A new boxing gym on Hardman Road had its grand opening yesterday, Sunday 5 January.

The opening of Kingston Boxing Fitness Centre (KBFC), which ran from 12pm – 4pm, saw many locals attend, keen to try out boxing.

At the event, attendees were welcome to take a look at the new gym, have a go on the punching bags and have a session on the pads in the gym's Olympic boxing ring, and talk to staff about membership and classes.

Attendees of Kingston Boxing Fitness Club's grand opening enjoyed a go on the punching bags (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

There were also beers, soft drinks, and chocolates available for free, and a DJ blasted out tunes to set a vibrant atmosphere.

Beer, soft drinks, and choclates were available for attendees of the grand opening (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

KBFC runs a variety of fitness classes every weekday from 6am – 10pm and until 6pm on weekends.

Classes currently include boxing classes, but KBFC hopes to soon include yoga classes, MMA classes, jujitsu, judo, and more in the downstairs area in the coming months, KBFC staff member Danny told Kingston Nub.

Speaking about the origins behind the club, Danny said: "So we had another gym in West London, and I run boxing shows over the UK and manage a lot of fighters.

We do a lot of shows in Kingston, and I went to school here as well, so we've been looking in the area for a long time, and then this building came up and it was just too good to turn down with where it is despite it being a lot of money.

"But they're planning to knock the building down in five years, so we've got rent for five years and then we're going to move somewhere else in central Kingston.

"So, the plan is to do as much work as we can for the local community and to get kids into boxing and then in five years, hopefully we'll get a lease elsewhere which is local to central Kingston still."

The opening of #Kingston's newest boxing gym on Hardman Road is on till 4pm 🥊 pic.twitter.com/PdcXN3nPdj

— Kingston Nub News (@KingstonNubNews) January 5, 2025

Danny told Kingston Nub that he plans to set up other gyms in other areas, but Kingston will be the main hub.

He said: "We've taken another local gym, Top Dog's facility into here because theirs' wasn't great to be honest.

"We're also expanding the downstairs area for MMA and other classes and plan to build a café and bar down there for members, so we want to do good stuff for the community.

"We're running veterans' classes and spinning classes, all similar to what we've done in our other gyms."

Kingston Boxing Fitness Centre plans on converting the downstairs area into a space for MMA, jujitsu, judo, and yoga classes as well as a cafe and bar for members (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

Being into boxing myself, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to have a go on the pads with KBFC's Mark in the club's Olympic boxing ring.

Kingston Boxing Fitness Centre has its own Olympix boxing ring (Credit: Tilly O'Brien)

Mark was great, helping me perfect my footing and movement and made me feel completely at ease, so I would definitely recommend booking in a session with him.

KBFC caters for people of all ages, genders, and experience.

It has a group of female boxers who fight at its shows in Kingston's Pryzm.

KBFC is set to host a variety of shows at Pryzm this year.

Membership for KBFC is available to buy now and you can find a timetable of its classes via its Instagram page or by downloading its app, Clubright.

Membership costs £50 per month for juniors, which includes ten classes a month, £80 per month for a standard adult's membership, which also includes 10 classes per month, and £120 per month for an unlimited adult's membership, which includes unlimited classes.

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