PHOENIX – Jose Benavidez Snr, whose son David Benavidez has worn “PHX” on his trunks throughout his ascent to three division titles, is buying the gym where it all started.
Benavidez, his son’s trainer, told BoxingScene Tuesday that he has an agreement to purchase Central Boxing, a classic old gym within a couple blocks north of the Arizona state capitol’s copper dome.
It was expected to be a done deal this week, said Benavidez Snr, who will be in the corner for Gabriela Tellez against Elif Nur Turhna for a women’s lightweight title bout Saturday on a card headlined by the Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez-Antonio Vargas bantamweight title bout at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
“There’s so much history here,’’ said the busy trainer, who witnessed a lot of it while managing the gym nearly 20 years ago. “I want to keep it the same. I want to keep the outside – with all those great murals – the same. Everything the same.’’
The building, which is about a century old, has already undergone lots of change. It started out as a corner store long before air conditioning. Many years later, it morphed into a boxing gym, although still without air conditioning.
No AC, in fact, was part of the attraction for Mike Tyson, who was at the end of his career yet was looking for a place to train in the heat. In mid-summer, Tyson got more of that than he might have wanted when he showed up in 2005.
Tyson worked in the old place, hitting bags and jumping rope in hellish temperatures that hovered around 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tyson survived, even if his career didn’t. But his arrival saved it from the wrecking ball. The city was prepared to condemn the building. But the stories and publicity surrounding Tyson attracted a collection of developers and entrepreneurs with an interest in boxing. They bought it and some AC.
Fighters followed, including Floyd Mayweather, Kostya Tszyu, Julio Cesar Chavez. Even Henry Cejudo, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, was there after his victory at the Beijing Games. Cejudo wanted to box. He trained and even lived there in a loft above the floor for a while before he went on to win two UFC titles.
“The place is Phoenix,’’ said the senior Benavidez, who said he is buying the storied gym from Patrick Zanzucchi
Benavidez managed it when David, now 29, was about eight years old. Back then, David was little brother to Jose Benavidez Jnr, an amateur prodigy who went on to win a secondary junior-welterweight title and is best remembered for giving Terence Crawford one of his toughest fights in October 2018 in Nebraska.
“Then, Central was like David’s playground,’’ his dad said. “He was a kid, running around.’’
Turns out, he also was absorbing some of the fundamentals of a craft he has begun to dominate with titles at 168, 175 and 200 pounds. Then, Tyson could have never imagined that one day he would nickname him “The Mexican Monster.”
Over the last many years, the Benavidez brothers and dad moved away. First to Los Angeles, then Seattle. Jose Snr has a gym in Seattle. Jose Jnr lives in Seattle. David lives in Miami, although much of training camp for his cruiserweight blowout of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez was located at a casino in the Phoenix area.
It was then that Jose Snr re-opened negotiations for Central. Talks have been underway, off and on, since 2020.
Today, murals of David Benavidez and Tyson share a spot above the door that faces West Van Buren Boulevard.
“I look at it, I walk through it and it just looks and feels so much like home to me,’’ Benavidez Snr said.
It’s always been there, stitched across the back of David’s trunks. “PHX,” his home and identity.
