When their Ontario home caught fire on April 10, the Nelson family learned that in life and in boxing, it’s not about how hard you can hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. Their lives have moved forward in a big way with the opening of a new boxing gym in Shelby, the Dawg Pound Boxing Club.
Run by father and son team Mike and Chaise Nelson, the gym is open Monday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. They’re teaching a variety of skills from boxing to martial arts. Mike Nelson explained that after the family found a new home in Shelby after the devastating fire, the gym kind of fell into their laps.
“It’s within five minutes of where we live,” he said. “I’d been looking for a gym for quite a long period of time, and when we moved to Shelby we found this place on Craigslist.”
The industrial-style space holds a fighting ring, weights, and a variety of punching bags hanging from the ceiling. Students of all ages, from 7-year-olds to adults, come to learn the basics of boxing from a boxing world champion. Mike Nelson said Chaise Nelson was the first American in history to compete in the Junior World Championship in Ukraine and win a match at 57 kilograms (approximately 125 pounds).
“People don’t understand our country is way behind when it comes to Olympic boxing,” said Mike Nelson. “The eastern European countries pretty much dominate. These kids are getting international experience at a young age, which is something we’re just trying to start. They’re pretty much taking over the sport.”
Chaise Nelson has his sights set on competing in the 2016 Olympics, which his dad says requires a kind of “tunnel vision” in order to achieve his goals. It is this vision that prompted Mike Nelson to look for his own gym in the first place.
“We train so much that it’s always been in the back of my mind, even way back in the beginning,” he said. “For a while I had a building I did nothing but train just him out of, and we’d train there on days when we weren’t at the regular gym. I need a place for my son where he can train and train hard, and everything else is just a benefit.”
Once the Nelsons’ training gym sparked interest from others who wanted to train alongside Chaise, Mike Nelson opened the gym to the public. Currently he has eight kids coming to classes throughout the week as well as adults that come for sparring and training.
“We have different days where we work strength and conditioning, other days it’s a lot of bag work, we have sparring days, and we have a lot of different things,” said Mike Nelson. “Tech sparring, for example, is only going about 50 or 60 percent where you learn the technique without the consequences.”
Boxing lessons are held Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at the Dawg Pound Boxing Club, with Chaise Nelson teaching youth martial arts class on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday after boxing. Mike Nelson’s ultimate goal, besides sending his son to the Olympics, is to assemble a traveling boxing team.
“What I want is a 13-kid team, ages 18 and younger, so we can travel to these different tournaments and compete together,” said Nelson. “California pretty much dominates amateur boxing; here in Ohio sometimes it’s a struggle to even get fights, that’s why we travel so much. We’re constantly fighting in Las Vegas or Reno; we’re always on that side of the country. So I want to take some kids and give them that opportunity.”
Not only does Mike Nelson hope to take his boxing team traveling, but also bring more opportunities for local boxing events. In a sport where fellow coaches don’t always get along, Nelson hopes to change that culture and bring more camaraderie to the ring.
“If you’re from Ohio and you’re a competitor in the fighting sports, I’m a fan; I want to see everyone succeed,” he said. “What I would love to do is get people to come back and forth. I would like to be able to work together with everyone, because everyone wants to get better at sparring.”
The Dawg Pound Boxing Club has only been open three weeks at the 4280 Hinesville Road South location, but Nelson has big plans for the future. While their lives revolve around boxing, Mike and Chaise Nelson only have one choice in the face of adversity – move forward.
“We lost things (in the fire) that can’t be replaced, not only personal belongings but stuff from relatives that have passed, my son’s boxing books that detailed every fight he ever fought, his passport and my passport, the stamps from our trips together – it’s just gone,” said Mike Nelson. “And it was tough, but it’s always full speed ahead in boxing. They can’t keep us down.”
“If you’re from Ohio and you’re a competitor in the fighting sports, I’m a fan; I want to see everyone succeed,” said Mike Nelson.
