Digital Social Hour - From Broke to 4,000 Members: How Boxing Saved My Business Career | Matthew Attalla DSH #988

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

From broke and struggling to building a 4,000-member boxing empire, Matthew shares his remarkable journey of transformation through boxing. 🥊 Watch as he reveals how he turned his boxing expertise into a thriving business empire, building one of Miami's most successful fitness brands from scratch. Starting in a small condo during COVID, Matthew grew his venture into a massive facility attracting world-class athletes, celebrities, and even Floyd Mayweather himself. Learn how he leveraged his amateur boxing career of 200+ fights into creating an innovative gym concept that combines boxing training with race car simulation, interactive basketball, and cutting-edge fitness technology. Discover the mindset shifts and strategic decisions that helped him build a community-focused brand that's revolutionizing the boxing gym industry. This inspiring conversation covers Matthew's complete journey - from his early struggles in Australia to building relationships with combat sports legends and transforming the boxing business landscape. Perfect for entrepreneurs, boxing enthusiasts, and anyone interested in building a successful fitness brand. Ready to be inspired? Watch now to learn how boxing became the foundation of an incredible business success story. 🎯 #BoxingBusiness #EntrepreneurshipJourney #BoxingGym #FitnessIndustry #BusinessSuccess #BoxingCommunity #MiamiBoxing #FitnessEntrepreneur #eliteentrepreneurs #howtogrowyourbusinessandsalesfaster #miketyson #boxing #strengthtraining CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:29 - Miami Boxing 04:59 - BetterHelp 06:19 - Overcoming Bullying 07:52 - 200 Amateur Fights 10:48 - Signing with a Promoter 12:59 - Journey as a Promoter 16:20 - Launching Boxraw 18:57 - Matthew's Return to Boxing 21:08 - First Boxer Rebellion Gym 25:10 - Fighters & World Titles 28:36 - Opening a Boxing Gym 32:40 - Jake Paul in Boxing 34:33 - Jake Paul's Membership Numbers 40:03 - Building a Brand in Sports 43:15 - Investing Time in Your Brand 43:45 - Finding Matthew and Boxer Gym 43:56 - Final Thoughts 44:52 - OUTRO APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] GUEST: Matthew Attalla https://www.instagram.com/mateoboxr SPONSORS: BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. We had some of the best race car drivers in the game coming in and we were able to implement boxing to help them on the track because of eye coordination, speed and fast switch movements. Teach them the boxing fundamentals in order to help them in areas where they were lacking. So for example footballers will come in they need fast hand movement. Boxing will help. I've bent a lot of rules to be able to create what we created today. Alright guys we got Matteo from Boxer Gym. Thanks for coming on today man.

Yeah you got one of the biggest gyms out here right? Probably the biggest boxing gym in the world and probably the biggest overall facility in Miami. Wow. So has Miami always been big with boxing gyms? Believe it or not it's got some great historic boxing gyms because Muhammad Ali actually used to do his training camps down here. Really? Yeah, he did it because of the the heat The heat here is just on some it's another level if you're not used to it, you know So fighters have been coming here for quite some time to be able to do their camps prepared for big fights Whatsoever, but yeah, it's it's a city. That's well known for boxing dude when I landed here. I was drenched crazy Right. I flew in a hoodie and sweatpants

and that was a huge mistake. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even like, I was just telling you earlier on, I went to Vegas. I got so used to the weather here that when I went to Vegas and it was so dry, I was like, wow, like the change is just completely different from the East to the West.

Oh yeah, your lips were probably chapped for the first time. Yeah, I was bleeding from the nose. So I was like, what? Vegas is big in boxing too though, right? Vegas is that boxing hub. That's the entertainment capital when it really comes down to boxing fights.

A lot of big fighters do their camps down there. It's always been the city for that, for the fight world, the combat sports world. But right now as we speak, as far as boxing, when we get into it, we know, we're going to turn this into the next capital on this side for boxing. That's awesome, man. Yeah, it's going to be good.

You're going to flip it from Vegas. And how was boxing in Australia where you grew up? Yeah, boxing was great, man. Like I fell into the sport. My father took me to the gym. One of the biggest names from prehistoric boxing was Costa Zu. He was the guy that actually defeated Zab Juta.

If you know who Zab Juta is in the boxing world, that was a big upcoming name. Started at 12 years old. One of the top amateurs in the country. Came up, had about 200 amateur fights. And then after that, flew back and forth to the USA, competed in world championships, national competitions, stuff like that.

And boxing in Australia is not as at a high level like the USA and other countries like Cuba and the Amateurs and then Russia. You have a lot of, we're very behind when it comes to the boxing side of things. But we are great in other sports like rugby, cricket. So those sports, they are very dominant when you're at a very young age.

But for myself, it was actually very challenging because we had to leave the country in order for me to perform at a very high level to be able to bring the best out of me. Wow, and that's expensive in Australia. That's expensive. So my father invested some time into myself to be able to bring the best out of me. Wow, and that's expensive in Australia. That's expensive. So my father invested some time into myself to be able to travel back and forth

and to be able to get that experience so I could reach the goals that I wanted to reach. Yes, you were like an outlier growing up. You were doing a sport that no one else was really. Yeah, I come from a family of just, I'm an only child, so I don't have brothers, sisters, didn't have many friends. I found boxing to be really, it was like my best friend.

Wow. And I found it to be just very challenging where I could just challenge myself all the time, you know. Yeah, that's deep. That's relatable. I'm an only child too and everyone in my town had a brother or sister and it was, yeah, it was lonely dude, for real. But you know what it does? It really just brings something out of you that, you know, you become a survivor. You become a person of knowing yourself more because you're always alone. And then you start to realize and go, damn, you know what? I can really survive in environments

no matter where you take me, no matter where you put me, because I got no one to depend on. I got no one to talk to, you know? And I think being an only child is like, it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. Some people think it's like, I wish I had a brother or sister, at the same time it's like, nah, this is a good thing,

this is a blessing. I think so too. It could go one of two ways. There's that stigma that you're spoiled and stuff, but you can really lock in if you have the right mindset. 100%. Yeah, but it definitely was tough, but I mean, look at us now, so it paid off.

No, it works. It does work. It takes you on journeys that you least expect it to. It's just like, it's funny. I don't know about you, but in my case, it was like, it was hard to make friends. For sure, yeah. Bounce friend groups all the time.

Yeah, bounce friend groups, not understanding who to depend on, who to rely on. You know, at times you'd be at home and you... Bet MGM is an official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League and has your back all season long. From puck drop till the final shot, you're always taken care of

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Terms and conditions for our different programs and policies apply. Details at fizz.ca. You'd look to your father or your mother for things rather than siblings or brothers and sisters. Yeah. This episode of Digital Social Hour is brought to you by BetterHelp. Making it easy and affordable to access online therapy,

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Visit betterhelp.com slash dsh today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp. H E L P dot com slash D S H. People were probably scared of you too, since you were boxing. Believe it or not, I was the one that got picked on. Really? Yeah. I was a boxer. No, before I got into boxing, I was getting picked on a lot in school. Oh, and then, um, and then when I got into the boxing side of things, you know, I would get into fights here and there, but

it was something that, I was the smallest kid in the school. I had a hearing impairment, so I had a problem with hearing. Wow. And obviously coming as an only child into the family and no brothers and no sisters, hardly got along with my cousins, there was no family.

So it was like, you know what? It was challenging. I would just say it was challenging most of the time, but I was just deep into my own thoughts. And like I said, boxing was just something that, it saved my life. Damn. So was that a big reason you got into it?

Cause you were getting picked on? It was. And at the same time, I used to be a tennis player before. Okay. So solo sports, you know, I found sports to just be challenging overall. And my father was just like, you know what I Found sports to just be challenging overall and my father was just like, you know what you need to learn discipline And he thought you know what it would bring me up to be a stronger man as I grew up It taught me discipline. It caught me to be it taught me to be focused

It taught me to find another outlet that I could focus on other things rather than getting into problems or stuff like that Or even getting picked on but I learned to know how to defend myself. And I hardly went to school, so I ended up just focusing in the ring. I was fighting like nearly every weekend or every second weekend. I was sparring all the time, I was in camps. So I just really loved what I did.

And I loved the sport of boxing. Yeah, you have over 200 fights, right? 200 amateur fights. That's insane. I never got an opportunity to turn pro just because I sort of fell off a little bit. We can get into that after if you want but um Yeah, having that record and having that experience it was something that at a time in my life I was like damn really went through all this and I was training that hard and I had these many fights at this amount

of you know in this time frame it was just like damn a lot of guys many fights at this amount of, you know, in this time frame, it was just like, damn, a lot of guys in a lifetime don't even get that chance, but it was all the experience, you know, and I just, I love getting in the ring. Yeah, that's the most fights I've ever heard. No, there's guys that got 323, 360, 350. There's a lot of fighters out there and that are champions up to today that have had that experience and there's champions that don't even have that experience, but when you're in the amateurs and there's champions that don't even have that experience But when you're in the amateurs and you're forced to fight at such a young age at 12 13 Like a lot of kids from Mexico and stuff have had 300 amateur fights. We hold the crop. You got some guys at 400 do

Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy. I feel like the damage of that is pretty massive at that Yeah, it is but it isn't because in the, you've got four rounds and you're doing two minutes at four rounds. So it's in and out. And more so in the amateurs, it's all about a point system. It's not about knocking each other out. It's about how skillful you are in the ring and how you can really dominate on a point system

where you have to be fast, you've got to be slick. And even if you get a knockdown, in the pros it's a little different. When you get a knockdown, it gets you ahead of the point system and winning the rounds. But in the amateurs, you get dropped and you come back up. That's only one point. You could be leading throughout the whole fight

just by outboxing someone. You know, so that's how it sort of works. Reminds me of that one fight where the guy, Asht just was winning the whole fight and then got knocked out. Yeah. Like it's an unforgiving sport. It's an unforgiving sport and you know people mistake the amateurs for the pros. It's like two different sports. You know going into the pros you're a prize fighter. It's a different strategic plan. You know when you go in and even when you... This is an ad from BetterHelp. This holiday season, do something for a special person in your life.

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it's about how hard the punch lands, and at the same time, it shows how dominant you really are. And then also it comes down to how you market yourself. So there's just so many different components when it comes to the professional side of boxing. When it comes to the amateur side of boxing, it's all about how many points you land, how fast you are, which country you represent. There's a lot of political shit involved as well.

Really? Yeah, it's just crazy. And even on the pro side, there's always going to be that political side to it. But in the amateurs, especially when it comes to even the Olympic Games I don't know if you've seen what's going on. Oh with the guy girl. Yeah. It's just you know, like That was a weird one because she was born a girl. Yeah, it's crazy. But she has testosterone or something, right? Yeah. Yeah They change the rules all the time But this is how it is in the Olympic Games, you know Yeah, I guess they got their own agenda

on how they run their sport. Do the best boxers participate in the Olympics? Cause I know with basketball- A lot of them do. Oh, they do? A lot of them do. A lot of them like Floyd Mayweather and Tony Otava, friends of mine, Roy Jones Jr, another good friend of mine.

A lot of these guys have actually competed in the Olympic games. The thing is, a lot of fighters these days have actually competed in the Olympic games. The thing is, a lot of fighters these days have not competed in the Olympic games and they've become the best in the world. And now because boxing's just evolved, it's not as hard as before to get in because before you would have to have a strong dominant amateur background in order to get signed up to a great promotional company to be able to get in. These days is very different.

If you're marketable and you have a good following on social media and you may not be a great boxer, you have a shot of actually like getting in. Wow. Because of what's happened with Jake Paul changing the game and the demographic of boxing and it's all based off that now. Right. Now, at the same time, if you've got a good boxing pedigree

and you have a good social media platform and you're marketable and you could put people on seats, that's where you could be the star of boxing. That's crazy. That means you could have been in that position. Could have, but you know what? I'm super happy for where I am today. I actually don't regret it.

Oh, wow. I don't regret not being a world champ, like even though that was a dream, because what I'm doing right now is something that I probably wouldn't be able to do the same as what I did back then. Interesting. I think I gained the tools and values that I've acquired today to be able to be the person I am and do the things that I did. And even so, you know,

boxing was a part of my life for such a long time from the ages of 12 all the way up to like, uh, 21, 22, I left the sport fell off and then I came back in, but on a different side of the spectrum, rather than being in the ring, I support fighters. I give people opportunities now. I've been able to make a huge impact in the sport of boxing that most people would not be able to do. I have my foot in the door on a high level now.

I have relationships that, you know, it's just, it's a dream for a kid. So I actually reached my dream, but on the other side of the spectrum, where I'm actually getting respected more than maybe when I was a fighter. Wow. Yeah, it's just crazy to think it like that.

And you know what? The skillset that I developed through this timeframe has put me in a position today where I can support and help others. And I become that person where I can support and help others and I become that person where I'm a giver and I can help and support in many different aspects rather than yeah I could become world champion I can inspire but a lot of the but a lot of athletes they can't do what I do hmm a lot of fighters can

do what I do right now even on that level we see a lot of fighters can do what I do right now. Even on that level, we see a lot of high level athletes that their goal is to become champ, but what's after that? Do they really support the people? Do they really help the people? Do they really move the multitudes? Yeah, but do they really give back? That's what it really comes down to. And it's not, you know, I've spoken to a lot of my fighters about this and I said,

it's great that you're doing it for you, but then after that, what's next? Who are you gonna change next? Because in the end of the day, you can make an impact, but by making that impact, how do you do it? Wow. You know? Yeah, that's deep.

How do you really do it? How do you change the world and the industry in what you do to make a positive change? There's kids out there that need help. There's fighters out there that need direction. There's guys that are in the game that I've seen that are so talented, but guess what? They're not marketable or they don't know how to market themselves. So this is where I sort of slot myself into the industry and I get myself and my team to be able to help these fighters

and these young athletes and to be able to show that it is possible to create something for yourself but to have the right mindset behind it. Don't just think about yourself, think about how many people you're gonna impact in a positive manner. So when you get in that ring and you fight, say, teach them that it is possible.

You came from nothing. That you did these things in order to get to where you're at. You know, go outside the box a little bit. You know, when you do your training, talk to the camera and teach people about why you do what you do. Why you do specific things, why you have a routine on this level.

What do you think about when you fight? All these things make sense to be able to pass it down because straight after you finish your career, you wanna be able to pass that down, create that legacy for yourself rather than just being a champ and then potentially being forgotten because even the people these days,

we ask random people, you know who Mike Tyson is? Most people will say, yeah. But if I ask you right now, do you know who Shakur Stevenson is? No. You have no idea. That's a world champion right now. And that's what I mean. Oh, right now he is?

Yeah, yeah. Wow. But that's what I mean. Like, you know, these guys, they want to make the money. They want to make the bread. They want to become champ. But are they really leaving a legacy behind just like the others when we go back 10, 15, 20 years ago? Right.

Yeah, that's a good mission. So was that the vision with the company with Boxer? Yeah, the company with Boxer, you know, it started with my partner and myself. It started out of our condo in COVID. I decided to take a risk where back was against the wall and had to make money. So I decided to go back to the boxing side of things. Before that, like I said, I sort of fell off.

I ended up with the wrong group of people. That's easy to do in Miami. Well, not in Miami, back sort of fell off. I ended up with the wrong group of people. That's easy to do in Miami. Well, not in Miami, back in Australia. Oh, in Australia. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And to be honest, I'm not proud of some of the things that I did, but you know. Oh, was that bad?

Yeah, it was that bad. Oh, shit. I didn't want to, I felt as though that through my boxing career as an amateur, everybody else was working and making money. I was not making money. I was not growing financially. I felt as though that everyone's ahead of me in the game. And so I felt some type of way and then I sort of fell out of the love of boxing because of the pressure. So by that time I was like, you know, I'm going to go

back to Australia. I was here in the US in LA. I was training. I was competing. Then I go back and I see some of my friends. I was like, damn, they're driving nice cars. I see, I see friends making moves in their, in their fields and stuff. And so I wanted to be around that. I wanted to follow that, you know, and it felt good. And I felt right at the time. And I thought, damn, this is my break. You know, boxing's getting me nowhere. Believe it or not, it did not get me anywhere, except I did acquire street smart details.

And that's what helped. And then I realized, OK, I need to change completely because this shit ain't working out. I'm going to move. So I went to Colombia. Wow. Random. Grabbed my passport and left.

And I lived in Columbia for about a year, year and a half, trying to figure out what I'm gonna do. I had my money and I ended up landing up in Miami. When I got to Miami, I met my partner at the time and we ended up getting stuck in COVID, go fast forward to the apartment, the condo. She said to me, she goes, why don't you get back in the ring? Why don't you do what you love?

You love boxing. Because realistically, I didn't know anything else except how to box or learn what I learned on the streets. Right? So that's really it. So coming in, trying all these different, so I did, I tried, I tried making, tried doing some stuff from China, doing online selling, dropshipping and shit. But that's not, that's not my shit. Like that's not me, you know? And so I had a few contacts and people offered me

to get back in the ring. So I was like, you know what? Yeah, why not? Let's get back in the ring and I'll, I'll start my pro debut. I got a good boxing background. So, Cami, my partner, she basically pushed me. She said, all right, so let's do it. I started training, started getting ready. Boom, COVID hits, we stuck. What are we going to do? So I decided to think to myself, okay well if I can't fight right now, I

Never thought about teaching but let's give it a crack so I started teaching and I Had a client in the building. I don't know if you guys know of Chris Heria. No, he's the calisthenic king on YouTube He's a huge His brother lived in the building and he was my first client. He said, man, teach me how to box. I was all right.

So I taught him in the building through COVID. And he was going, damn, I'm picking up the fundamentals from you, man. You teaching this stuff accurately. He goes, what do I owe you? I don't even know. And you give me whatever you think. And he's like, all right, just tip me, bro, I don't even know. And I go, you give me whatever you think. And he's like, all right, I just tip me, bro.

Don't even, I'm not even charging you. I enjoy doing this. Let's just see how you progress. One thing led to another, other people heard. So I started training them in the building and it was for nickels and dimes. It was for like 20, 30 bucks. Just tipping me to try and survive.

And then obviously through that timeframe, I couldn't afford to pay the rent because there was no money coming in. Right. COVID hit whatever. Anyway, so moving forward, I was training people in the parking lots outside because gyms were closed and then we had a house gym and then people in the buildings around started noticing me training them on the midst shadow boxing, you could hear the sound and be like, pa pa pa pa pa. It gravitated people. And then they're like, yo, how are you?

Where you from this and that. And then they heard my accent. They're like, oh, you're from Australia. Yeah, yeah, I'm from Australia. And that's where it sort of kicked. Wow. That's legendary. It started.

And it started with two myths. It started with my partner pushing and supporting. And then from there on, it was like, there was a time where I saved up money in such a small period of time. And I was able to get our condo and turn that into a boxing facility. I built a ring, bags, an ice plunge.

I created a whole experience. Wow, in your apartment? In my apartment. And this is where we came up with a brand, me and my partner, you know, she comes from a designer background, so she actually created the Boxer logo. Oh, nice.

And then Boxer originates as my fight name back in Australia. So we put the two together, we put our heads together, and this is what you see today. Dude, that's a crazy story. And then from there, I just ran it. And then it started to attract from what I created within the facility, it gravitated high profile clientele base.

So for example, I started to attract football players, I started to attract artists, producers, people of that genres to come in and do it. And I didn't realize that they were really into boxing like that. But then it made me realize and go, damn, this is an opportunity to really make an impact with different clientele bases,

not just boxers, not just regular people. You know what? Nah, I could hit major targets here. And I still kept it at the same. I was like, you know what? Nah, I could hit major targets here. And I still kept it at the same. I was like, you know what? You tip me and you let me know what my value's worth. I'm not gonna put a price point. I'm gonna just show you the value.

I'm gonna show you the results. I'm gonna give you that. And so through that timeframe, the relationships that I built, I didn't even realize how powerful these people were until later down the track until we started to create that rapport I was like Wow, we got some powerful people and I'll drop some names right now like yeah, Steve stout He's the owner of United Masters. Wow, one of the biggest producers in history

He put mob deep Jay Z all these people on the map We talk about Debo Samuel, plays for the 49ers. I just, yeah, I realized, and I had this rolodex of clients. I'm like, wow, you know what? I'm gonna keep them good. I'm not gonna charge them like what I would. I'll just say, give me whatever you think.

But I'd rather keep the relationship than take their money. Because what will happen is I know it will attract the rest of the people. Now I went from private training to doing classes to now going to another facility and growing within three months. There was a facility next door and they had space. So I spoke to the owner and I said,

hey, look, I can bring a sense of value to this space. And we could, I could build something with my partner here where nobody's doing, which is a boxing facility infused into an area space where it was just a, a bodybuilding gym so that you got the bodybuilding culture, but you ain't got the boxing culture. And then I can bring in all these high profile client base that could attract everybody else from different spectrums because they have their own platform. So they see me working with them, they're gonna attract their own,

these people to come in and sign up. So it went from being private one-on-ones to classes to now a membership base. And so we started at $99 and that included unlimited amount of classes. Is that a month? That's a month. Got it.

And that was in a 3000 square foot space. So in that 3000 square foot space, we're able to build up 450 members actively over eight months. Damn. Which is not bad for a boxing gym. 45K a month. But boxing gyms don't even have those amount of members.

Boxing gyms usually have their fighters coming. They're open from a certain period of time, from morning to the afternoon, they shut the gym and then they're open. We opened all morning, all day, it was just me and my partner running it. I was doing the classes, taking care of clients, and she was running the operational side

and making sure people were meeting greeted well and it was just an overall good experience to come into Boxer. Now through that time frame I attracted fighters. Fighters came in, I prepared them. The first line of fighters that we were able to train were bare knuckle boxers. BKFC. I had five fighters. I had a female and I had four males. At that time, we were getting ready for the hard rock. They were fighting at the hard rock.

We had five fights, five wins, four knockouts. It was like this. And it went crazy. And then we got two world titles. For me, being as young as I am, coaches at my age, you don't really hear them. A lot of coaches come in at an older age. After they retire.

Yeah, after they retire and this with it. For me, I didn't think about that. I was like, man, I could take in what I learned from the 200 fights and all these coaches all around the world, and I could infuse my knowledge and experience into these guys, because it just became natural now. At that present time, I realized that

I just developed skillsets that taught me how to become a teacher rather than a fighter now. And from the teaching aspect, I liked it more. I preferred it more than actually getting in the ring and fighting. Wow, you were more fulfilled. I was it more than actually getting in the ring and fighting. Wow, you were more fulfilled. I was way more fulfilled because I could see the results

and it came out just naturally and organically with me, with people. And then from there, my business knowledge started to go up. So I'm infusing all these different things in such a small period of time. And the growth was just like boom and I was like damn okay okay I'm like but in the end of the day you know as far as as far as where I was we still weren't making good money like it was just it was going back

into the business I was reinvesting all the money back into equipment back into the back into staff, back into coaches. I recruited some of the best coaches in the country. I didn't just get anyone just put on indeed. I called up and I brought one of the best coaches in the game, his name is Jason Ing-Wolson. They call him the faith fighter. He actually trained Ryan Garcia.

He trained David Benavides. He actually trained Dana White for a little bit. And I brought him out from Vegas where he wasn't doing well and I said, man, I'm gonna bring you out. I'm gonna use my money, bring you out. I want you to check out what you see. If you don't like it, it's cool, but I know you're gonna like it. And you're gonna like what I'm doing,

but I really need the help. So I flew him out, he stayed for a week, he went back and I was like, damn, these guys are gonna come back. Two days later, he calls me, he's like, man, I'm packing all my stuff and I'm coming, I'm gonna come and help you, bro. I was like, damn. And then that, I recruited him.

I didn't go on the computer and just say, hey, I need these coaches for the, nah, like I was looking for specific individuals to be part of this brand. And I think that was like one of the most important key aspects and all these coaches are still with me today since the very beginning Damn, they've all stuck with me Their lives have completely changed. They make bread They have growth their clientele basis on another level and when I see that and my partner sees that we realize that

This is what we're meant to do. We're here to make an impact and we're here to give opportunity with what we've built in such a small time frame. It's only been three years. That's crazy. You know, so it's crazy. Three to four years, yeah. And so we went from the condo after eight months, closed that down, went to the new facility.

We opened that up. That was another eight to nine months. And then I realized that we were just outgrowing and we needed a bigger space and we needed to take things to another level. But at the same time, I was like, nah, I'm comfortable with what we have here. I got pushed out of the gym because the lease was running out

and I had to figure out what to do next. Otherwise we lose all our members, we lose our business, we don't know what to do. So I went out there and I went for a walk and I was with my friend Chris Heria and I saw a building with a for lease sign on it and it was an abandoned building. It's been there for a long time. It's right near Club 11 in downtown. Okay. And we made the call and the guy came out.

He showed us. I walked in and I saw the vision. And I was like, damn, and I just, I saw the whole layout within moments because I'm very visual and I'm very creative in mindset. And then I brought my partner as well and she looked and she went crazy over it too because she's very creative and visual.

We're on the same wavelength when it comes to this with the vision and we executed and gratefully I was able to get you know some good people on board to be able to support it and now you know we own it we own 100% of the company now and through that time I was like if we're gonna go and and just do the boxing side that's not gonna that's not gonna work we need to go big. So I tapped into every different type of fitness demographic you could think of and we built it out into a facility that you don't need to leave where it's like you have 92 pieces of bodybuilding equipment.

You have two official rings. You have 27 bags. You have cardio area. You have a yoga room. You have a cycling room. You have an MMA program with a cage. You have a CrossFit area. You got a basketball hoop.

We have a basketball hoop. We have a basketball hoop. We actually, big shout out to hoop. So we have one of, we were the first to have the first interactive hoop in the world. Interactive? Yeah, it's called hoop. And you take shots on it and it scores, it scores how many shots you got.

And if you miss, it shows you on the board that it misses. And then you could actually put games on, you could put live basketball games, you could play somebody on the other side of the world if they got the same backboard and you could take shots and yeah, it's crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's crazy. So we were one of the first to put it in

and part of it was like, anything that was coming out that was like the first, I wanted to jump on it. I wanted to have stuff that was different in the gym that no other gym had. We had a car racing simulator that was one of four in the world. And I had actually, I don't know if you follow the UFC, but Izzy Adesanya was one of the,

yeah, he was the first to jump on it after the UFC. I think I saw that video. Yeah, he was on it. And it was like, you're in a full race, race, race car cockpit and the whole thing simulates and it moves and you could go on all the different tracks in the world because the reason for putting that in was we had some of the best race car drivers in the game coming in

and we were able to implement boxing to help them on the track. Really? Because of eye coordination, speed and fast switch movements. Wow. And so we were able to get other athletes to come in, teach them the boxing fundamentals in order to help them in areas where they were lacking. So for example, footballers will come in, they need fast hand movement.

Boxing would help. You know, use different body, use different parts of the body to be able to help them be at their best level. So changing it up was important. Breaking the rules was important. Doing those types of things was like, I bent a lot of rules to be able to create what we created today.

But that also came from experience from the past. Yeah, dude, you and Jake Paul really changed the boxing landscape. Yeah, Jake Paul, man, like he's really, he's really taken stuff to another level. And, you know, people could talk shit about him, but I actually respect him for what he's done for the game. He's become that guy where it is possible

in the marketing space and also on the boxing space. He can box, you know, he can box, you know, it just comes down to, obviously we all want to see a great challenge between him and someone big in the boxing game because he's fighting MMA fighters. But you got to give him respect for what he's doing. He makes, you know, he works hard for his money. He's come from, you know, being a Disney character

to now like, he's, I wouldn't even say he's a YouTube boxer anymore. He's become that guy in the space of boxing because now the space of boxing has become entertainment now. Yeah, it's a whole new. It's a whole new thing. It's entertainment. Yeah, and it gives a lot of hope to upcoming boxers.

To even convince somebody like Mike Tyson to get in the ring, that's like, that's huge. Yeah, I hope that fight happens actually. That's huge, you know, but it's entertainment now. It's not about boxing, boxing. It's about entertainment. You know, kids these days are able to go and pay a watch to see Mike Tyson just step in the ring to even see the buildup to stuff like, for me, I like to see the buildup. I like to see how these guys train. I like to see how they prepare before they get in

because that's what excites you. And then obviously you see the finale fight and because that's what excites you. And then obviously you see the finale fight and it's just great to witness how things have evolved. Because then it gives people like myself and others opportunities to be able to like have a hand in the game and to take part in it. And to be able to get these guys that are either YouTubers or athletes

and to be able to convert them. And that's what it's been able to do today. It paves the way for you to be able to do it if you that's what it's been able to do today. It paves the way for you to be able to do it if you have the right mindset to know how to do it. Absolutely. So for the position where we're at right now, like I'm grateful for it. How many members you are now?

Man, in a year and 10 months, we have nearly 4,000. Holy crap. A 99 a month? Yeah, a year and nine months, we have 4,000. That's insane. Your gym can fit that many people? Yeah. They don't come all at the same time,

so you have different times where people come in. But you got from athletes to artists to world's best boxers, you name it, they all come in. I've been able to like interact with some people that will be like, damn, how'd you meet this guy? How do you meet this guy? And to be honest, I don't go out looking for them. They come to me, they come to us.

Because you built the environment. We built the environment, we built the culture. The hardest thing to, you know, that, to build a gym and to build an environment space for people to really enjoy and love and to keep coming back is building that culture. Building communities, everything. Making sure that people are feeling comfortable and happy

when they come into the gym, from the moment they walk in to their experience, the way they leave, you really don't know what people are going through in their daily lives. And it's funny because when you develop those relationships with people at a very high level, they tend to open up at a timeframe and you listen to what they got to say. And you're like, damn, they're really going through it. And they find this place to be that fulfillment where it fills in that void. So I get, I sort of get a little excited over it

because I'm like, man, I'm serving the people I'm serving before anything else. Me, me and my woman were serving to the people first and then we enjoy being like that. We enjoy being that person even though we're leaders in our industry, we like serving the people. I love that. And you got to be like that in order to keep growing. And you gotta keep your feet on the ground and you gotta stay humbled where it's like,

just keep doing what you love and keep preaching what you do and what you've developed and what you learn. And you automatically attract the people that you wanna attract and people that you would never attract. Like, I'll give you a perfect example. Floyd Money Mayweather, right?

This is one of my, you know, as a kid growing up, one of my favorite fighters of all time. I met him when I was 14 at one of the biggest fights, which was Roy Jones Jr. Antonio Tava back at MGM. It's gone back a long time ago and I saw him in the crowd. I took a photo. My father was there and I was like, hey Floyd, one day I'm going in the crowd. I took a photo, my father was there. And I was like, hey Floyd, one day I'm gonna meet you. I'm gonna meet you in the ring. Fast forward now, three years ago, I get a call.

I meet one of his bodyguards. He says, man, Floyd Money Mayweather wants to use your gym. I was like, oh, okay, yeah, of course, I'll open up. It was one o'clock in the morning. So when it comes to Floyd and you wanna open up the gym, you who use your gym. I was like, okay, yeah, of course, I'll open up. It was one o'clock in the morning. So when it comes to Floyd and you wanna open up the gym, you open up the gym. Like it's an honor to have him there because he is one of the greats.

And he came into the gym one day and he was like, and this is a cool gym, I'm training, I'm not, all right, so I'm standing there, I'm taking it all in, but it's not hitting me yet, you know? And I'm watching him train. He goes to the bag and he pulls out cash. He's got a duffel bag full of cash, gets his bodyguard. They come to give me the cash. I said, nah, I don't want the cash. And he looked at me and he's like,

no, take it. And then his bodyguard was like, take it. I'm like, honestly, nah, I'm not gonna take it. I go, I'm just honored to have you here in this gym and it gives me assurance with whatever I'm doing right now to work it. This was like a sign. This was a sign having the greatest, one of the greatest of all time to work out in my gym, to be able to witness this and get that close where people pay tickets

to go to his fights, to even get close to him because it's very hard. And he wants to train in my gym. So I was like, nah, you keep the cash Floyd, your money's no good in here. This is your home. Today, I have a very good relationship with him and the TMT team.

And they come through whenever they come to Miami. That's his gym in Miami. That's amazing. And we've witnessed sparring, we've witnessed him train early hours of the morning. Members have witnessed him during the day. He'll walk through the gym, do a sparring session in front of all the members.

Damn. And he doesn't usually do that, but he's comfortable because he loves the gym and the relationship we built. So something I learned from that is, even if it was to give me the money, and you see a duffel bag, it may have been like... It's tempting. It's tempting. But you also got to look at it as like, nah, what's more important? That relationship is more important.

Because I was able to have the opportunity to be part of something big where when it came down to it and they were having his fight here in Miami against John Gotti Jr. when he had the exhibition, I was heavily involved on the sponsorship side. We did the logistics, we built the rings. You know, we put it all together. So me being able to have that opportunity was like,

it was a big deal. And so I knew from that day onwards in that 3000 square foot space, having Floyd money made with it there, it made me realize that my dream did come true as a child. But more importantly, it's better than just meeting him in the ring and saying, what's up? I have a relationship with him.

That's such a crazy story. Cause everyone else that he probably offered money to, probably took it. And it's not just with him. It's not just with him. It's with like multiple different individuals that are high level in the game where I can call them up now and be like, hey, you want to catch up for a coffee? Hey, you want to come in and do a podcast with me? Hey, I got this guy, this fighter, come and train with him. It's just casual now. It's not that trainer-client relationship anymore.

It's a solid relationship where I can call these people at any time. Incredible, and you were broke three years ago. But I was broke. Completely broke. Had nothing. I still look at it as like, I don't have the money and all the money that comes in today,

it goes back into the business. I reinvested, it's all about growth. Right now we're looking at multiple different locations. The gym is just a gym, but more importantly, it's a brand right now because we have a management company. I just got my promoter's license. Our plan is to put on big promotional fight nights here in Miami.

We also, we have an app that's coming out. We hear, there's just multiple different aspects that line up to the business itself, the core of the business, and we call it a brand. It's not a gym. And the reason for that is because of the community and the culture of the people. Those people, anything that we bring out,

whether it's clothing, whether it's boxing gloves, whether it's a big class that I'm putting on today, I'm hosting a huge class, one of the biggest classes after this, um, people gravitate to the brand. And so to, to myself and to my partner, we just inject into the brand. We fuel it. We fuel it as much as possible where our goal is to impact as many people's lives worldwide and to be able to bring that community together, wherever it is.

Powerful, because most gyms fail. So like you said, you built a brand. Yeah, and the thing is with the brand is it requires time. It requires dedication. It requires hard work. And it also requires you thinking outside the box. A gym is a gym. So it's like, if you think gym, you think of equipment It requires hard work and it also requires you thinking outside the box. A gym is a gym.

So it's like if you think gym, you think of equipment in a big space. But if you think outside the box and you go, hang on, I'm going to tap into so many different things, even if I'm not a bodybuilder, man, I'm going to do things different. I'm going to get some of the best bodybuilders to come in and we'll do our own show or we'll do this or we'll do that You have to think outside the box when it comes to the brand you have to get creative Right you have to infuse things that you would not You would not do like I randomly just went to powerslap to see powerslap

I'd never been to and I just heard of it But I got invited by by a good friend of mine Steve will do it Yeah, and I traveled with him and that was an experience. And when we went over, man, it was electrifying and all the different types of people that I was able to meet. And then that in itself, by me being present in a space like that, wearing my brand, and I didn't go out as usual,

but lately I've started to come out of the cave. I've noticed that about you. I realized, damn, by doing this, it actually like, it's working and then people were coming up to me, hey yo, Mateo, why are you, I don't know, a lot of these people, but they know the brand and they support it. Dude, you're talked about in Vegas.

Yeah. That's across the country. I hear of it from yourself and people saying that to me, but realistically, like right now, I'm just coming out here and there, but by going out to PowerSlap and representing the brand, I'm representing the people. So when the people see it, they go,

yo, this guy's making moves. What's he up to next? You know, it's part of putting time into it. Yeah, you've crushed it, man. I can't wait till you build one in Vegas. Yeah, that would be great. I'll definitely be coming. Where can people find you, man,

and where can people sign up for the gym? Yeah, you can find us. You can find me on my personal IG, Matteo Boxer, and you can find us on the gym Boxer Gym. Basically, I would just have to say, you know, in the end of the day, sometimes with what you want in life, it's not necessarily always going to be working for you. Sometimes things in life divert into a direction where it's like you least plan it, but if you put in the work God's always got something installed for you that may be better. My goal was to become world champ, but I've become greater what I become in my industry where I become world champ in my industry. So if you put it like that, you just stick to the, you stick to what you're good at.

You stick to your passions, you fuel them, you stick to being, you know, a hardworking man or woman and you stay dedicated and you be true to yourself. And once you do those things, before you even know it, doors open without you even realizing which doors they are, because in the end of the day you could be locked out but kick the door down and see what's behind it. I love it. Bars, we'll end off there dude. Thanks for coming on. That was awesome. Thank you man. Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks for watching guys. Check out Boxer Gym. See you next time.