Sam’s Gym in Glouster, Ohio, is the oldest running boxing gym in the country. Sam Jones started running the gym in 1959, after it was founded in 1936 by his father, grandfather and Frank Buhla. Since its opening, Sam’s Gym has been a home to fighters and athletes.
From individualized training to group workouts and sponsored fights, athletes and fighters are always moving at Sam’s Gym. The gym is packed with fighters sparring in the ring, coaches leading group exercises on the main floor and athletes on the second level doing cardio and individual training.
Jones has a legacy of his own, with a life of boxing matches in arenas around the world, including Madison Square Garden. A former three-time United States heavyweight Bando Kickboxing champion, Jones was inducted into the American Bando Kickboxing Hall of Fame and remains an eighth-degree black belt in the Bando System.
Although a focal point, physical sports are not the only aspect of training within the walls of Sam’s gym. Jones takes pride in welcoming everyone who comes to the gym, and helping them in any way he can.
“Here’s the first thing I want you to do,” Jones said. “I want you to be a champion in life.”
Jones is committed to giving back to Glouster through the gym. There are no fees, experience or skill level requirements for training at Sam’s Gym. The only thing Jones asks is for people to show up.
“We want them all,” Jones said. “I won’t turn anybody down.”
Additionally, Jones runs fundraisers to support his fighters. Boxing for Books is an annual event held in the fall to help raise money for local schools. This year marks 51 years of the fundraiser, which is at Trimble Local Elementary School on Nov. 1.
Jones also helped fighters start lives outside of the gym. For the past five years, high school seniors at Trimble Local Schools who train at Sam’s Gym are assisted in obtaining certificates and education through Hocking College. Taking money from his own pocket to do so, Jones is focused on helping students continue their education and start a career.
“I love all the kids,” Jones said. “I want to help all of them I can.”
Brian Koscho is the founder and director of Invisible Ground, a multimedia project focused on engaging the people of Southeast Ohio with their communities and history. Invisible Ground recently featured Sam’s Gym in an episode of its podcast. Koscho felt the gym represented Southeast Ohio well and its history needed to be shared.
“His stories aren’t limited to that gym,” Koscho said. “There’s so many there but they also go to Madison Square Garden and around the world, where he becomes another advocate for our region.”
When walking through the gym, visitors are met with walls plastered in newspaper clippings, posters promoting boxing matches and pictures from the ring, captioned with fighters’ names and records. The gym became a museum of boxing, showcasing many of the fighters it raised.
“For him, it's like not even about the physical thing,” Koscho said. “It’s so mental and it’s about person to person relationship.”
Some of the relationships created through the gym lasted for decades, turning fighters into coaches to carry on the legacy introduced to them by Jones.
Chad Blevins, a boxing and kickboxing coach, started commuting to the gym from Marysville, Ohio 24 years ago.
Blevins trained in the Bando system as well, and was introduced to Jones in 1999.
“I shook that man's hand, I knew there was something special about him,” Blevins said.
Under the training of Jones, Blevins acquired trophies of his own including seven national titles and an undefeated amateur record. Blevins continues to make the weekly commute to teach others the sport.
“It’s one thing to learn, to fight, compete and coach,” Blevins said. “You’ve got to pass it on, everything just can’t die with you. You’ve got to pass it on to the next generation.”
From coaches to fighters, the lessons taught at Sam’s Gym last. From inexperienced fighters, to those who have trained for years, the gym embraces new ideas while keeping its long-standing structure.
Lucas Wright, a professional super middleweight boxer and middleweight bare knuckle boxer, trains weekly at Sam’s Gym and started his fighting career in January. Wright said the gym has been a “blessing” to him and the love and responsibility to guide is what keeps him coming back.
“We’ve been brought here as strangers,” Wright said. “But this gym, the logo, has made us all family.”
Sam’s Gym is open two days a week, Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m.
