Walking into the Harrison Park boxing room, everything is close and personal. The ring reaches the end of the wall with only enough space to walk through and leave your shoes before stepping up to it. Flags of the various countries representing the nationalities of the club members hang proudly against the wall.
Pilsen is a neighborhood with Latine roots, and one of the country’s most popular sports has been hosted at Harrison Park for 52 years.
The organizers are proud to say that they do not discriminate, and they want any community member to give boxing a try.
“We’re a community,” said Alfonso Verduzco, a coach at the club who started fighting there in the late 1980s.
The community has responded, and the club is now seeing an increase in women participants trying out the sport.
Being able to find a group of people who share the same passion and love for the sport helps the community grow, said Queli Arroyo, a 30-year-old participant at the club.
“Everybody’s given the opportunity to become better, which I think as a female boxer, that’s not given at all gyms,” Arroyo said.
Verduzco noted that, while the stigma of boxing as a violent sport has decreased over the years, there are still some negative narratives that he wants to help rewrite. One of them being aggressive behavior toward women boxers.
“With the females, (male boxers are) very disrespectful, machista, you know what I mean? We don’t get that here,” Verduzco said.
Verduzco feels that park district programs, like the Harrison Park Boxing Club, are capable of giving participants a safe place to improve their skills.
“We have a lot of great female fighters,” Naomi Lares, 26, said. “It’s really cool and inspiring to see a lot of those women kind of show up and really have a good reflection of the sport.”
Jocelyn Salgado, has been training at Harrison Park for two years. She believes boxing helps many women feel stronger and more confident.
“I think females can be as good as a male fighter,” said Salgado, who is 18 years old.
The Harrison Park Boxing Club’s fighters for Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. Many athletes praise the club for the sense of community and discipline it creates.
The Chicago Park District offers classes for both children and adults at different times to accommodate schedules.
One of the flags on the wall is Mexico’s, which makes Lares feel represented.
“Having coaches also sharing that Mexican culture, Mexican background made it feel like home,” Lares said. She has also been boxing with the club for two years.
While some see the sport as another way to get cardio, other boxers in the club strive to reach the next level.
Arroyo said, in 2022, she was ranked No. 2 in the nation in the 165-pound weight class.
“I want to rank number one. I want to beat number one,” she said.
Boxers attending the club are encouraged to implement the skills they have learned in amateur boxing events. That includes the Chicago Golden Gloves, the largest regional boxing tournament in the U.S. that also became the first tournament to host a women’s division in 1994.
There also will be an All Girls Citywide Boxing Showcase on July 9 at Wicker Park and another showcase at Daley Plaza on Aug. 5.
Lares is among those from the Harrison Park Club who’ve competed in various events.
“My first fight, even though it was an exhibition, having my family there, having support — it’s just this really nice sense of accomplishment that you feel from within,” she said.
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