FORUMS > Boxing Forum Rules

Besides me, are there any other gay boxers out there?

Right here. Boxing and Muay Thai.

There are many gay fighters in the NHB cage fighting circuit,,,and I studied Karate (Tang Soo Do) for many years myself.

Im one, i do MMA

boxed div 1 in my undergrad years not too long ago. i graduated, but i still love the sport...

So, do any of you still box in a ring?

I do Muay Thai (it's starting to become really popular in the UK - there is even a gay friendly camp in London).

A couple of my friends were amateur boxers but they felt they had to leave that behind when they came out - the boxing community was so homophobic they genuinely thought they would be killed. It's really sad.

SoDakGuy- yea I still box in a ring.

I'm also not out at my gym. There are a few homophobic guys there and I figure it's better to lay low and keep the peace.

i walk by Gleason's every day and dream....

There are a lot of us out there. I've been boxing for more than 20 years and have met a lot of gay fighters (not pros, just recreational or amateur boxers). I trained at a club in DC where more than half of us were gay. In the early 1990s there were several gay boxing tournaments in the Bay Area called the Rainbow Gloves. I competed in one of them. Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to get boxing into the Gay Games. Don't know what the problem is. I still train and spar (in a ring) at Trinity Boxing Club in Manhattan and hope to box until I can't hold up my hands any more.

There certainly are other gay boxers out there - and KO, the last poster, is an old friend! I'm a coach at a big Amateur Club in the UK and the guys know I'm gay and couldn't care less. It's not an issue. I still spar regularly and when in the USA train at the clubs in NYC and DC where KO trains (or trained) and it's not an issue there either.

I am not a gay boxer eventhough I wish I am. But I do love (more like fanatic) Muay Thai. I have collection of CDs . Each time I when to Thailand , going to Muay Thai competition is a must.

i am boxing is so my thing

Not a gay man, but "go John Duddy!!"" Gotta respect his last fight.

never boxed, but like to wrestle and starting martial arts training

Hay! I am in Norfolk Va lookin for someone in to boxing work out(in body work) I am 5`7/169lbs/built/Athlete tone/SLim/blkbmale. lookin for any slim or athlete guy that r in shape to sparrd with me.If interstady look me up....

I'm looking to get into boxing... dunno if there's anything where I live, though lol

Been boxing since I was 19, train at a str8 gym but I have sparred and trained alot of gay guys thru the yrs.

Competition is a need not a fetish. When I fight is never about sex but to measure my strength with another man. I have the ultimate respect for ma opponent... but I do wanna win always.

yeah right here schnauzer

Something me'n a sparring partner found out: Volleyball court = great training spot for boxing, lotta other general stuff too. Something about working on the sand made me speed up a ton, it was great. Get some weird marks on you from hitting the sand hard too many times, though (we did a lot of throwing and stuff, too).

I'm having problems (Well, last night I did) getting into the guy, popping him in the ribs and then immediately giving him a hook to the face.

Do any of you have some issues in boxing that comes up from time to time?

Hi lads,

Great forum thread. I'm Keith and I'm from London. I've box and I love it. I'm sure that there are a whole load of curious and covertly gay blokes who box. It's just that they're not obvious and choose to keep it under wraps because they think it will affect their image. We know that's not true, of course. The fact that we prefer guys to birds (English slang for girls. LOL) doesn't mean we're bot masculine and can't hold our own in a fight, does it?

I'm intrigued about the whole UFC thing. You may know that UFC 80 was staged in Newcastle and I watched it back on video. I've heard the rumours that a number of fighters on the circuit are gay/ bi. Any truth to that do you think, lads?

By the way, if you do box, please feel free to message me. Be great to chat with you.

Cheers, fellas.

HEY GUYS. SERIOUS BOXER 5'8, 190, SHAVED HEAD GO-TEE HERE IN LOS ANGELES. I AM ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WORK OUT PARTNERS AND SPARRING PARTNERS ...I AM GAY AND OUT AND TOUGH. I HAVE ACCESS TO BOXING RING AND LOTS OF GEAR SO HIT ME UP IF YOUR INTERESTED OR HEADING INTO LOS ANGLES AND WE CAN SWAP SOME LEATHER & SWEAT.

Getting back in to it again!!!

1969er said

I'm so pissed you beat me to it.

But, I'd have picked something stretchier.

I have my first amateur fight this summer. I'm excited!!

Say ... I'm heading to Chicago. Where are some gyms in the Boystown area I can use that has bags for practice?

I fought 4 years in HS and still own the record as being the only undefeated boxer ever to fight in my HS. I also fought in college, and never lost, but I came much closer to being beaten in college than I ever did in HS. I am not the best boxer, by far, but I was the most determined never to lose. Never did, though I fought some brutal fights and if the judges had awarded them to my opponents, I would have understood. Such is the fight game.

They would never make boxing part of the Gay Games...
But if they ever did, I would come out of 20 years retirement to fight again. Definitely. 45yo's old, and I would take on all comers, any weight, any age.

I fought at 160's. Roughly middleweight. I fought heavyweights in HS. I definitely would give it a shot. 180's now, but built bigger than I was in HS.

MMA? I just took on a 25yo Jui-jutsu guy and pummeled him. He had no stand up game at all. Maybe on the ground he would have dominated me, but he never had a chance. He was a Gracie- guy that never had been hit in the face.

I'm an [amateur] boxer, in NYC.

The homophobia sucks in boxing community cause otherwise most boxers are actually super nice, down-to-earth people. It doesn't seem worth the grief to "come out" in the sport honestly, even though I came out in high school in a rather public way. And for the most part, it doesn't even really come up, boxers like to talk about boxing and that's just fine by me, but there is always homophobic crap tossed around too, and I hate biting my tongue.

And... I'm out in every other aspect of my life, so I get a little nervous because NYC, as anyone lives here can tell you, can be extremely small and it wouldn't surprise me if the two worlds inadvertently mixed at some point. I've brought dates to fights and even my ex to work out with me at the gym once.

Still, boxing's the best sport in the world, and I've found there are a surprising number of gay men in sport, including ex-military boxers and I even met a UFC fighter and Olympian. So, we are around, we just keep a low profile.

I *wish* the Gay Games would do boxing events!!

By the way, there's a new book out I'm reading about the most famous gay boxer of all time, Emile Griffith:

http://www.amazon.com/NINE-TEN-OUT-Worlds-Emile-Griffith/dp/0979994721

Emile Griffith was a fantastic boxer but I would not call him the most famous boxer of all time. Ali, Robinson, definitely Louis, my idol Jack Dempsey, the Manassa Mauler and one of the all time greats, Jack Johnson who was untouchable and so far beyond any of his competition, Sugar Ray Leanord who really was special in his prime, Marciano who was famous for never losing but in reality was not so great, Ezzard Charles who was great but under rated, Willie Pep. Lots of guys more famous than Emile, but Emile was a damn good fighter. Dempsey was my fave and listed as 3rd best Heavyweight Champion by Ring Magazine. Small for a heavyweight at maybe 190lbs. but fought guys 240lbs and pummeled them. Back when the champs fought 4-5 times a year instead of once or twice like today. Started fighting in railroad yards and miner camps when rules did not apply. Just one tough fucker. Lost to Tunney in the Famous Long Count fight. A boxing classic. First time when the rules said you had to go to a neutral corner when you knocked down an opponent. Dempsey was not used to that and hovered over Tunney after decking him and it took 17 seconds for the ref to get him to a neutral corner allowing Tunney time to recover. Dempsey was living the high life and had not trained enough and gassed and lost, but still a great fight.

Whoops. Sorry. You said most famous "gay" boxer and in my excitement I missed that. He may have been the most famous gay boxer, but I don't think he was out during his career, but that is neither here nor there.

I met Leon Spinks once. He was the guy who won Olympic Gold and in only his 6-7 pro fight beat Ali in the late 70's. One of the biggest upsets in boxing history, but in reality Ali had been winning fights after beating Foreman to regain the title mostly on reputation. I watched it with my Dad and actually got so excited I broke the chair I was sitting in. And then Ali beat him in the rematch which was unbelievable.

By the time I met him he was a greeter at Mike Ditka's Steak House in Chicago in 1988 or so. Kinda sad. Now he is a janitor in St. Louis, I think, sleeping in the boiler room. SI just had a story on him. Too bad. His brother Michael made millions and held on to them.