Boxing Makes It’s Way To The North Side Of Bronx

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Published on February 06, 2012, 12:19 am
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Last year, Alexander Cintron opened World Wide Boxing Gym on the corner of 205th and Jerome Ave because he felt the North side section of the Bronx needed and deserved a good boxing gym.

“There are boxing gyms in the South Bronx but we needed one over here says Cintron. I live in the Bronx and I felt that we needed a bigger gym, one that was clean and one where everyone follows the rules.”

The former boxer was born in Manhattan, and raised partly in Puerto Rico and Bronx. His love for boxing led him to open the gym after an attempted car-jacking in Puerto Rico put an end to his boxing career. He calls running the gym a hobby because of his deep love of the sport.

According to Cintron, after he closes the gym, he goes home and watches old fights on tape. He now hopes to pass his passion for boxing to his son.

“I love boxing, I also train my son says Cintron. I’m training him for June Olympics for next year.”

Cintron used to box for 10 years even fighting in the legendary Golden Gloves tournament. He was a left-handed fighter and was a huge fan of Felix “Tito” Trinidad.

“He is the only boxer to beat 3 gold medal champs, I used to look at him fight says Cintron. He didn’t have a lot of style but he hit hard and he was hard to beat. I wanted to punch like him but I was really just a fan.”

After the attempted car-jacking he tried to get back in the ring again but he could not keep up the pace.

“I was shot 4 times, once in my lung and ankle says Cintron. I had one more fight after I got shot then I had to let boxing go.”

Now that the gym is in full swing, Alex wants to move into a different area of boxing promoting fights.

“We have professional fighters like Darlene Jimenez and Giovanni Lorenzo who come here and train says Cintron. We used to have a big trainer here named Pastor Ralph. He was a pastor and a fighter everybody loved and respected.”

Near the end of the summer Cintron plans to open a tournament at his gym called Pure Breed Boxing which will have belts available for winners. His dreams for the tournament are big.

“I want the tournament to grow and if it gets bigger I want it at Madison Square Garden”
says Cintron. In 10 years he sees himself owning the gym and being a professional boxing promoter.

“From here I can make a lot of fighters says Cintron. It’s like baking a cake from beginning to end like my son. I trained him, I showed him everything he knows.”

Worldwide Boxing Gym may help solve an American problem with obesity which has been in the headlines recently and Cintron says the gym can help with that problem because it will people stay in shape.

“I think the best way to get in shape is boxing, you will lose weight really fast” says Cintron.

As for the community, Cintron says the gym helps both the parents and kids. 

“I feel parents send their kids to the gym to keep them off the streets, to learn how to defend themselves, and lose weight says Cintron. A lot of kids are not eating right and it’s good for the kids because they are in here doing sports and use all the energy they have in here says Cintron. When they go home, they just eat and sleep.”

More about the gym can be found here.

 

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.