I think a recreation of Stillman's or Champ's would make a fine exhibit in a place like the Smithsonian. Great idea, JG. :good
good read. i agree. i also never understood why the gym the fighter is fighting out of isnt emphasized at all during ring introductions. the city..."the fighting city of..." is always mentioned as a point of pride for the fighter and his fans. well what about the gym? it too could/can be a source of pride for the community where the gym is located. may actually keep some of these gyms going and keep a few from being boarded up.
Interesting idea. Hopefully someone with some pull latches onto that idea. It's a very large part of American history.
Good read. The overall decline is bad for both the sport and the community. Boxing gyms often do a great job of giving teenage boys a place to hang out and do something constructive instead of get in trouble.
you may be right. boxing always has been a poor man's sport. if someone from a poor community makes it big and his name is synonymous with the hole in the wall gym in his poor community...those people from that community are going to want to be a part of it.
Great article. I'd like to see a famous gym in the Smithsonian, but to call for the gym within the museum itself IMO kind of signals defeat and an acceptance of inevitable decline. Unless that was simply a metaphorical idea meant to convey the sadness of exactly that and I just read that wrong. But great read.
