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Year-end special: The 'Fight Club' in Dubai's art district

Round 10 Boxing Club near Al Serkal Avenue holds no punches and delivers a knockout performance

Everyone loves to see a KO in boxing. All-out brutal, the man lying on the floor, the man left standing, the victor and the vanquished.

But, sometimes, bouts that go the distance are just as exciting. And Ahmed Seddiqi sees the larger picture. Quite aptly the Emirati's boxing gym goes by the name 'Round 10 Boxing Club'. Nestled in between art galleries alongside the Al Serkal Avenue in Al Quoz, it seems a bit odd for a sport as brutal as boxing to rub shoulders with pretty paintings.
But Seddiqi reckons boxing is an art. "Boxing is not brutal. They call it 'sweet science,' so it is an art as well," he says.
"We are actually happy to be around all these famous art galleries and in the midst of arty events because, at the end of the day, everything is an art, especially when it comes to a sport such as boxing. It is an art," he emphasies for good measure.
He has a very good reason for choosing such a location. "We didn't choose this place because it is a warehouse and it is cheaper. We choose it because, along with the whole industrial theme, boxing is a poor man's sport," reasons Seddiqi.
On the bigger canvas, this boxing gym is one of the 'hidden' gems of Dubai, yet it defines our Dubai.
There have been numerous boxing flicks in Hollywood down the years as well as the recent hit TV series Ray Donovan on Showtime. But unlike the fictitious 'Donovan's Fite Club' in LA, which eventually opens its doors to other forms of contact sport, , 'Round 10 Boxing Club' is an exclusive and out-and-out boxing gym.
"Boxing is my passion and there was no home for boxing in Dubai or in the UAE," says Seddiqi, who got hooked on to the sport while getting his Bachelors degree in Miami, Florida, USA.
"We had seen good potential among the UAE fighters who had a good future in boxing but they didn't have the right trainers, right people, right facilities and the right equipments. So, we felt that we had to open a place for real proper boxing in Dubai," he adds.
Round 10, which has a generous mix of Emiratis and expats, as well as ladies, has been in existence for two years now, but translating his passion and dream into reality was challenging.
"It was very difficult. My partner felt that we should do kick-boxing because there will be in demand. But I refused because I wanted to focus and specialise only on boxing. I didn't want to do it to generate money. We are more like an institute for boxing. In the beginning, no one came to the gym, but I plodded on because I still wanted to purely focus only on boxing," he says.
Two years down the line, "people are than-king us for having a facility that specialises only in boxing. And we were surprised to see the feedback and the demand in Dubai. On top of that, we also have people visiting Dubai, coming and training, sparring with our fighters."
And the friendly atmosphere is another factor which makes this gym stand out from the rest. "We don't treat them as clients, we treat them as friends," says Seddiqi.
"Even if someone knows nothing about boxing, he or she is always welcome here. We teach boxing and try to help change people's lives in the sense of lifestyle. As I mentioned earlier, it is like a school of boxing."
Profit takes a back seat. "It is more about learning boxing. If profit comes, it comes. For us, the focus is giving quality. If you give quality, and you are honest, and you are good to people, success will come by itself. That's the attitude we have here."
Round 10 hasn't gone unnoticed with a lot of boxers from around the world having used the facility, the most high-profile one being Manny Pacquiao.
Seddiqi, whose family is into the watch business, dreams of putting Dubai on the boxing map. "My vision is to help promote professional boxing. We should have a proper base for boxing here so that one day we could start promoting fights. ?And by 2020, we hope to attract major promoters to come and stage their fights in Dubai," he signs off, with his very ?own punchline.
james@khaleejtimes.com