RARITAN TWP. — The Old Dog Boxing Club is all about boxing, not brawling.
The Old Dogs are the instructors, Stew “The Milkman” Burroughs, 55, and Bill Ruscher, 58. But the boxing ring is new, the gym is clean, and the members go there to learn boxing, not to hurt each other, say Ruscher and his wife, Heidi Sheehan, who are the proprietors.
The club rents space in the Mavrode Tree Farm building at 99 Route 202-31 south (GPS address: Ringoes). Ruscher says Burroughs misses the décor of the gritty inner-city boxing gyms he grew up in, redolent of sweat and walls covered with mold, peeling paint, and faded pictures of yesteryear’s palookas. Ruscher gets it, but keeps the place spotless anyway.
Burroughs, a former pro boxer, started training Ruscher about nine or 10 years ago, and now the two of them teach others — mostly men and a few women, plus a children’s class that starts at about age 10, and includes the owners’ 11-year-old son, Angus.
“Stew believes in sparring,” says Ruscher. “If you’re going to box, you need to get in the ring and throw punches. All that other stuff (like pounding a heavy bag) is just exercise unless you’re boxing.”
The heavy bag won’t teach you footwork and defense; it will encourage you to throw “big punches that leave you wide open to get pummeled,” said Sheehan, who also boxes. By sparring, “you learn footwork, defensive moves, attacking moves. Then you put it all together and you go toe-to-toe with somebody and that’s the spirit of it. It’s not a brawl.”
Some people come to the club, which opened last May, and want to learn boxing without sparring. But after they try it, “they love it and can’t wait to do it again,” said Sheehan.
At the other extreme are those who come in wanting to beat somebody up. “It’s not a fight club,” says Ruscher. “Amateur boxing as a whole has turned into a very controlled sport. When you compete, they’re not looking for injuries at all.”
Instead of 8-ounce gloves, adults at Old Dog wear big 16-ounce gloves, whose padding provides cushioning for the wearer’s fists and for whatever they hit, and they pose a big barrier for incoming punches. The kids wear lighter gloves, but only because they’d have trouble hoisting the bigger ones.
With wraparound headgear, “nobody’s going to get their nose broke or a black eye,” said Ruscher. There’s camaraderie among the club members. “You come in here, and once you get in the ring with someone, there’s nothing to fight about,” he said.
Pro boxing may revere the knockout, but amateur boxing is judged on the number of punches that connect, whether the boxer is advancing or retreating and something called “ringmanship.” If someone suffers “a good shot to the head,” the officials stop the fight for “a standing count” of 8 seconds and make sure the boxer is OK, Ruscher said.
Although Old Dog is certified by USA Boxing for bouts, they haven’t had any there yet, but “we’re working toward it,” Ruscher said. Some boxers trained there have gone to places like Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn to compete in amateur bouts, as has Ruscher. But he estimates that 90 percent of the Old Dog boxers won’t ever box anyplace else.
What happens when a beginner shows up there?
Ruscher said you start off jumping rope, then shadow boxing with others watching and advising, then the hands are wrapped and you hit the heavy bag. Then you get in the ring for “mitt work” — the trainer wears gloves that are like catcher’s mitts and the trainee punches them on command. The next step, which is taken the first or second visit, is actual sparring.
He and Burroughs know how to dial it down so they challenge, educate and fatigue a newcomer without hurting or discouraging him. “You have to move — duck and step — if Stew is chasing you around the ring,” says Sheehan. Or they’ll put two novices in the ring, so “it’s more of a real fight,” says Burroughs at ringside.
As two young men box in the ring, Ruscher yells improving remarks like, “Don’t plant yourself, Stanley; jump! Relax, move your head, move the head! That’s it, counter! Keep your hands up! Push into that cross, easy power. Roll right, now! There you go! Long jab, double jab, jab and roll!”
Although a boxer can benefit from having some “fight” in him, Ruscher said, the athletes who are without fight are better listeners and they learn faster.
Although the boxing club is their passion, the key figures at Old Dog are not about to quit their day jobs. Burroughs does tile work, Sheehan is a freelance editor, and Ruscher is facilities coordinator for Flemington Car & Truck Country. Burroughs lives in Lambertville and the owners live in East Amwell Township.
The club has about 20 members, ranging in age from 15 to about 70, who each pay $40 a month. They gather to train and spar weekdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and weekends 9:30-11 a.m. The kids’ class is 11:30-12:30. For more information, call 908-625-4019.
Rick Epstein may be reached at rickep@hcdemocrat.com. Follow @njdotcom