Gym of the Month: The Boxing Club, San Diego

The Boxing Club has been one of San Diego’s premier martial arts and fitness training centers since its foundation in 1999.

It was founded with a view to providing a training center which could cater both to competitive fighters and to clients who wanted the benefits of authentic fight-sport training in a fun and safe environment.

In the sixteen years it has existed the club has gone from strength to strength and last year scored a significant coup when it acquired the services of Artem ‘The Lion’ Levin, the GLORY World Middleweight Champion.

“Our owner, Artem Sharoshkin, met Artem at a fighting event in 2012 where he was helping him by translating for him. Naturally, both sharing a similar passion and both being named Artem, they formed a quick friendship and continued to stay in touch and support each other,” says Cassandra Velez, Marketing Coordinator.

“After a few visits to San Diego, Artem Levin fell in love with the city and that solidified his decision to move here. Artem now serves as our resident fighter and part-time instructor.

“It’s been an amazing experience having him training at the gym! We’ve always been a fan of having a mix of high quality fighters and people who are just generally fitness-minded. Artem is such a humble champion, so he fits right into our dynamic. Our members love having him around since he’s an awesome reference and always willing to help.

“Artem brings a unique Russian style of training to The Boxing Club. He absolutely loves it here and, through the coaching process, he is making big leaps in learning the English language… including his slang terminology.”

Artem Sharoshkin and his business partner Patrick Van Schoote took over The Boxing Club several years ago and undertook a complete renovation. Spread over two floors with approximately 10,000 square feet of training space, there are extensive facilities for multiple different training regimens.

The Boxing Club houses two boxing rings, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu room, a Pilates room, a cardio area, a weight training section and saunas, along with locker rooms and an outdoor patio. There are around 15 instructors working at any one time and the center offers 75 classes per week.

“With such a wide variety of clients, every day is different. We hold daily boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, and HIIT classes, but we also have more low-key workouts such as Pilates and Yoga. When our instructors aren’t teaching class, they’re usually training clients one-on-one and each session is different based on the client’s goals,” says Velez.

“If they’re training a pro- or amateur fighter, their sessions may consist of sparring or drills or bag work. On the flip side, if they’re training a client who’s looking to lose weight or tone up, then they focus more on strength training and cardio.

“We also host lots of fun events for our members like weight loss challenges, outdoor boot-camps and in-house tournaments.”

Velez says the core clientele “consists of everyone from fighters to high-level executives, stay-at-home moms and kids looking for a new after-school activity. We strive to have a well-rounded program that has something for everyone.

“We’re fortunate to have a solid number of pro- and amateur fighters who we train here, but a majority of our clientele are people who just want to get in shape and have an awesome workout.

“We are very excited that Artem Levin is fighting in San Diego on May 8. A lot of members will be attending to support Artem and The Boxing Club on fight night.”

GLORY 21 SAN DIEGO airs in the US on Spike TV at 11pm ET/10pm CT.

Raymond ‘Real Deal’ Daniels features in the co-main event as he takes on Bellator veteran Justin Baesman and the card is completed by a four-man Heavyweight Qualification Tournament which will see the winner go forward to a spot in the next Heavyweight Contender Tournament and its chance of a world title shot.

Tickets for GLORY 21 are available now at AXS.com and are priced at $46, $71, and $146.