Holt McCallany, the actor who has starred as FBI Special Agent Bill Tench on TV’s “Mindhunter” and whose big screen credits include hits such as “Fight Club” and “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” has tried it. So has noted Kiwi model Josh McGregor. They are among the hundreds of enthusiasts that have taken in a unique and new outdoor boxing experience created last summer by BOXCLUB NYC.
It’s the brainchild of Sean O’Bradaigh and his colleague Matthew Botros, both recent alum of prestigious universities, and each possessing more than ample amounts of brains and brawn. The innovative duo, who met in New York Athletic Club’s boxing program and competed as amateurs, established Box Club NYC and decided to revolutionize boxing training by taking it outdoors and making it hip.
“We met [in] summer of 2024,” said O’Bradaigh, an undefeated professional once ranked #8 nationally in the amateurs, and no stranger to Echo readers. “[Botros] and I worked for boxing gyms throughout college, like teaching. And we realized there's so much money to be made in fitness. Like you can make $150 an hour. You can't make that in many other fields.
“And we thought to ourselves, you know, we're smart enough, let's figure out a way to monetize it for ourselves rather than working for someone else.”
For Botros, there was also the desire to share their passion for boxing with others.
So, the 23-year-old O’Bradaigh, who graduated from New York University last spring with a bachelor’s in real estate finance, and Botros, Columbia University’s Class of 2024 Salutatorian and a psychology graduate, found a space covered by turf on Pier 46, a block from where O’Bradaigh grew up on Manhattan’s West Side.
They purchased a pile of gloves and, delighted at avoiding enormous overhead costs such as gym rentals, started teaching boxing. They held their first class in July. It was free, by invitation only for promotional and marketing purposes. There was a large turnout.
“We didn't charge anyone,” said O’Bradaigh. “It was just to get some footage and [to] get people to see what we were doing. We posted a bunch of stuff online and got some followers, and people started to come more and more.”
Box Club partnered with the ticketing app Flite and with Storytime, which is hailed as a game-changer for small businesses looking to connect with influencers. The prolific actor McCallany, who’s Irish-American, and the model McGregor are just two of the celebrities that have trained with Box Club.
“We were consistently getting 12 to 15 people in our classes over the summer,” said O’Bradaigh.
The outdoor schedule has been paused as temperatures drop. It will resume at Pier 46 in the spring. Until then, Box Club is only doing special monthly events indoors, or “winter pop ups,” as O’Bradaigh terms them, such as the chess boxing program held in partnership with Alex Selden’s Chess Boxing NYC last weekend; or pilates and boxing.
What’s in it for you if you want to try Box Club’s outdoor fitness program for a basement bargain $29 per class? Firstly, you’ll learn boxing skills.
“We actually teach them boxing,” said O’Bradaigh. “Second, we want people to break a legitimate sweat. We want them at the end to be like, ‘you know? I'm tired. That was a good workout.’ And third, we really want to foster relationships and allow people to create connections with [other] people in the community and meet new people. That's a big thing for us, too.”
Perhaps an even bigger deal for boxing enthusiasts that sign up is the opportunity to train under Box Club’s two young, albeit savvy and battle-tested proprietors.
Botros, who’s campaigned as a middleweight in the amateurs, is a one-time finalist in the New York Metropolitan Championships. He’s a veteran of 15 fights.
O’Bradaigh was an amateur champion in both middleweight and Elite 176-pound divisions. He decisioned Israel Bailey at Madison Square Garden back in April 2023 to win the Ring Masters/Golden Gloves middleweight novice final.
He’d later move up a weight class to win the Elite 176 pound title in the 2023 New York Boxing Tournament. He was also a 2024 Ring Masters 176 Elite finalist, a three-time National semifinalist -- twice in the U.S. and once in Ireland – and a 2024 Olympic trialist both in the U.S. and Ireland.
Follow Box Club NYC on Instagram @boxclubnyc to learn more about its outdoor boxing program and to sign up for classes.
