Memories remain even as Hit Squad sits empty
Five months since Taj Fields’ murder
A visit to Hit Squad Boxing Center in Marysville was a little like a movie set: the alleyway entrance, next to a casino, is unassuming, the door hidden from sight from the sidewalk; the staircase leading to the thirdfloor gym aged and the walls spray painted with graffiti.
The only indication that junior boxing champions were sparring inside were hand-painted signs outside, now fading.
But once on the third floor, it became clear this was not just a hole in the wall, but a place meant for those truly dedicated to the sport.
It was nicknamed the “Taj Mahal of boxing” after its owner, Taj Fields.
The boxing ring sat center surrounded by walls layered with 1980s and ’90s magazine pages of the greats – like Hagler vs. Hearns, and Evander Holyfield – and photos of Fields in his prime.
Fields was killed in the gym’s entryway Nov. 2. And now, the gym is closed.
“It’s like the old buildings in New York,” Fields’ wife, Johanna, said Friday.
These days, Hit Squad is quiet, empty, and almost eerie: its door has been shut since Fields, 43, was shot and killed, allegedly by a former trainee. Scrawled notes adorn the outside walls and door frame in his memory.
Johanna said after her husband’s death, she had hoped to keep the gym open in his honor. But the details surrounding his murder have made living in Marysville too difficult – she and their three sons moved out of the area.
“My heart meant well, but there’s just no way I could have done it,” Johanna said. “I decided to let it rest in peace, like Taj.”
Fields’ eldest of eight children, Elease, 26, said it has been tough on the family to close the gym, and the move doesn’t come without some guilt.
“I just want the kids to know that my dad loved them,” Elease said of her father’s young boxing proteges.
She said she hopes that one day another family member – perhaps younger brother Miguel, 25 – can take on the responsibility.
Fields, a Marysville native, had said he started training boxers as a way of giving back to the community he grew up in, with hopes of getting kids off the street and out of gangs. He gained the reputation as one of the best trainers in the state – producing dozens of medalists, three Golden Gloves champions and nine Silver Gloves champions. Two of his fighters even signed with legendary promotor Don King, according to Appeal-Democrat archives.
And while Fields was a former Silver Gloves, Golden Gloves and Junior Olympic champion and rubbed elbows with some of the sport’s greatest, he kept Hit Squad a nonprofit gym to train boxers, particularly youth.
Rusty Thompson, who trained with Fields when the gym first opened, said going to Hit Squad was like stepping into Mickey Goldmill’s gym (from the “Rocky” movies).
“He would always say ‘my goal is to train a amateur champion,’” Thompson said. “That’s a lot coming from a pro coach. That would definitely motivate us, because we knew he was never in it for the money, he was in it for us.”
“Hit Squad” remains painted on one wall of the gym, though most likely not for long, Johanna said. The artwork (including a rendering of Muhammad Ali), along with the countless family photos, are what made Hit Squad what it was, Johanna said.
“When I walked in the gym, that’s what stood out – the love the family has for Taj,” she said. “That’s the kinda stuff that’s real, it’s raw... That was us.”
And though her youngest son said he won’t box anywhere that isn’t Hit Squad, she said the sport is a lifestyle for the Fields and a way to honor Fields.
“But I couldn’t (run the gym); there’s only one Taj,” Johanna said. “No one can fill his shoes.”
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