Tears trickled down Reggie McGuire’s face as he described the impact Popeye’s Boxing Gym and Fitness Center has had on his life.
“This place, to me, is everything,” McGuire told the Beacon Journal before a recent workout in an old church resurrected as a boxing facility at 845 Crouse Street in Akron.
McGuire’s introduction to Popeye’s occurred about two years ago. His fiancée’s grandson had anger management issues, so the couple sought a boxing gym where he could improve his self-control and discipline.
McGuire, 66, watched the boy participate in training sessions and decided to join the classes to improve his own health.
“I was fainting. I was overeating,” said McGuire, who is better known at the gym by his “Gramps” nickname. “This right here got me eating right, sleeping right, feeling better.
“I got my blood pressure down. I got my cholesterol better. My weight is down. I was like 185 [pounds] when I got here. I’m 175 now.”
Andre McClendon, 59, otherwise known by his “Pops” alias, inspires McGuire and others who frequent the gym because he works out despite missing toes on one foot and having part of his other leg amputated. McGuire and McClendon forged a bond. They push each other as training partners.
Meanwhile, McGuire credits Popeye’s with helping his fiancée’s grandson, who’s now 13, regulate his behavior and enhance his listening skills. The teenager’s brother and McGuire’s granddaughter became compelled to train at the gym, too.
“It’s like a family here, man,” McGuire said, “and that’s why I like this place so much.”
The origin story of Popeye’s Boxing Gym and Fitness Center
Popeye’s is run by coaches Edward “Popeye” Richardson and Craig Haines.
Richardson began teaching boxing lessons in 1994 at the Good Shepherd Athletic Club on North Howard Street in Akron. In the early 2000s, Richardson opened his own gym on Boyle Street in the city’s North Hill neighborhood, where he also owned a car lot and a detail shop.
Haines’ daughters, Kate and Lana, were taking Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes, but he wanted them to cross-train with boxing and found Richardson’s spot in 2012. Richardson and Haines hit it off and agreed to become partners, with Haines focusing on strength and conditioning and Richardson boxing techniques.
“I had somebody that had my back, somebody that I could trust,” Richardson, 63, said.
Popeye’s Boxing Gym video: Coaches, students describe workout facility
Coach Craig Haines and others reflect in this video about what makes Popeye’s Boxing Gym and Fitness Center a special place in Akron.
Richardson and Haines added students as word of mouth spread about their coaching. They even gained a pupil who eventually took charge of Popeye’s business operations, Tony Frisone. After traveling around the world as an Army engineer officer, Frisone began exercising at the Boyle Street gym and grew motivated to aid Richardson and Haines. Frisone led the successful effort for Popeye’s to become a nonprofit organization a few years ago.
Richardson and Haines said they coach to make a difference, not to earn money. Both said they’re volunteers at Popeye’s.
“I know there’s a need for these kids to get help,” said Haines, a 51-year-old Akron native. “You can’t fix every problem. You can’t solve every problem. But you can give them a vehicle to get out of there, and it works.”
Why is Popeye’s Boxing Gym in an old church?
The mission carried out by Richardson and Haines has been consistent for more than a decade, yet Popeye’s has transformed several times.
The gym moved from Boyle Street to Kelly Avenue to a building on West Market Street housing The LeBron James Family Foundation’s I Promise HealthQuarters. In the spring of 2024, the foundation told Popeye’s it needed the space, sending Frisone, Haines and Richardson on a quest to find a new home. For about three months, Frisone feared Popeye’s would cease to exist.
“We weren’t going to quit until we exhausted every option,” Frisone said.
A 34-year-old Akron native, Frisone contacted countless organizations and finally hit the jackpot with The Vincent House, though it didn’t necessarily always appear to be the case.
Dan Kamwesa, executive director of The Vincent House, thought the community hub in Akron’s Middlebury neighborhood might have run out of room, but Haines said Kamwesa informed him about a “storage unit” while they were on a tour. It turned out to be the old St. Michael the Archangel Byzantine Catholic Church. The former church now owned by The Vincent House had closed in 2012, and it was filled with school furniture. Kamwesa told Haines the area could be rented if it were cleared of desks, chairs and other items.
“We called the boxers and the parents,” Haines said. “In one day, we had the whole place emptied.”
In four days, they had the latest version of Popeye’s ready for action.
Haines said the project could not have been completed without the assistance of Cameron Childers, a manager at the Lowe’s in Brimfield. Stocked with supplies from the hardware store, Haines, Richardson and several students used chains, clamps, fasteners, springs, mounting brackets and lumber to set up heavy bags, speed bags and a ring.
“I think the end result, after a lot of challenges, was the coolest boxing gym anyone’s ever been in,” Frisone said.
Popeye’s has been operating on Crouse Street since July 2024. Its regulars are convinced the gym is better than ever.
Workout video from Popeye’s Boxing Gym and Fitness Center in Akron
Don’t be fooled by the former church in Akron’s Middlebury neighborhood. It has been transformed into a vibrant boxing gym. Watch the video here.
Popeye’s Boxing Gym is much more than a place to exercise
Haines said Popeye’s has roughly 80 students, and the average attendance for a class ranges from 50-60 people. Workouts are conducted from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Membership to Popeye’s is $30 a month, though parents can train for free if they have a child taking classes. The age requirement is 8, with some flexibility for younger kids who prove they can follow instruction well enough. A father of three, Richardson has a 7-year-old great-granddaughter, Karsyn Williams, enrolled at Popeye’s.
Haines explained 80-85% of Popeye’s students never enter a boxing ring. Most of them use noncontact workouts to get into and stay in shape.
About 15-20 of Popeye’s students train for amateur fights, sparring from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in a ring where an altar once stood. Haines said he expects five to 10 of those students to compete in boxing shows he and Richardson will hold Sept. 20 and Nov. 15 in The Vincent House’s gymnasium. Each event will feature 15 bouts. The Akron Community Foundation and philanthropist Katie Smucker provided donations to purchase a ring for the shows.
Haines said money raised through membership fees and fundraisers goes toward rent, equipment, insurance and an annual Christmas party for students and their families.
An estimated 60% of Popeye’s members are girls and women, Haines said. His daughters, Kate, 19, and Lana, 16, are among the gym’s longtime students who have evolved into volunteer coaches. The center’s membership fee is waived for coaches.
“People have come in here on day one and felt like, ‘I’m a part of this family now,’” said Jack Haines, Craig Haines’ 27-year-old nephew and a volunteer coach at Popeye’s. “It’s the overall enthusiasm that everyone brings in here. The way someone is treated on their first day is how we try to treat people that have been here for years.
“The vibe that the gym has is contagious. The culture, it starts with Popeye, starts with Coach Craig, and they kind of spread that vibe to everybody else.”
Ethan Billings, a 19-year-old person with autism, has been going to Popeye’s since its Boyle Street days. His parents, Lisa and Fred Billings, said he has benefited from building strength and coordination as well as expending energy to facilitate relaxation.
“It gave him confidence like nothing else really did,” Lisa Billings said.
Popeye’s students represent 20 nationalities, Haines said, and the center’s diversity is a point of pride.
“That entire gym is completely organic,” Frisone said. “Nobody tried to play any social engineering games. Those are all of our people, and you can see the kaleidoscope of colors and backgrounds and ages. I think what we have here is what everyone else is trying to get, but we’ve kind of captured that lightning in a bottle.”
Richardson and Haines can cite numerous examples of students from all walks of life who have endured various forms of trauma, abuse and neglect. For many of them, Popeye’s has provided refuge, healing and a sense of belonging.
“It’s been able to save other people’s lives. It saved my life, too,” said Clint Henderson, 23, a student and volunteer instructor at Popeye’s. “It’s crazy testimony. It is. Basically, I was just going down the wrong path in life. Not only have [Richardson and Haines] been coaches to me, but they’ve also been mentors. Being able to come here has been like therapy and basically like a second home for me.”
Henderson is an amateur fighter who has benefited from Richardson’s expertise. A native of Mobile, Alabama, who moved to Akron in 1978, Richardson compiled a record of 49-0 as an amateur boxer, but he didn’t enter the professional ranks due to his wife’s concerns about traumatic brain injuries.
Later, Richardson found his true calling as a coach and a cherished associate in Haines.
“I love Coach Popeye,” student Lucy Van Dyke, 25, said. “He’s so good to the kids. He’s so good to the boxers because he’s a great father figure in terms of he holds the line. He loves you so much, but you are not going to slip under his watch. Coach Haines is the exact same way.”
Together, Richardson and Haines have seen their vision for Popeye’s take shape. Their long-term goal is to ensure the gym is sustainable before ultimately handing its reins to a younger generation of volunteer coaches.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at [email protected]. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
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