Find Your Grit.
Strength.
Purpose.

Matt Mahoney

Trainer

Matt Mahoney is a familiar face in Somerville Boxing Club. A lifelong resident of Somerville and Melrose, he started coming to the club when he was only sixteen years old. His father encouraged the young man to come down and train. Like Matt, he knew the value of raising a kid who could handle himself, in or out of the ring. "Sometimes parents are hesitant to get their kids into boxing or any contact sport. The secret is, once you know how to fight, no one wants to fight you," he says with a smile.

In his nearly thirty year relationship with the club, he's seen transformations great and small-- a success he credits to the vibe at the club. "There's no judgment. A lot of boxing gyms are intimidating, especially if you're new. This gym isn't like that." He said of the sport, "It's huge confidence builder." He's seen the burst of confidence in action with members.

The former competitive boxer and lifelong club member is now beginning to help the next generation of trainers and boxers, getting working toward his Cornerman's license so he can be ringside as SBC competitors lace up the gloves at book fights and sparring events. Until then, Matt is just happy to train, hold the mitts for a fellow boxer, and chip in any way he can.

Dennis Willcox

Trainer

Dennis Willcox knows the value of good conditioning and the team environment. The Everett football coach and former Golden Gloves boxer has been involved in sports most of his life. Dennis grew up as part of the Somerville Boxing Club, and now he's hoping to pass on the benefits of boxing to the next generation-- including his own son.

Dennis spends much of his free time at the club, helping to train and condition the members and fighters that make up the club community. Three of the members are Dennis' own recruits- members of the Everett football team who come to the club as a way to keep their skills and physical fitness sharp. He sees the club as a great way to hone not only physical fitness, but discipline as well. "To show up every single day and work out in a boxing gym is not an easy thing," he says. "It's not like Bally's or LA Fitness, or getting on a treadmill."

The regimen of training and conditioning serves another, more important purpose. "Somerville is a tough city, and the surrounding cities, too." Dennis sees boxing as a way of giving kids focus and an expressive outlet for the pressures of life in the city. "I want to show them that boxing has been good to me, and it could be good to them also."

He sees as many rewards as the kids he trains. One of the best parts of the job, to his thinking: "The reward of playing a positive part in a kid's life," he says, looking toward the bustle of training and sparring going on in the background.

He believes the club is a place where you can come to change your life, no matter what your circumstances. It's also a place where you can experience a family environment, and a chance to be equals. He's experienced it firsthand. "Whether they went to Yale or they went to jail. We never turn our back on anyone. It the twenty-something years I've been coming here, they've never turned their back on me."