Holbrook has few spaces available for keeping healthy and an opportunity to socialize, and one of those is the Eye of the Tiger Gym and Boxing Club, located at 152 Navajo Blvd. Driving by it may be hard to spot. There’s no modern signage or young fit athletes pedaling away in the storefront to entice the public. In order to see the value of the operation created by Holbrook resident Danny Duran, you need to step inside.
Duran opened the gym in 2019 in the large open-spaced building that used to house the original Roxy Theater back in the 1940s. It’s a little chilly inside but considering the workout to be had, that changes quickly once the movement kicks in. When asked why at 81 he decided to open a gym, Duran’s answer was two-fold.
“After I retired, I told my wife I just don’t want to sit here and die. So she asked me what I wanted to do about it and I told her I want to open a gym.” Duran and his family had moved to California for a period of time where it was common place to see people working out and exercising regardless of the age but in Holbrook, that was not common. He occasionally goes to a gym in another city and in the mornings older people are there working out and taking the opportunity to socialize. “We’re all comparing ages and stuff, it’s a lot of fun. I go in there and I get to interact with people closer to my age. So that’s what I was hoping to have happen here.”
The other reason for opening the gym was more personal. Duran walked to a nearby wall that displayed two letters of death notification and certifications of a Purple Heart for Duran’s brothers Pete and Tony who served in the Army and who lost their lives in two separate wars a decade apart. Also on display is a framed photo of another brother, Jake who served in the Navy but thankfully returned home to his family.
“I kept going to memorial services here at the courthouse and no one was mentioning any of the people that were lost during the wars. So I wanted to find a way to commemorate them,” said Duran. His brother Pete was 17 when he was killed in North Africa just after Duran was born, then when he was 10 his brother Tony was killed at the age of 16 in North Korea.
Having this memorial to his brothers in a public space is a way for Duran to keep their memory alive, noting that it gave him pleasure to see those using the gym stopping to look at the wall and notice that he had two Purple Heart recipients in the family.
Both Duran and his wife Marylou are great examples of what regular exercise can achieve at any age. Marylou, at 84, had arrived at the gym the day of the interview after walking nearly two miles to begin her workout.
The Eye of the Tiger Gym offers more than a workout on the weight machines. Duran also provides boxing instruction for those looking for a really intense workout. His training brings people from other areas such as Tallon Rozell who comes from Snowflake once a week to learn from Duran. “It’s definitely a good workout. You get tired and it gets hard to breathe,” he said with a laugh.
Michelle Billiman of Holbrook is another one of Duran’s boxing students and she’s been working at it for over a year. “My dad was a boxer so I just wanted to try it and fell in love with it. I wouldn’t mind competing if I had the opportunity.” Duran would ultimately like to form a boxing club and have members participate in matches in the region.
For Duran, his love for boxing came at a young age. “I moved here in 1943 and we didn’t have anything growing up. We had to make our own weights out of cans and pipe. We used to box too. My dad used to tell me ‘you’re going to be a little guy and kids are going to pick on you’ so he started me in boxing. I would still get picked on, but only once,” Duran said with a smile.
He’s passing that skill along to other kids by offering free boxing lessons to kids ages 8 to 12, and he supplies all of the necessary equipment.
For adults, the cost is $15 to use the gym and an additional $20 a month for eight boxing lessons. The gym is open from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. To sign up for the gym, stop by the gym or call Duran at 928-313-0661.
