PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Tuesday, October 17, 2023; Old Angle Boxing Gym, Trinity Church Hall basement, 2051 W. 30^th Street: Mohammad Abdel-Nabi, age 15, a ninth-grade student at John Marshall Business School, shadow boxes in the ring. At age 14, Abdel-Nabi won the Junior Olympics championship title boxing at a weight of 132 lbs.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Tuesday, October 17, 2023; Old Angle Boxing Gym, Trinity Church Hall basement, 2051 W. 30^th Street: Brayden Horvath, age 13, a seventh-grade student at Urban Community School, practices hitting the speed bag.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Tuesday, October 17, 2023; Old Angle Boxing Gym, Trinity Church Hall basement, 2051 W. 30^th Street: Boxers Alicia Lopez and Mohammad Abdel-Nabi with some of the trophies they have won.  Alicia Lopez, age 28, who started boxing at age 13, is a two-time Junior Olympics champion and two-time Northeast Ohio Region Five Open Golden Gloves Champion. Abdel-Nabi, age 15, won the Junior Olympics championship in his weight class at age 14.

by Chuck Hoven

   (Plain Press, November 2023) The Old Angle Boxing Gym has found a new home. The gym where for generations of Near West Side youth have found a safe place to go and learn both boxing and life skills is now located in the basement of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Hall at 2051 W. 30^th Street, just South of Lorain Avenue. In addition to the gym, boxers have access to the St. Ignatius Soccer Field, right next to the gym, when the school is not using it.

   Gary Horvath, the founder of the Old Angle Gym, says everyone is welcome at the gym from beginners to champions. The gym is free for youths from age 8 to age 17. For those ages 18 and up, the cost is $40 per month with a yearly registration fee of $125. The gym is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. – Noon.

   Horvath and the gym’s lead boxing trainer Sonny Gonzalez said they made an agreement to rent the space from Trinity Lutheran Church in the fall of 2022. They said at the time the basement had an old bowling alley which they had to remove. New lights were put in. The boxing equipment and the ring had to be set up. The gym was ready for opening in March of 2023.

   Horvath says on a typical night they have about 15 to 30 boxers in the gym. With the small gym, some boxers rotate their times. Many boxers have been with the gym for years. In addition to Lead Trainer Gonzalez, the gym also has Trainer Ricardo Watkins.

   Lead Trainer Gonzalez says the Old Angle Boxing Gym needs sponsors to help with the finances and volunteers with dependable vehicles to help take boxers to matches out of town. Most of the expenses are now coming out of the pockets of Gary Horvath and the trainers. In addition to the $400 a month in rent, the gym needs funds for equipment, gloves, hand wraps and water.

   Transportation is a crucial need. Gonzalez says there are opportunities for Old Angle’s boxers to participate in out-of-town matches in places like Michigan, Florida or California but the gym must turn down these invitations because of lack of reliable transportation.

   Potential sponsors and individuals interested in helping out at the gym can call Lead Trainer Sonny Gonzalez at 216-315-7822 or stop by the Old Angle Gym to talk with him.

   When you stop by the Old Angle Gym on a typical night you will find boxers of various ages and levels of experience from beginners to boxers who have fought professionally.

   At an October 17^th visit to the gym, the boxers at the gym included Gary Horvath, who won seven golden glove titles from 1962-1968. Coming in with Gary was his grandson, Brayden Horvath, age 13, a seventh-grade student at Urban Community School. Already in the gym were Head Trainer Sonny Gonzalez working with Yadiel Agosto Colon, age 16, an eleventh-grade student at John Marshall High School.

   Mohammad Abdel-Nabi, age 15, a ninth-grade student at John Marshall School of Business and Civic Leadership, was next to arrive at the gym. At age 14, Abdel-Nabi won the Junior Olympics championship fighting at a weight of 132 lbs.

   Next to arrive at the gym was Alicia Lopez, age 28. Lopez says she started boxing at age 13. The many championships she has won over the years include being a two-time Junior Olympics champion and a two-time Open Golden Gloves Champion. Lopez weighed in at her matches at 112 lbs.

   Miguel “Silky Smooth” Gonzalez is at the gym as well. Miguel Gonzalez is a lightweight boxer with thirty professional fights that include 25 wins with 16 knockouts. Gonzalez served as an alternate for the United States Olympics team in both 2004 and 2008. Gonzalez says that when he was coming up as a boxer he beat two boxers – Terrance Crawford and Victor Ortiz – who would later become world champions. On this evening, Gonzalez has come to the gym to spar with a new member, a Ukrainian bare-knuckle boxer who has not yet arrived at the gym. Gary Horvath explains that bare knuckle boxing is popular in Europe and that they wanted an experienced boxer, like Miguel, to spar with the new member.

   Siddeeq Sabur, age 14, was also at the gym that evening. Sabur, a ninth-grade student, says he has been boxing for a couple of years. He boxes at 125 lbs.

   A new member of the gym, Rakan Alakhras, is a Medical Physiology student at Case Western Reserve University. Alakhras says he is a beginner boxer, new to the sport. Alakhras says he just started a couple of months ago.

   Lead Trainer Sonny Gonzalez and Old Angle Gym Founder Gary Horvath are proud of the many talented boxers that have trained over the years at Old Angle Gym. They say the gym offers a safe place for youth and beginning boxers to come and learn to box. They also are helping some of the veteran champion boxers to meet their goals, which sometimes include turning professional.