(EAGLE RIVER, Wis) (WJFW) – Teressa Gray, owner of Corvino’s Boxing Club, has always had boxing in her blood.
“I always had an idea and a memory that my dad brought to our family as being a boxer.” said Gray.
Gray’s late father, Jack Corvino, was a successful amateur boxer and coach in the 1940s and 50s, but died when Gary was just seven years old. She never got into the sport of boxing until after college when she went to a gym in Minnesota.
Gray said “Sure enough it just clicked for me. They saw some natural talent, technique and ability that I didn’t know I had. And they trained me to have a couple amateur fights myself.”
After her tenure as an amateur boxer Teressa Gray opened up her own gym in Eagle River to help keep the Corvino family boxing legacy alive.
“I’m not training you to be a fighter,” said Gray. “I’m just training you to have overall strength and the mindset that I think boxing can bring to anyone’s life.”
Gray opened her club in January 2025 and has over 50 members, most being women, including Mckenzie Rabenn and Rachel Milky.
Milky said “Typeically a lot of women may shy away from the heavy weight lifting type of sports and now that we’re seeing more involvement in that it’s just a great thing to carry on and continue.”
Rabenn added: “For her to offer this service to the Northwoods and continue her dad’s legacy is so incredible. Especially in a space that’s so heavily dominated by males.”
“The symbolism of boxing is so applicable with life.” said Gray. “We can’t quit when it’s difficult, we stop at the bell. And I use that mindset of like ‘Whatever I’m struggling with in life, I can push through it’.”
Gray added that she hopes her late dad would be proud of what her daughter is doing today.