Punxsy boxer heading to Golden Gloves in Pittsburgh on Saturday; Punxsy boxing gym under new management

PUNXSUTAWNEY — A Punxsutawney boxing gym is now under new ownership, and they are sending one of their fighters to the Golden Gloves boxing tournament in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Joe Helman, who founded Helman’s Gym in Punxsutawney, has retired and passed the torch to a new generation, namely Danielle and Jason Neale.

Jason said that Helman indicated that this was going to be his last year and that he was going to retire. He said they wanted to keep the gym going. He said he was unsure how successful they would be because they didn’t have the name recognition that Helman had, but all of the fighters who trained under Helman stayed, so they decided to jump in full tilt.

He said they have started to remodel the boxing gym, the process of which is currently ongoing. He said they want to keep the gym free for kids 18 and under, and as cheap as possible for adults.

He said they workshopped several dozens names before settling on Punxy Prominence. He said one of the parents involved in the Mat Hogs wrestling, where he coaches, suggested the name Prominence, which they said stood out to them.

They said they are independent and pursuing non-profit status.

In the midst of getting the gym remodeled and their non-profit status up and running, they are training fighter Jake Adams for his fight at the Golden Gloves Tournament on Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Danielle said she is really excited to see what Adams can do on Saturday.

“The great thing about Jake is that he is a holdover from Joe. He went last year to Golden Gloves with Joe. We are really excited that he wanted to stay with us and that he wanted to take on Golden Gloves this year. Jason was in the Army for almost 12 years and was a level three combatives instructor. He is used to the combatives. I do a lot of Jake’s conditioning and his core training, while Jason does

the combatives side of it. We are excited to see what he brings to the table on Saturday,” Danielle said.

Jason said Adams’ training routine has consisted of a lot of core and leg training, and a lot of training on technique. He said they have been limited on sparring partners, so Adams has been sparring with people who are a lot taller and heavier than he is. Danielle said he holds his own. She said Jason will work with Adams for two hours, then she will take over for the last hour for a variety of training exercises from weight lifting, to a hit component, to stretching or yoga.

“He did 10 rounds of sparring, which was after his conditioning. He took a small break, then continued with his conditioning. In my 12 years in the service, as well as coaching wrestling, Jake is probably in the top five in work ethic when it comes to work it out and really trying to improve himself. That is including people that were training to go to Ranger school. Everything I asked him to do, he’s done it. I haven’t seen any quit in him,” Jason said.

Adam said he excited and nervous for the fight.

“I am feeling excited and kind of worried. I don’t know what the guy is like. I am super happy,” Adams said

He said he focuses on a mixture of strength and speed. He said his game plan going in to the fight is to take it easy the first two rounds before hitting his opponent hard in the third round when he is tired.