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I moved to New York for the second time in 1987. Having been a real estate investment banker for several years, I had watched the Texas economy implode as the economy sank into the doldrums with the decline in real estate and oil prices. I missed New York and had always wanted to return anyway. This seemed like an appropriate time to do so. For the first few years, I had no organized program of athletics, but it was great to be back in New York. I was so busy taking advantage of the many wonderful diversions New York had to offer, physical fitness just didn't seem such a priority.
The year before I moved, I had read about a Wall Street Charity Fund Bout at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum. One of the many fights covered in a Time magazine article describing the event was the heavyweight fight of Tom "the Bomb" Gimbel, a member of the New York Athletic Club Boxing Team, who was with Smith Barney at the time. The article also profiled an insurance magnate by the name of David Lawrence, who talked about how he had found his way to Gleason's Gym and then into this huge event. Lawrence went on to fight the first-ever white-collar sparring match in 1988. The article described the bouts of both Gimbel and Lawrence in great detail, with Gimbel having scored the only knockout of the night over his opponent. The article spoke of Lawrence's rigorous training regimen at Gleason's Gym and how he had gotten himself in shape around the age of 40. Although Lawrence lost his bout at these fights, the article painted a great picture of getting in shape by boxing, and described the favorable changes which had occurred in Lawrence's life because of boxing. This article resonated with me, and I kept a copy of it. Here were a couple of boxers whom I could very much relate to -- a couple of Wall Street guys!
In 1989, I had a business lunch to discuss a real estate deal with an investment banker by the name of Tom Gimbel. Halfway through the lunch I realized he was Tom "the Bomb." During that lunch, Tom and I talked about boxing the entire time. I learned that in addition to having a record of 29-3 as an amateur boxer, he was at that time the heavyweight champion of the New York Athletic Club (NYAC). In fact, the only fights he had lost were at the finals of the Empire State Games, the quarter finals of the Golden Gloves, and one fight against another heavyweight champion of the NYAC, Mike Fullam. Tom is a great guy and a respected pro on Wall Street, and he boxed. After our meeting, I started to wonder. Why couldn't I do this?
In the early 1990s, as I crept over the "big 4-0" and was slipping into middle age, I found myself getting "soft." Working out wasn't as much fun as it used to be. I had gained weight. My hair was turning grey. I was starting to feel old. In 1992, as part of a larger program that involved both professional and personal transformation, I made a conscious decision to jump start my athletic career. I decided to take up two sports, and, to simplify things, they were to have the following important criteria: 1) be great exercise, and 2) be fun. I thought long and hard about what those two sports should be. I thought to myself, "Is this the time to make my move into boxing?" "Well," I said to myself, "it's probably now or never!" I took up boxing and basketball with a passion in 1992. My criteria were met soundly by both sports.
Taking up boxing over the age of 40 is not something that a lot of people have done. Boxing is the only sport in the Olympics that has an age limit. That limit is 34. So I will never be an Olympic boxer. There is a reason for this -- it is a tough and demanding sport. It is a sport with a lot of pain. A boxer is required to administer and receive pain on a regular basis. As the body gets older, even in your thirties, it gets harder for the body to receive pain.
I joined the NYAC in August of 1992, and found my way to the boxing room in September of that year. I looked around the room. It was a classic boxing room -- high ceilings, wood paneling, two big rings, lots of bags -- heavy bags, speed bags. It was the most interesting room in the NYAC, reminiscent of another era. On the walls, pictures of some of the great NYAC fighters, including Tom Gimbel and Mike Fullam, as well as the twin brothers, Nick and Pete Spanakos, who together won 17 national, regional, and local Golden Gloves titles and some 200 amateur fights each. Nick was Muhammad Ali's roommate in the 1960 Olympics. There were also a lot of photos of boxing events that have occurred over the past few years at the NYAC, giving the room a great sense of history and continuity. It was the setting that you imagined for old-time club fighting. It was a thrilling space, a space I wanted to come back to.
With all due respect to fine athletic clubs all over the world, the New York Athletic Club is probably the greatest club of its type anywhere, a veritable institution of athletics and camaraderie. It has superior facilities; a wide variety of sports and athletics; a great history, including members who have won over 214 medals in the Olympic Games (123 of which are gold) as of the spring of 2005; a terrific and dedicated staff; and an ideal location in the heart of Manhattan on Central Park South (one block from my apartment, I might add). The facility has 26 floors, a wonderful full-floor gymnasium, a great swimming pool, lots of squash courts, and, yes, a great boxing room. It has world class athletes in several sports, and always sends a healthy contingent to the Olympics to compete every four years. There is also plenty of room for anyone who simply wants to get a workout and enjoy the benefits of physical fitness. In the summer, it has a separate facility about 30 minutes north of Manhattan, near Pelham, New York, at Travers Island, which for all practical purposes is a country club with a great pool and 18 tennis courts. Joining the New York Athletic Club was one of the truly great things I have been able to do in my life.
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