PHOENIX — A boxing gym is looking for a new home after a huge fire damaged their building and nearly everything around it.
On Saturday, plumes of smoke could be seen for miles from a fire at a landfill recycling near 7th Avenue and Interstate 17.
At the center of it were piles of tires that sat right next to an old slaughterhouse converted into a boxing gym.
Mike Bojorquez owns Walt Hoskins Boxing Gym. The non-profit is named after his mentor and coach who showed him how to fight in the ring and fight for his community by running a boxing program for underserved youth.
“If it wasn’t for boxing I probably wouldn’t have ever left the state of Arizona,” said Bojorquez.
The gym doesn’t charge aspiring boxers a dime to train.
On Saturday, Bojorquez got a call about the fire. Days later when he got inside, he was told by officials the building was likely to be condemned.
Phoenix Fire said by the looks of twisted metal and melted plexiglass, the temperature of the fire was likely north of 2,000 degrees. The good news for the boxing gym is behind the brick wall, some of the equipment can be salvaged.
Phoenix Fire tells us it’s still too early to determine the cause of the fire.
About 20 boxing students are training at separate gyms until a permanent location is secured and Bojorquez will keep fighting until that happens.
His family started a GoFundMe account that looks for community support to open a new location.
“Gotta keep your head up, keep going, keep fighting,” he said.
