AROUND TOWN

Tyson-Paul? Meh. Old school boxing alive and well in Phoenix

Rodriguez Boxing Club has been one family’s commitment to their community for 63 years and counting

Al and Carmen Rodriguez, who opened Rodriguez Boxing Club in 1961, pose inside Al’s office at their gym on Roosevelt Street on Nov. 12 in Phoenix.

(Independent Newsmedia/Steve Stockmar)

Sefe Rodriguez, USA Boxing Arizona president and the head coach at Rodriguez Boxing Club, works out with a boxer Nov. 12.

(Independent Newsmedia/Steve Stockmar)

Boxers of all ages train on a random Tuesday night at Rodriguez Boxing Club.

(Independent Newsmedia/Steve Stockmar)

This sign posted inside Rodriguez Boxing Club is pretty self-explanatory in terms of maintaining focus inside the gym.

(Independent Newsmedia/Steve Stockmar)

Most Valley residents know Rodriguez Boxing Club from the outside as the anchor building for the distinctive mural dedicated to Prince in the Grand Avenue Arts District section where Roosevelt intersects with both Grand and 15th avenues.

(Independent Newsmedia/Steve Stockmar)

Boxing’s brightest lights will be in Texas Friday night.

The monthslong hype finally delivers 58-year-old former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson against 27-year-old social media influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

A little quieter on the boxing scene is a gym in the Grand Avenue Arts District near downtown Phoenix. Rodriguez Boxing Club is such a Valley fixture that when it first opened Barry Goldwater hadn’t even made his run for president, Alice Cooper wasn’t even a freshman at Cortez High, and the Phoenix Suns weren’t even around yet.

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