Ringsideview … Hai
Nguyen, a
21-year-old
boxer from
Lalor, and
member of
La Rosa Gym
enjoys the
gym’s new
boxing ring.
BOXERS at La Rosa Gym in Lalor
have been doing it rough lately,
according to coach Nick La Rosa.
But that all changed last month
when the gym became home to the
boxing ring used in the Common
wealth Games in March.
The ring was among 2500 pieces of
world-class sporting equipment, worth
more than $1.6 million, given to local
clubs as part of a State Government
initiative aimed at increasing participa
tion levels in sport.
Mr La Rosa said he was thrilled
with the new addition to the gym,
which was a welcome change to spar
ring on a makeshift boxing ring made
of ropes attached to walls and a con
crete floor.
“We’ve never had a real ring so the
guys are rapt,” he said.
Mr La Rosa and his wife Cathy
have coached at the gym, which this
year produced two state champions
and one national champion, for about
15 years.
The 40-year-old, who has been
boxing since he was eight, said a lack
of funding was a hurdle for the gym.
“If we charged members what it
cost to run the gym, a lot of them
couldn’t afford to come here,” he said.
Mr La Rosa said he had put in a
submission for the boxing ring while
volunteering at the Commonwealth
Games with his wife.
He said the ring would help the
club’s 40 members to learn to box in a
more professional manner.
“There’s a lot of technical things
you need to know in competition that
are easier to learn with a real ring, like
staying away from the ropes,” he said.
“It also gives the members a bit of
a boost to think they get to train in a
ring that elite athletes have been in.”
