Gus Curren's Boxing Gym: A Vero Beach Knock-Out by Vero Beach Magazine

GUS CURREN’S HOUSE OF CHAMPIONS TRAINS WORLD-CLASS BOXERS AND OFFERS “REGULAR FOLKS” THE BEST WORKOUT EVER

VERO BEACH KNOCK-OUT

GUS CURREN’S HOUSE OF CHAMPIONS TRAINS WORLD-CLASS BOXERS AND OFFERS “REGULAR FOLKS” THE BEST WORKOUT EVER! WRITTEN BY DARLA PARRIS SMALLWOOD

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG HILLS

Vero Beach Knockout

Sherman “Tank” Williams and Eugene Mackey spar as Gus Curren looks on.

“I

’ve got to warn you, boxing gyms have no AC.” Those were some of the first words out of Gus Curren’s mouth when he welcomed me to House of

Champions. No problem. Hey, I’ve seen “Raging Bull,” “Rocky,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “The Fighter” and “Creed.” I expected a boxing gym to be short on ambiance. What I didn’t expect, however, was to meet a guy with such magic for motivating nearly everyone who walks through his gym doors to keep on coming back for more. Gus knows firsthand how addictive training and boxing can be. At age 18, he had no real boxing experience other than a little kickboxing that his uncle had introduced him to when he was just nine or ten. But Gus wanted to get in shape, so he joined Claymore Boxing, a Vero Beach gym owned by Frank Lassaso. Although the small gym only had about five or six guys training there at the time, there was nothing “small-time” about the quality of that training. In fact, Gus found himself jumping, running, punching and sweating every day alongside none other than then 16-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr., who was preparing for the 1996 Olympics. At the time a relative unknown outside the world of amateur boxing, Mayweather went on to become one of the highest paid athlete in all of sports, earning $700 million thus far in his career. Before long, Gus also met Lou Duva, a legendary Hall of Fame boxing trainer and manager who has handled some of the world’s most famous boxers, including 19 World Champions. Duva brought his fighters to training camp in Vero Beach to prepare for HBO fights. Gus became friends with both the fighters and their trainers, all of whom he refers to as “the best of the best,” and Lou eventually became his mentor. “I was still learning about how to train boxers, but I picked up the techniques pretty quickly, and I found out that what I really loved was teach others,” Gus says. Lassaso asked Gus to help train the younger kids in the gym. Before long, local pro fighters much older than he was were asking Gus to train them too.

You don’t have to don the gloves to have fun at House of Champions.

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Gus directs (counterclockwise) Brie D’Elia, Caitlin Carrick, Joey Replogle, Ryan Deri, Liam REPRINTED WITH Miller, Brittany Hamilton,PERMISSION Oswaldo Mojica and©VERO BEACH MAGAZINE Gavin D’Elia in the serious business of training.

hen Lassaso later closed his gym, Gus turned the park at Beachland elementary school into a temporary “training facility” for 9- and 10-year-olds who

would otherwise have to stop training. Then, in October of 1996, Gus, just 22-years-old, opened the House of Champions doors for the first time. Lou Duva’s fighters and trainers, part of his promotional group Main Events, were already waiting outside to come in for training camp, making the gym instantly live up to its name. And that was but the beginning. “I’ve lost count, but I’ve had at least 26 world champions in and out of my gym,” says Gus. Featherweight/lightweight Arturo “Thunder” Gatti, light-welterweight/welterweight Zab Judah, and heavyweights David Tua and Andrew Golata were among the first to report to training camp at House of Champions. As the gym’s reputation grew, greats such as septuple champion Héctor “Macho” Comacho; Oscar De La Hoya, “The Golden Boy,” who holds world titles in six different weight classes; and welterweight/light-middleweight champion Vernon Forrest, “The Viper,” followed. While fighters like these made House of Champions their training home, Gus has also personally trained his share of fierce competitors, including the Chinese Olympic team, a Dutch Olympian whom Gus turned professional, and two of Vero Beach’s own: the heavyweight/super-heavyweight Mike Marrone, who turned pro at 18, and Stevie “Lil’ but Bad” Johnson, who went on to become a two-time, World Boxing Council lightweight champion. Gus is currently training Bahamian heavyweight Sherman “Tank” Williams. But while the list of fighters who’ve come through his gym doors over the past two decades is undeniably impressive, according to Gus, it’s no more impressive than the ever-growing roster of “regular people” who have discovered unparalleled fitness, fellowship and fun at House of Champions. “I’ve trained people from all walks of life, from the richest of the rich to the poorest of the poor, men, women, kids, college students, the elderly, housewives, CEOs, doctors, lawyers – you name it. You’ll see people in here that you can’t believe would

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Sherman “Tank” Williams looks tough without even trying.

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” – MUHAMMAD ALI

Gus will never be too tough for a cuddle with his beloved bulldog Luca.

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Joey Replogle (left) and Barri Armand hit the heavy bags.

want to come to a hot, smelly place with blaring music and me yelling what to do; but they all have their own goals, their own reasons for being here.” Getting to know everyone and finding out what their goals and reasons are, Gus adds, is his first priority. Some people just come to get the best workout ever, Gus explains, and that’s precisely what they’ll get. “We don’t lift a lot of heavy weights, but there is a lot of work with your own body weight, as well as plyometric and cardio. You won’t get a better aerobic and anaerobic workout doing anything else.” Retiree Sharon Kendall is one such person; and while she’s always made exercise a part of her life, she says she’s never enjoyed it as much as during the past few months since she joined House of Champions. “We do push-ups and laps around the building; we box and burn with the bag – it’s always something different. I never get bored, and no matter what your level, Gus always makes you feel good as long as you’re doing the best that you can.” To top it off, Sharon adds, she’s developing some REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION ©VERO BEACH MAGAZINE

pretty nice muscles, adding, “And I hadn’t seen those in a while!” However, Kendall has no interest in getting into the ring – ever – she says. And that’s just fine with Gus. Brie D’Elia runs sprints.

Brittany Hamilton does tire hops.

Sherry Brown and Megan D’Elia hit pads with Gus.

Dr. Brad Smith gets in a little heavy rope training.

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Hail, hail the House of Champions gang is all here.

“I

never, ever, ever tell someone to go into the ring un-

the energy that boxing requires. “But Gus is incredibly good at

less they ask,” he says. “But if that’s something you

looking into your eyes and knowing whether you’re really going

want to try, I encourage you to go for it. There’s no

to die,” he semi-jokes.

better exercise than sparring; and I’ll help you do it in a way that

Megan D’Elia, co-owner of Massive Creative Inc., has always

ensures you won’t even get hit if you don’t want to, and you ab-

worked out, but confesses that when she showed up for her first

solutely will not get hurt. I can put you in to spar with me or with

training session at House of Champions two-and-a-half years

one of my more experienced or professional fighters who knows

ago, she couldn’t make it through 10 minutes. “I hated it. And I

the limits and knows how to make sure you stay safe.”

loved it. It was awesome.” She can’t give up the habit, she says,

Sotheby’s real estate agent Sherry Brown can attest to that.

and she agrees with Kendall that Gus’s “Do the best you can”

She comes to the gym for the exercise but has been known to

philosophy is a major draw. “Gus never makes me feel as if he’s

get into the ring from time to time as well. “When we spar with

thinking, ‘Oh, God, she didn’t do it.’ He just wants us to get the

the boxers, we punch them, but they don’t hit back. Still, it’s the

most out of whatever we do, at our own level. And everybody

most exhausting three minutes of your life. It puts boxing in a

there encourages you. Even when there’s gym banter like ‘pick it

whole new perspective.” It’s also just plain fun, Brown says, adding that even the preparation to go into the ring is exhilarating in itself. “You put on those wraps and gloves, and suddenly you become tough!” Even better than feeling tough, she says, is the spirit of camaraderie in the gym: “Everyone helps everyone, and they’re always happy to welcome someone new.” Charley Replogle, owner of the Ocean Grill and long-time polo player, says he started going to House of Champions for the REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION ©VERO BEACH MAGAZINE

workout, which he says is really good for polo, but he likes sparring with Gus for a couple of rounds now and then as well. “After a few rounds in the ring, I just want to lie down,” says Replogle, noting that like Brown, he’s gained a whole new appreciation for

“Bruce Lee was an artist and, like him, I try to go beyond the fundamentals of my sport. I want the public to see a knockout in the making.” – SUGAR RAY LEONARD

The heavy ropes are no problem for Megan D’Elia.

Don’t even think about messing with Sherry Brown when she’s in serious workout mode.

up’ or ‘go-go-go,’ it’s always done in the right spirit.” D’Elia has also done a bit of sparring of the “your-opponent-doesn’t-punchback” variety.

feel dead. It’s the best feeling ever.” Dr. Edward Murphy, a three-or-four-times-a-weeker at House of Champions, was no stranger to boxing when he started train-

Olivia Long, a Johns Hopkins senior and former lacrosse

ing with Gus nearly five years ago. “I’d trained in South Philly as

player, first trained with Gus when she was a sophomore in high

a kid and was a 15/16-year-old amateur. I was never very good,

school. She still drops by House of Champions for a workout

but it’s such a good workout, it builds character, and it’s so much

whenever she’s back in Vero Beach. “There’s no place as good as

fun.” Murphy says that these days his favorite part of the whole

Gus’s gym. Gus comes every day and give his all, and he knows

training experience is working the pads with Gus to learn punch-

what he’s doing. He pushes you but only to your personal limit.”

es, combinations and footwork. He also enjoys the variety of peo-

Long’s personal limit even includes “getting hit a little” in the

ple at House of Champions. “You’ll see all ages, from people in

ring. “But I wear a helmet and a mouthpiece. I don’t get hurt,” she

their 60s and 70s, all the way down to kids, and we keep each

explains. “Whenever I leave House of Champions, I can’t walk. I

other going.”

ids. Gus fell in love with the sport when he was just a kid himself, and it was the kids whose training he didn’t want to see halted that largely inspired him to open his

own gym. So while there are clearly lots of other devotees that sing similar praises of Gus and the “House” that he’s spent 20 years building, hearing from one of Gus’s “kids” seems like the perfect place to stop. Here’s what Gifford Middle School seventh grader Liam Miller, who started training with Gus three years ago at age nine, has to say about what House of Champions has done for him. “I wanted to learn self-defense and get stronger. From the very first time, it was really challenging. Gus is strict, but he’s upfront and clear. He wants us to learn, and as long as you do your best, he’s happy. I didn’t have any upper body strength or even know how to throw a punch. Now, I’m strong, and I see so much improvement. I can’t even tell you about a best day at the gym. Every day that I go there is the best.” At the end of our interview, I asked Gus what he wanted most for House of Champions. He said that he just wanted people to love it and to leave every time feeling good and confident and saying to themselves, “That was the best workout I’ve ever had. That was the Caitlin Carrick boxes the heavy bag.

Eugene Mackey hits the speed bag.

most fun I’ve ever had.” Guess what, Gus. They’re saying it. ❀