A rugged, no-frills boxing gym in South St. Petersburg has helped produce four world champions. However, the gym’s rich history remains unknown to most outsiders.
That will soon change. A local filmmaking prodigy made it his mission to put a long-overdue spotlight on the St. Pete Boxing Club, where he also trains.
Charlie King wrote, directed, produced and edited Successors of St. Pete: The St. Pete Boxing Club Story. The award-winning short-film creator’s first full-length feature will premiere Tuesday at The Beach Theatre.
“I’ve seen many videos on Winky Wright and Keith Thurman, but I’ve never seen one on the gym overall,” King said of the two legends. “I was just hoping that no one would get the idea before me. I think someone like me, who knows the people and has been in the gym, would be the correct person to do it.”
Coach Ray Milton echoed that sentiment. He said it was “absolutely” better to have an insider document the South St. Pete gym’s uncanny penchant for developing boxers and men.
The gym
The club’s loyal stakeholders prioritize hard work over attention. A small homemade sign affixed to the nondescript building at 1330 49th St. S. belies the greatness achieved inside.
Anyone who steps inside will soon realize the St. Pete Boxing Club is no typical gym. Yellow-tinged newspaper clippings, old photos and promotional posters featuring some of the greatest fighters to ever lace their gloves cover the walls.
The building’s ceiling is missing a few drywall panels. A ring takes up most of the space. Boxing equipment and a couple of stools are the only furnishings.
Born in July 1982 along 4th Street South, the St. Pete Boxing Club quickly became a haven for underserved and at-risk youth. David Santos, Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy and Winky Wright became emerging stars.
The latter two fighters became world champions. So did Keith Thurman, who is still chasing another belt. Milton noted that people often forget that Chad Dawson also trained at the club.
“People say, ‘Well, Chad Dawson did not win the title while he was here,’” Milton elaborated. “But Chad Dawson became the number one contender in this gym. Then he fought for the world title after he left here.
“Would he have become a world champion if he didn’t come here? I don’t know. But I’m sure it helped him. Because he worked with Winky Wright, Jeff ‘Left Hook’ Lacy and then Keith Thurman was up-and-coming.”
Milton said Wright, a boxing hall of famer, created the blueprint for subsequent champions. Coaches also realized “what to watch out for” when area youth entered the gym.
A person’s “mental faculties” are just as important as their boxing talent, Milton added. Trainers want to see determination and discipline and, if everything lines up, “you’ve got the recipe to be a champion.”
“You get all these world champions come through here, and it’s going to rub off on you. Some of that energy,” Milton said of the club’s success. “And we got a couple more young guys. We’ve got a lot of talent in here.”
Rob Mendez succeeded Dan Birmingham as the club’s owner. Mendez’s padded hands were taking a beating from Kristian Kanushi on a recent afternoon.
Kanushi is currently in a four-way tie for ninth place in USA Boxing’s 154-pound amateur rankings. Milton said he has Wright’s vision and wisdom.
“Keith Thurman and all those guys, they love him (Kanushi),” Milton continued. “Winky (Wright) always tells me, ‘You got one there.’”
The filmmaker
King, 18, moved to St. Pete from New Jersey in 2021. He got the boxing bug at 13 while watching exhibition bouts between social media influencers and retired athletes.
A member of his former gym in New Jersey, Different Breed Sports Academy, told him about the St. Pete Boxing Club’s success in fostering champions. King began hearing the stories firsthand while training at the gym – three times weekly for the past four years.
“It just took over my whole life,” King said. “I was never a sports kid when I was younger. For the past five or six years, I’ve been totally in love with the sport of boxing.”
As a child, King wanted to become an actor. He began making YouTube videos at 8 and soon realized he is “much more of a behind-the-scenes guy.”
King has submitted his short films to various festivals and found some early success. He has also attended camps in New York City and Los Angeles, and knew he wanted to complete a “big project” before heading to college.
Filming for Successors began in March and wrapped in October. Multiple local boxing legends, including Wright and Thurman, agreed to the teen’s interview requests.
King called those “just a very good experience” facilitated by connections made at the gym. He walked up and pitched Thurman one day, and Birmingham put him in touch with Wright. “It was all kind of a domino effect after that,” King said.
“Getting in the mind of a champion, whether it’s boxing or filmmaking or whatever, they can teach you a lot.”
The film’s trailer has garnered attention on social media. King credited his experience making “fake promotional trailers for upcoming boxing fights when I was younger” to its success.
King’s parents instilled that if he wanted to do something, he had to “go all the way.” He offered similar advice to burgeoning filmmakers: “Just keep at it, and make sure that’s the only thing you think about.”
King also credited Jessica Burchfield and Luis Alatorre, his visual arts and digital media teachers, respectively, at St. Pete Catholic, for helping guide him along his filmmaking journey. “Having people who know what you want to do and supporting you – I just think that helps a lot.”
After graduation, King hopes to attend film school at Florida State University. He eagerly anticipates the premiere of Successors and its subsequent online release Thursday, Nov. 27.
“I’ve shown it to a good amount of people now,” King said. “And they all said they think it’s professional-level stuff. So, I’m excited to see it with an audience.”
This content provided in partnership with StPeteCatalyst.com
