help those who pack a bigger punch.

   “If they have interest and are dedicated, we’ll train them,” Gutierrez said.

Kelsey Hoffman and Kala Gutierrez, owners of Rox Boxing Fitness Gym work out May 1.