GoFundMe launched for MP Boxing Club
Owner Aaron Davis starts campaign to help pay trainers during COVID-19
BY JASON COHEN
For more than four decades,
the Morris Park Boxing Club
has been a staple in the community.
But the business has been
shuttered since March due to
the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While owner Aaron Davis
is doing okay fi nancially, he recently
launched a GoFundMe
campaign to help raise money
for his trainers. So far, donors
have given $265 toward
the cause with an end goal of
$100,000.
Davis, 53, a former welterweight
champion, has run the
gym for six years. He told the
Bronx Times when the pandemic
arrived he envisioned
being closed but never for this
long.
Fortunately, he has been
able to keep the place afl oat and
continue to pay rent. Davis’ concern
is the trainers and his optimistic
view may change if he
isn’t open in a few months.
“If I have to go into my savings
that’s what I’m going to
do,” he said. “I don’t want to be
in the red.”
Morris Park Boxing Club
at 644 Morris Park has been
around for 42 years, trained
famed boxers, including Davis
and Lou Del Valle and burned
down in 2009.
Sharice Pegram, co-founder
of a business consulting group
called the Now Project, helped
set up the GoFundMe. Pegram
explained that since Governor
Andrew Cuomo has given no indication
when gyms can reopen,
she felt it was important that the
Boxing Club get as much fi nancial
assistance as possible.
“What happens if the gym
can’t open for another six
months?” Pegram said.
Davis is much more of a
glass half full kind of guy and
feels things will resume in a
few weeks. He only received
$4,000 from the federal government
through the Paycheck Protection
Program loan and just
applied for small business loan
from the city.
While his wife urged him
to stay home and quarantine,
Davis wanted to be there for
the fi ghters. The former champ
waived the monthly membership
A GoFundMe was launched for the MP Boxing Club. Photo by Jason Cohen
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,2 JULY 31-AUGUST 6, 2020 BTR
fees for the boys but has
been training a few of them
three days a week in Pelham
Bay Park at no cost.
Even if it’s in a park, he’s doing
the best to prepare them for
their bouts.
“There’s nothing like being
in the gym,” Davis said.