PENDLETON, Ore.-Nestled in the basement of the Pendleton Recreation Center is a small gym affectionately known as “the dungeon” to members of the Pendleton Boxing Club.
The Pendleton Boxing Club offers boxing for everyone, from kids to adults, with a focus on hard work, discipline, integrity, dedication, commitment and respect.
“Winning in the ring is great, but I’d rather our fighters become champions in life,” said Rob Brooks, Head Coach at the Pendleton Boxing Club.
Members of the Pendleton Boxing Club are all USA Boxing registered fighters, who attend classes and train during the week and occasionally travel to events, tournaments and fights on weekends, with the next opportunity coming at the Pendleton Boxing Classic, August 16-17.
The Pendleton Boxing Club
“We get all kinds of people in here, from kids looking for something to do, to adults hoping to get or stay in shape,” said Brooks.
The Pendleton Boxing Club looks like a classic boxing gym, complete with old fight posters, and it has everything needed for the fight game, from weights and medicine balls to speed and heavy bags, and, of course, a ring.
Brooks and Mike Blanc started the PBC in 2014, and the gym offers classes for kids ages eight and up, as well as adults that can be taken for general fitness purposes, or to train as a fighter.
“The Pendleton Boxing Club is a family,” Brooks said. “Experience doesn’t matter, you can come in with whatever skills you have and work from the bottom up, or from wherever you are.”
In 2017 work and family obligations caused Blanc to relocate to Walla Walla, where he now operates Blanc’s Boxing Gym.
A Pendleton Boxing Club membership costs $25 a month for children and $45 a month for adults, with a daily drop-in fee of $10.
“If they start to get competitive, we add more structure to their workout,” said Brooks. “If they take to that maybe they keep coming in all the way through our adult classes.”
While the opportunity to spar with other fighters is about an hour away in Tri-Cities, Pendleton Boxing Club fighters do have the opportunity to compete at events throughout the year, including Cinco De Mayo in Pasco, Brick West in Spokane, at regional farmers markets, and for the past two years, the Pendleton Boxing Classic.
“They’re all registered boxers who train hard and travel on the weekends to go punch people in the face and get punched,” Brooks said of his fighters. “We’re hungry for more wins as a club.”
Coach Brooks
For Brooks, who works full-time for the National Weather Service in Pendleton and runs the nonprofit PBC as a volunteer, the gym is a labor of love, of family, the community, and of the sweet science of boxing.
A former Marine, Brooks is quick to share stories of past bouts or the progress of a current fighter, and he’s just as quick to share any club success with the other coaches, his sons Michael and Joshua, and his wife Jamaica.
“This wouldn’t be possible without our coaches Leo Leon and Christine Jason,” said Brooks. “My kids boxed too, and now they coach, my wife’s the treasurer, and we’re all registered boxing officials.”
Having coached wrestling, football and basketball, Brooks is most at home in the boxing gym, sharing wisdom from the sweet science, while alternately trading jokes and offering life lessons.
On a recent late morning, Brooks put three club members through the paces of their workouts while recounting humorous stories of past fights, reminding one boxer to ask if someone from upstairs in the rec center needed help carrying anything, and asking another for academic progress reports once the new school year starts.
Over the years, Brooks and his family have been “adopted” by club members who needed help, with boxing offering stability, support and purpose for those who need it.
Brooks remains in contact with one former member who came to the gym during a difficult time as a teenager and ended up staying with the Brooks family until he graduated high school and joined the Marines.
“For young kids, it’s somewhere to put that energy, if a kid is struggling at home or in school, it’s nice to have them here where we can help them work through things,” said Brooks.
As the de facto marketer for the Pendleton Boxing Club, Brooks also creates all the shirts, posters and promotional materials and garners community support from organizations such as Hill’s Premium Meats, CHI St. Anthony Hospital and Made to Thrive, for the Pendleton Boxing Classic.
“We get tons of support from the Pendleton community, businesses step up, and even individual sponsors come through,” said Brooks.
Pendleton Boxing Club Fighters
Club membership fluctuates based on when other sports are in season and when members can make it to the gym to train, with about 15 adults and seven kids currently signed up for classes, according to Brooks.
Two club members who will be fighting in the Pendleton Boxing Classic are brothers, Shabad Singh, 16, and Fateh Puri, 11.
“My dad used to box, so he signed me up,” said Shabad, who has been boxing since he was eight. “When I got into that ring, I liked it and the rest is history.”
Shabad, who will be a Junior at Pendleton High School this fall and is interested in attending medical school, has had five fights at 132 pounds and will be looking for his first win at the Pendleton Boxing Classic.
“I’ve trained hard, but time will tell, hopefully I win,” said Singh.
Puri has been training at the PBC for five or six years, and is in the gym every day as he prepares for his first-ever fight at 70 pounds against a fighter from Utah at the Pendleton Boxing Classic.
“I like a lot of things about boxing,” said Puri. “Coming here with my brother and punching people in the face.”
Xander McGuffey, 20, of Pendleton, joined the club on a lark, coming in with the buddy of a buddy when he was 16, and is now back after a hiatus.
“At first I said, ‘no boxing’s scary, especially when you don’t fight,’” said McGuffey. “Four years later I’m still here, though.”
McGuffey fights at 135 pounds and has one fight under his belt, a split-decision loss in Portland where he admittedly “ran out of gas.”
Like all of his fighters, Brooks sees a lot of potential in McGuffey, and the two have a plan to work on the boxer’s cardio, building up his stamina in the ring.
“Boxing comes pretty natural to him,” said Brooks. “He picks things up quickly, then we just add movements or exercises one at a time.”
While he won’t be boxing in the Pendleton Boxing Classic, McGuffey will be in attendance, helping his coach and cheering for club members.
As far as his future in the fight game, McGuffey plans to continue training and hopefully get some fights.
“The goal now is to stay in shape and get a few wins.”
Lessons from the ring
As the gym slowly empties, with Shabad and Fateh heading off to register for the new school year and McGuffey to do laundry before work, the passion for boxing and care for his fighters remains evident as Brooks locks up.
“It’s a blessing to see kids you worried about still here or to see them come back a few years later,” said Brooks as he recounts the story of a former member using the life skills he learned at the club to help others. “Maybe they weren’t listening to you at the time, but they heard you and it stuck with them.”
Pendleton Boxing Classic II
Over 180 fighters, ranging in age from eight to their mid-40’s, from around the region and across the country are registered for the second annual Pendleton Boxing Classic at the Pendleton Convention Center August 16-17.
“With three-round fights it’s going to go fast,” said Brooks, of the PBC, which will have fights going in two rings at the same time. “There’s going to be some slugfests.”
Brackets are created for boxers based on age and weight, with championship belts awarded in three categories, under 10, the open champions, and tournament bracket champ.
In a nod to Pendleton’s rodeo heritage, championship belt buckles will also be awarded for the male and female fights of the night on both Saturday and Sunday, according to Brooks.
“Fans should expect an action-packed weekend of boxing action up and down the card,” said Brooks.
Tickets to the PBC are $10 and doors open at noon at the Pendleton Convention Center.
