Today we’d like to introduce you to Rich Lox
Hi RIch, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Legacy Boxing Gym started with Richard Lox training boxers in his Frisco, TX, garage as a hobby in 2013. He later moved to Little Elm in 2015 and picked up training again after his fourth son was born in 2016. He felt called to serve and began to build Legacy Boxing Gym from the ground up, receiving a 501 c3 designation in 2017 while still training in his garage. He prayerfully waited for God to present a location, which came in late 2017 through securing a lease at 525 East Hundley Drive in Lake Dallas, TX. Since opening the doors, he has mentored hundreds of boxers and families in and out of the ring, provided countless hours of personal and small group training, helped connect struggling families to resources from food banks to medical care, offered multiple women’s self-defense classes in conjunction with the Lake Dallas Police Department, and sponsored literacy programs in our schools and local library. He is tirelessly and fiercely dedicated to the community he serves and that dedication shows nightly at the gym where youth and young adults (local and non-local) come to train. They receive group class instruction from Rich and several volunteers who are committed to reaching our next generation.
Our current location consists of approximately 2,500 square feet. We have grown from about 1,800 square feet in the early years, and we are finding ourselves maxed out on usable space for boxing. With two rings, a heavy bag rack, speed bags, and fitness equipment, there is very little room to move around or for shadow boxing and core workouts. Our gym numbers continue to increase month over month and our classes fill up each evening. We do not turn anyone away regardless of their ability to pay. Approximately 25% of our members are on some form of scholarship any given month. This commitment ensures that our boxers have no gap in training even if their finances could become an obstacle. We believe this is what allows our boxers to continuously improve and win titles at the local, state and national level. Without our programs, many of our local youth would not have access to physical fitness options let alone a chance to compete in a US Olympic sport.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Every day is rewarding and difficult at the same time. As our name and reputation in the boxing community has grown over the past decade, we have more boxers than we have space and volunteers to train. We enroll multiple new members every single week and while some do choose to cancel, our numbers keep climbing. Our classes are full and even with adding additional classes and offering personal training options, we are space constrained during the peak training times of the day.
Our membership fees do not cover our costs to pay our staff and all of our trainers are volunteers. While we are extremely grateful for the limited amount of support that we have been able to raise from donors throughout the years, we have been unable to secure consistent supporters to subsidize the reduced fees that our members pay each month. That is by far our biggest struggle as it limits our ability to pay staff and our ability to make needed improvements to our facility such as adding a fitness area and launching a new program for individual managing symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. We are currently fundraising for these programs but support has been limited so far. Additionally, we are in dire need of more space to accommodate our growing classes and new programs. Unfortunately, the lack of large, open and affordable rental space in our small community makes it extremely impossible to grow locally. We have aspirations of growing locally and expanding operations by bringing Legacy Boxing Gym to multiple cities in DFW and other locations but those dreams are on hold until funding is secured to support them.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have been active in the boxing community for more than four decades as a boxer and a coach. I began boxing at six and boxed in over 220 amateur matches, winning state Golden and Silver Gloves titles in Illinois and Iowa, respectively. After my amateur career, I boxed professionally for eight years, appearing in 19 professional bouts on Pay Per View, HBO, and Telemundo.
I started training boxers in my garage as a hobby in 2013. I felt that God was giving me a larger platform in which to serve and I began to build Legacy Boxing Gym from the ground up, receiving a 501 c3 designation in 2017 while still training in the garage. I prayerfully waited for God to present a location, which came in late 2017 at 525 East Hundley Drive in Lake Dallas. Since opening the doors, I have mentored hundreds of boxers and families in and out of the ring, provided countless hours of personal and small group training, helped connect struggling families to resources from food banks to medical care, sponsored literacy programs in our schools and local library and supported our community through partnerships with Lake Cities HOPE and our local police departments. Our gym has built a competition team of local boxers ranging in ages from 8-25 who have won numerous titles at the local, state and national Junior Olympic, Golden Gloves and Silver Gloves events.
Besides our performance, I am most proud of the community that’s been created at the gym among our boxers, their families and our trainers. Night after night, boxers come to train and hang out with us in a safe and uplifting environment where they can receive top notch training, be mentored to and connect with friends in a safe environment.
Pricing:
- Youth (8-12) = $50 month
- Youth (13-17) = $60 month
- 18+ = $85 month
- Women’s Class = $50 month
- Boxing After School Program = $50 month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.legacyboxing.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legacyboxinggym
Image Credits
Headshot @Cari Denee Photography
