AKRON, Ohio – Less than one year ago, Popeye’s Boxing Gym relocated to 533 West Market Street in Akron as part of a partnership with the LeBron James Family Foundation.
Now the gym, which offers public boxing and fitness classes for kids for just $30 a month and allows parents to train for free, is looking for a new place to operate.
“We signed a three-year lease with them, so this was unexpected,” Popeye’s Boxing Club Board Chair Tony Frisone told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. “We were told they need our space for a program.”
As part of the agreement, the 501c3 nonprofit gym agreed to offer free fitness and boxing classes for I Promise and House Three Thirty students and staff. In exchange, the gym would be charged just $250 a month in rent through a third party to use the 1,800 square-foot space in the back portion of the I Promise HealthQuarters building.
In a March 14 meeting, the foundation let the gym know it planned to terminate the agreement, according to Frisone. Though the gym’s classes are so popular that there’s a waitlist to join, only one participant from the LeBron James Family Foundation’s programs took part, according to Popeye’s Boxing Gym CEO of Operations Craig Haines, who also coaches at the gym. Now the gym must vacate the space by June 26.
“We love Popeye’s Boxing Gym and have a deep appreciation for the important resources they provide in terms of physical fitness and having an outlet like boxing available in our community. For the past year, we’ve been happy to jump in and help provide an interim home for Popeye’s to continue providing their impactful programming when we were able to,” LeBron James Family Foundation spokesperson Stephanie Weglin said in an email to cleveland.com. “We will always do our best to be a great partner to our Akron community. We have a growing number of students, families and community members that we will continue to serve, utilizing every square inch we can to meet their needs.”
Cleveland.com reached out to the LeBron James Family Foundation to find out what its plans are for the space that Popeye’s currently occupies.
“The news was surprising and not ideal, but if there is a silver lining, it’s that we have outgrown the space,” Frisone said. “On a typical class night, there can be as many as four students sharing one bag.”
Frisone credits the LeBron James Family Foundation as instrumental in saving the gym from closing when the rent at the gym’s previous location had climbed to nearly $3,000 a month, according to Frisone. But now the gym needs to find another place to go or it will be forced to close.
“We’re not asking for money. We just need some industrial or warehouse space in Akron so we can continue to operate,” Frisone said. “What will happen to these kids and families if we have to close down?”
The gym serves approximately 60 families, he said.
For Akron resident April Jones, the gym has been transformative for her two grandchildren. Jones’ daughter died of COVID in 2020, leaving her to care for her grandchildren, ages 7 and 8, she said.
“The kids got into boxing when they were mourning the loss of their mom,” she said. “I didn’t think my girl would like it because she’s kind of prissy, but she loves it. This gym is something close to a miracle for me to have the kids have something to look forward to.”
Jones fears what might happen if the gym can’t find a new space to operate in.
“We need help,” she said. “Please, someone help us. These grandbabies are so important, as are everyone’s babies who go here.”
Akron resident Ron Wagner has the gym to thank for his sobriety, he said.
“My son and I have been members for the last six months. The gym has been a huge outlet and a safe place for my son and I. We lost his mother three years ago, and I developed a drinking problem – this gym has helped me to stay sober for the last six months,” Wagner said.
Popeye’s has reached out to Akron Public Schools, the city and the Akron Community Foundation to try to find a place it can rent, according to Frisone. So far, there haven’t been any viable leads.
“This is the type of program that everyone in the city claims they want,” Frisone said, adding that the Popeye’s program targets youth violence prevention, has diverse participation and is already a success.
Eddie “Popeye” Richardson started the gym 17 years ago to keep kids off the streets by keeping them active. A 2017 Summit County Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, Richardson still volunteers as a coach at the gym. All of the gym’s coaches are volunteers as well, according to Haines.
Classes are full-body workouts designed around boxing, and are open to anyone ages 4-5 and up, regardless of fitness level or ability. Optional sparring time is offered before classes for those interested and parents are able to train with their children for free on the other side of the gym, Haines said.
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