Newly checked off my college bucket list: putting on boxing gloves for the first time in the lobby of an Easton apartment building.
Photo Editor Austin Carey ‘27 and I — who are better versed in more dangerous sports such as tennis and golf — were among the first to receive a lesson at Boxology, a new gym slated to open to the Easton community on Saturday. The facility lies in the lobby of The Commodore, an Easton apartment complex that opened in 2024.
“A fighting gym is the only place we can have a cop, a 20-year-old convict and a 17-year-old drug dealer in there, and they won’t even know because we’re all here to just train,” said Anil Persaud, our trainer at Boxology.
At the start of our lesson, Persaud explained that boxing starts with the footwork: one leg out in front, one leg off to the back. Elbows tucked in, chin tucked. Eyes locked on the gloves in front of me. I tried not to trip over myself.
“If I was to throw a hook, boom, and you do that jab, you’re protected,” Persaud said before I tried throwing a couple of punches in the boxing ring. They were mildly successful: a few missed Persaud’s gloves entirely, some grazed off the side, but most hit the spot and Persaud tried to hype me up.
“You definitely play tennis,” Persaud said as my balance fumbled.
Basic boxing punches include a jab, cross, hook and uppercut. I somewhat mastered the first two in a few minutes, while Carey seemed to have a better understanding of the sport and got promoted: training at a larger boxing bag.
“This guy’s got power,” Persaud said.
Boxing is a sport for everyone, he said, noting that the organization is founded on “education and community.”
“We don’t want to just give you a great workout,” he said, pointing to multiple televisions screening classic 1970s fights, sofas and a foosball table.
“Everyone can do it,” said Lee Robustelli, the owner and founder of Boxology. “Whether people are looking to reach a competitive level or not, you can still go through the pace of how a fighter trains.”
The gym offers a “90-day fight plan” and features three membership levels: amateur, pro and champion at various price ranges.
Robustelli, who said opening Boxology was “in my mind for over a decade,” said that the Lehigh Valley lacks active boxing gyms. Easton native Larry Holmes, the former professional boxer known as the “Easton Assassin,” previously owned some gyms in his prime; an elaborate painting of Holmes sits on the wall in one of the corners of Boxology.
“The legend himself put a stint in the area,” Persaud said, looking at the wall. “We got to represent, and why not. Boxology is going to take that step forward into doing that.”
Elijah Pintabone, a former high school boxing champion in 2014 and Easton resident, went in to throw some punches himself. He toured the facility with a friend.
“I’ll definitely come down here, even if I don’t fight again,” Pintabone said, calling boxing “the best workout.”
Boxology was expected to open earlier in the fall, but some city inspection delays pushed the opening back.
Christina Kouyoumdji ’26, the president of Lafayette Boxing Club, said that Boxology reached out to her and planned to collaborate with the college’s club.
“Even if you don’t end up enjoying it, then you tried something new, you expanded your horizons,” she said. “I know it can look intimidating, but it’s really not, and it’s such a great and welcoming community.”
“We’re going to be ever-growing,” Persaud said. “There’s so much that we want to do, it’s so much that we want to implement.”
