About Us

• 77 Front Street Brooklyn New York 11201

• 718-797-2872

• Email: Info@gleasonsgym.net

• We Stream Our Boxing Events Live On Www.gofightlive.tv Monday Through Friday From 11:00am To 1:00pm.
  and every tuesday from 11:30 am to 12:30pm we host a program called grass roots boxing out of gleason’s gym.

• Gleason’s Gym Is Located At 77 Front Street In Brooklyn, Right Under The Brooklyn Bridge.
  we are close to the f train (york street station), and the a or c trains (high street/brooklyn bridge station) and the 2 or 3 trains (clarke street station).

• To Walk From The F Train At York Street
  walk two blocks south toward the east river and make a left onto front street. walk three blocks in the direction of the brooklyn bridge. we are between main street and washington street.

• To Walk From The A Or C Trains At High Street Station
  walk down the hill approximately three blocks in the direction of the east river on old fulton road. walk under the underpass (the brooklyn bridge will be on your right) and make you first right onto front street. we are two blocks down front street between main and washington.

• To Walk From The 2 Or 3 Trains At Clarke Street
  walk down henry street about 4 blocks. make a left onto old fulton road, walk under the underpass and make the first right onto front street. we are two blocks down front street between main and washington.

• To Drive From Manhattan:
  take the brooklyn bridge. take the first exit on the right – cadman plaza. follow the exit down to the right. at the bottom of the exit veer to the left and head towards the river. go under the underpass and make your first right onto front street. go over two blocks blocks to the corner of front street and main street – there is a parking garage beneath the building.

• From Bqe
  take cadman plaza exit and follow directions above.

• Buses
  41, 25 to old fulton 61, 69, 48, 75 to sands street.

Membership Fee

• Monthly Membership Fee$85.00

• Registered Amateur Monthly Membership Fee$65.00
  registration with with usa boxing metro must be current

• Monthly Membership With Permanent Locker :$125.00
  a contract is required for this membership

• Wrestlers$70.00

• Weekly Workout Fee$50.00

• Daily Workout Fee$20.00

• Daily Spectators Fee$10.00

• Daily Photographers Fee*$30.00Per Month: $150.00
  *unpublished personal work only. all other photographers must report to the office to discuss insurance and fees.

Special Offers

• automatic credit card withdraw: 5% discount we accept most cards, personal checks and cash.
• Six Months$510.00
  receive 1 month free (7 months in total)

• Twelve Months$1020.00
  receive 3 months free (15 months in total)

• Lifetime Membership$2400.00

History

• Peter Robert Gagliardi
  a flyweight turned bantamweight, changed his name to Bobby Gleason in order to appeal to the predominantly Irish New York fight crowd of the era and opened the doors to the gym in 1937. Dues were two dollars a month, and the times were tough. Bobby could not meet his expenses, including the $50 per month rent, so he hacked a cab for 10 or 12 hours a night.

• Things eased up after the depression.
  Gleason’s flourished along with boxing in the 40’s and 50’s, but the 60’s took their toll. The sport declined and two of its temples – Stillman’s Gym and the Old Garden – disappeared. That left Gleason’s as the last remnant of boxing’s “Golden Age” in New York City.

• The gym was located in the “Hub” district of the lower Bronx at 434 Westchester Avenue, near 149th Street and 3rd Avenue.
  Fighters from the East, West, and the World made it to the double door leading you up the one flight of stairs and into another world that was not seen by very many fans. The gym was the largest in the city. It looked like an old coal cellar. It needed a paint job and the wooden floors might have been taken from the Mayflower. A blind man with a sense of smell would have known what went on there. The gym became eerily quiet when the next bell rang. Men who, a second before, had been brutalizing heavy bags, suddenly began walking around like zombies. This lasted for one minute, until the next bell rang, when they resumed their frenzied pace.

• The “full line of equipment”
  at Bobby’s consisted of four heavy bags, six racks to hang speed bags (bring your own) lots of exercising space with mirrors, clean showers and locker rooms, row upon row of spectator’s viewing seats close to a full sized ring located in the center of the room. The hygienic facilities were two showers and a toilet. The latter was an overhead waterbox facility. The showers had weather problems. In the winter you could usually get enough water through the old pipes to take a shower. But in the summer, the neighborhood kids opened the fire hydrants to cool off and the pressure dropped, the water did not make it up to the second floor. Character is built on adversity.

• A sign hung on the office wall at the top of the stairs.
  It read “Your dues are due today. If they have not been paid please do so and save yourself the embarrassment of being asked. Thank you. The Management.”

• Bobby Gleason was not as bad as he made himself out to be.
  He had been known to let guys slide for months if they did not have the money. He was a feisty, well-dressed, principled man with enormous energy, and a sense of humor.

• Moving through the gym you came to several huge 8 foot windows that looked out onto Westchester Avenue.
  There another sign hung on the wall. In bold red letters it read: “No smoking or spitting on the floor.”

• On a normal busy afternoon the gym was packed.
  All the punching bags were in motion, and every inch of floor space was used for shadow boxing or skipping rope. There was at least an hour and a half wait for the ring (which went on a first come, first serve basis).

• The trainers, Patty Colovito, Freddie Brown, Chickie Ferrara and Charlie Galeta, to name a few, were there from morning until night six days a week.
  Back then a trainer could make a good living from boxing. That’s when there were a lot of clubs running and fighters could get all the work they wanted.

• The gym grew in stature as local heroes such as Jake (The Bronx Bull) LaMotta, Mike Belloise, Phil Terranova and Jimmy Carter punched their way through the rankings to win world titles.

• Bobby Gleason managed Phil Terranova and on August 16, 1943, Terranova won the NBA Featherweight Title in New Orleans by knocking out Jackie Callura in the eighth round.

• Mike Belloise had already won the World Featherweight Title
  and Jake LaMotta and Ray Robinson had gone the distance in Madison Square Garden (Robinson W10 LaMotta) on October 2, 1942. Jimmy Carter , first fighting as a featherweight, drew with Sandy Saddler in Washington, D.C. in 1947. Then on May 25, 1951 in New York, Carter KO’d Ike Williams in the 14th round. By then, Gleason’s Gym was on fire, as it’s reputation for turning out top-ranked contenders and champions spread.

• Two years earlier on June 16, 1949,
  LaMotta stopped Marcel Cerdan in Detroit’s Briggs Stadium to win the World Middleweight Title.

• Yet another Gleason’s Gym trained boxer, Carlos Ortiz, was suddenly a factor in the fight game and on June 12, 1959, he KO’d Kenny Lane in New York to win the World Junior Welterweight Title.

• Then came Benny (Kid) Paret.
  At age 23, he won the World Welterweight Title with a unanimous decision over Don Jordan on May 27, 1960, in Las Vegas. He had three fights with Emile Griffith, the last on April 3, 1962, ultimately lead to his death. Benny (Kid) Paret was a Gleason’s Gym fighter.

• Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay,
  trained for Sonny Liston the first time (February 25, 1964) in Gleason’s Gym. In one of the biggest upsets of the twentieth century, he won the World Heavyweight Title when the unpopular Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round.

• Gleason’s Gym was not only a sweat shop
  but also a movie set. Dozens of commercials and hundreds of still shoots were done at the original location. Sometimes a big production would force the gym to close for a day and it looked more like the back lot at MGM than a fight emporium. The advertising agency people could not believe that such a place still existed in the early 1970’s. They fell in love with the joint.

• When Bobby Gleason built the gym
  the Bronx neighborhood was made up of German, Irish and Italians. Across the street was the Royal Theater where stars like Sophie Tucker appeared when vaudeville was still alive. Down the street at the Central Theater you could see three movies and get a bar of candy for a dime. Reigning majestically over the whole area was the Bronx Opera House on 149th Street.

• In 1974, and at age 82 Bobby Gleason pulled up his roots of 37 years and moved to Manhattan.
  The new gym at 252 W 30th Street was the first street level gym in New York city. It had an L-shaped mezzanine, plenty of rooms and a fresh paint job. Bobby ran the new gym as well as he did the old, and continued to have the best fight gym in New York.

• The gym had a huge locker room and modern four head shower area in the basement.
  The first floor had two training rings, six heavy bags and several speed bag racks. There were separate rooms with mirrors for skipping rope and shadow boxing. The mezzanine held several offices, a conference room and a luncheonette. The place was always filled with spectators peering down at the boxers training below.

• One of the biggest reasons for Gleason’s success is the presence of the sports top trainers.
  Two of the greatest handlers the sport has ever known, Whitey Bimstein and Freddy Brown moved with the gym from the Bronx to Manhattan. Other dedicated teacher-conditioners committed to making great fighters were Victor Valle, Mike Capriano, Bobby McQuiller, Rocky Davis and Sammy Morgan.

• Jake LaMotta, is probably one of the most famous Gleason’s trained champions.
  Right up there with him is Roberto Duran. The Panamanian superman won three World Titles using Gleason’s Gym as his training base. He was trained by Ray Arcel and Freddy Brown. When Duran was in Gleason’s, so was the rest of New York. On occasion the street had to be blocked off to accommodate all his fans.

• Some of the other World Champions who made Gleason’s their home away from home at the 30th Street location included Vito Antuofermo,
  Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Saoul Mamby, Wilfred Benitez, Pipino Cuevas, Billy Costello, Mike McCallum, Hector Camacho, Livingstone Bramble, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jose Luis Ramirez, Edwin Rosario, and Eusebio Pedroza. Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks,Thomas Hearns, Milton McCrory and Barry McGuigan were among those champions who trained at Gleason’s even though their base of operation was elsewhere.

• When Gerry Cooney turned pro in 1977, he made Gleason’s his training home. “Gentleman Gerry” became very popular with the fighters and and his fan base was similar to Duran’s.

• In February, 1981, Gleason’s was sold to New York businessman Ira Becker, a long-time friend of boxing and a staunch supporter of boxing safety and uniform rule regulations.
  Under his direction, Gleason’s membership tripled and under his strong leadership, the great tradition of Gleason’s remained complete.

• The Manhattan location continued to attract the Hollywood script writers and the advertising agencies.
  Many full length movies such as Midnight Run, The 10 Count, Heart, Rage of Angles and Raging Bull were shot at the gym. Actors like Robert DeNiro and Wesley Snipes trained at the gym to prepare for their movie roles. Numerous sit coms, fashion shoots and even corporate parties took place at the gym.

• In early 1983, I struck a deal with Ira Becker, and became his partner and half owner of Gleason’s Gym.
  In January, 1985, I took an early retirement from Sears Roebuck and Co. and joined Ira full time.

• Once again the neighborhood where the gym was located began to change.
  The 30th Street building went co-op in 1984 and the gym was forced to find a new home. The gym moved to its current location, a warehouse virtually under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. The Brooklyn shoreline district is known as DUMBO and the address is 77 Front Street.

• The new 14000 square foot gym is a boxer’s paradise.
  There are four full size rings, and 10 heavy bags that don’t begin to dominate this space that has concrete floors and blood red walls. There is also an assortment of free weights, stair machines, treadmills, stationary bicycles and customary boxing equipment like speed bags, double end bags and jump ropes.

• Gleason’s Gym offers a cultural and metaphorical link between the most divergent of eras.
  Besides being the oldest and busiest active boxing gym in the world, the venue serves as an unofficial headquarters for the international press and continues to serve the champions, contenders, and upstarts from around the world.

• On any given day
  since being located in Brooklyn’ you could see champions like Mark Breland, Juan LaPorte, Iran Barkley, James (Buddy) McGirt, Aaron Davis, Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson, Hector Camacho, Junior Jones, Kevin Kelly, Arturo Gatti, Agapito Sanchez, Zab Judah or Shane Mosley training next to contenders like Gerry Cooney, Alex Stewart, Mitch Green, Oleg Maskaev, or Wayne Braithwaite.

• Gleason’s Gym has come to be synonymous with boxing.
  Over the years, the reputation of the champion boxers it produced earned Gleason’s Gym world-renowned appeal as the pinnacle of excellence in boxing. However, this home of boxing champions has gained a new dimension of members as the gym has come of age. Now such nouveau clientele as investment bankers, fashion models and actors can be seen shadow boxing alongside champions in its rings. Gleason's time-honored approach to boxing training has paid off in the gym’s consistent ability to attract a flourishing membership of not just championship hopefuls, but the fitness-conscious crowd who understand the benefit of a boxing workout.

• For the first time in history, boxing has reached the masses. Gleason’s has touched their souls.

• The gym’s trainers continue to be equally legendary.
  The current elder statesmen like Hector Roca, Bob Jackson and Tommie Gallagher are part of the 81 trainers that use Gleason’s Gym to teach their trade. The trainers today are technicians, tacticians, motivators, physical conditioners and cut men all rolled into one. All of the trainers are willing to train folks who come in off the street as well as the stable of professionals and hopefuls they are bringing along.

• Gleason’s Gym is a media haven.
  A day doesn’t go by that I don’t get some type of media request from somewhere in the world. I make it my business to accommodate everybody. Boxing is like a small family and in order to survive it needs all the support it can get within the industry.

• In this business the press is our friend and they must be treated that way.
  Over 200 magazine articles from every major magazine worldwide have written pieces on Gleason’s Gym. Thousands of worldwide newspaper articles have been written on the gym and every television news station and sports station has had cameras in the gym at one time or another. Gleason’s has been a location for numerous TV programs, movies and fashion layouts. Our latest Academy Award winning movie was Million Dollar Baby. We trained Hilary Swank and helped her win her second Academy Award for Best Actress.

• The gym currently has 1050 members.
  This includes 450 amateur and professional boxers and 600 recreational boxers 320 of which are female. All pay the same $85 monthly fee with the exception of amateurs that pay $20 less and members of our “Give a Kid a Dream” program which affords underprivileged children the opportunity to train at Gleason’s without paying dues.

• For the most part, professional boxers come from the lower socio-economical areas.
  Boxing is a sport of the underclass, a sport of the underdog. Men have used boxing to fight their way out of poverty, to fight their way out of prison, to fight their way out of hopelessness.

• When you spend a little time at Gleason’s, even as a spectator, you feel this.
  You will also feel a true sense of equality and acceptance. All members of the gym identify with each other as fighters first and foremost, their differences fade into the background in the gym.

• That is a great part of the vibe at Gleason’s.
  Whether you are working out, a real fighter or a wannabe, a participant or a spectator, you are welcome and respected.

• In a lot of ways it is a microcosm of society, a gritty, tough, melting pot, characterized by openness and acceptance, inhabited with a lot of people with big dreams.

• There is a quote on the wall of Gleason’s written by Virgil a couple thousand years ago:
  “Now whoever has courage, and a strong and collected spirit in his breast, let him come forward, lace on the gloves and put up his hands.”

• These words resonate throughout the gym and it is what Gleason’s stands for today.

Women’s Boxing At Gleason’s Gym

• History
  women have been a part of gleason’s gym since 1983. what started as a difficult project in trying to convince one of the gym’s original owners, ira becker, that he should consider allowing women to train in his gym, became somewhat easier when he was persuaded that a female’s money went into the gleason’s bank account just as easily as a male’s. ira allowed bruce silverglade to close the gym early two nights per week to allow the women to train. this was the only way to accommodate women in our manhattan space; it had one shower and changing room. upon the move to brooklyn in 1987, the women’s program at gleason’s gym had proved so popular that they received their own locker rooms. we now train in excess of 180 ladies. these women have turned out to be just as good as the men. they train hard and are dedicated to the workout. when a woman comes into the gym, she has no preconditioned bad habits. she is open for training and instruction from the ground upwards. men always think they know how to fight because they are men.

• Amateur Program
  in october 1993, women’s boxing recorded it’s first victory. acting on a lawsuit filed by a 16-year-old female from washington, usa boxing, the governing body of amateur boxing in the united states, officially lifted its ban on women’s boxing in october of 1993. females are now a growing phenomenon in usa boxing and can compete in sanctioned amateur competition within the united states and internationally. there are currently almost 2,000 female boxers registered with usa boxing. the popularity of women’s boxing has increased dramatically since its inception in 1993. not only are the numbers of women growing rapidly in the usa, there is a dramatic increase in female boxing numbers around the world. there are currently 34 countries worldwide that have a recognized female boxing program. gleason’s gym has a highly successful amateur program for it’s female boxers. in the first ever national women’s tournament, gleason’s sent six contestants and won six gold medals. in the first ever women’s world championships, held in november 2001, gleason’s had four women on the usa team. the gym has particular success in the prestigious new york golden gloves tournament. in the 2002 contest gleason’s sent nine women to the finals.

• Training
  a large percentage of our female membership has no desire to compete on an amateur or professional level. boxing training gives an incredible workout, even for those who never strike another and are never hit in return! during your training at gleason’s gym you will use a combination of exercises to build cardio vascular fitness, strength, quickness and agility. mental stimulation is provided by exposure to new techniques, which in turn, offer stress release, teach you how to overcome fatigue, and give you the exhilaration and toughness of combat. boxers develop a lean low fat physique, not unlike a dancer or long distance runner. famed dancer twyla tharp trained at gleason’s gym during her time on broadway. twyla choreographed much of her production based on what she learned in the ring. other women have felt inspired in other ways by their experiences at gleason’s gym. karyn kusama, conceived the idea for her award winning movie, “girlfight”, whilst training at the gym. the film’s star michelle rodriguez was trained by gleason’s for her role. “shadowboxers” a stylish documentary that spotlights famed professional fighter, lucia rijker, was directed and produced by katya bankowsky, one of gleason’s premier female members. kate sekules, a british journalist, and also one of our ‘first ladies’, fought professionally and has had her memoir “the boxer’s heart: how i learned to love the ring” published internationally, to great critical acclaim.

Bruce Silverglade (President, Gleason's Gym)

• Over the last thirty years, Bruce Silverglade has been busy keeping one of boxing’s grandest traditions alive.
  He is the driving force behind Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, a boxing treasure since 1937.

• One of the last of New York City’s thriving boxing gyms, Gleason’s has been the training headquarters for such legends as Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali and Roberto Duran.
  In all, 131 World Champions have trained inside the gym’s hallowed walls. Currently five active title holders workout at Gleason’s as well as numerous contenders and dozens of Golden Gloves champions. And yes, women train at Gleason’s too.

• The Silverglade name has been associated with boxing for over 65 years.
  Bruce’s father Edward, was one of the founders of the National PAL. He also worked for the National Olympic Committee and was the team manager for the US Olympic teams of 1980 and 1984.

• In 1976, Bruce found himself in the middle of a divorce and sought refuge in boxing.
  While one marriage ended, another one was just beginning. Silverglade caught the boxing bug and quit his job of 16 years with Sears Roebuck and Company. He began refereeing and judging amateur bouts but because he liked “all” fighters he learned quickly that he could not be an impartial official. That’s when he turned to the administrative side of the sport.

• From 1980 to 1985, Silverglade held some of the most prominent positions in amateur boxing.
  He was president of the Metropolitan Amateur Boxing Federation, a chairman of the National Junior Olympic Committee and a member of the National Selection Committee.

• By the early 1980’s, Silverglade began devoting his efforts full-time to Gleason’s. In 1987,
  he started running live boxing cards at Gleason’s Arena, which was located one block away from the gym. That lasted until 1990, but Silverglade remained involved in the business side of boxing as a matchmaker and booking agent.

• He helped to promote the first world title fight in Russia as IBF cruiserweight champion Al Cole defended his title against Glen McCrory.
  He has also made fights for some of the game’s top attractions: Arturo Gatti, Paulie Malignaggi, Yuri Foreman, Mark Breland and Zab Judah.

• Silverglade lives in New York City.
  He graduated Gettysburg College in 1968 with a degree in economics. He also holds a master’s degree in the Sweet Science.