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Boxer turns trainer
Champion boxer Virgil Hill opens studio in Galloway Township
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GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP - Five-time world champion boxer Virgil Hill got into the fitness and training business in February when he opened All N Conditioning in Risley Square.
But it's more like the business got into him.
First, a couple of guys asked if he would work with them - not surprising for a ring legend whose 50th career victory won him the World Boxing Association's cruiserweight title (up to 200 pounds) in 2006. And since he was 42 when he won that final title, it's safe to assume Hill knows something about conditioning.
Hill brought the aspiring boxers to his Smithville home and worked with them in his garage.
"I love it. I love training people. I would do it for free, but my wife won't let me," he said with a laugh Wednesday.
Word got out and soon there were too many people looking for time in Hill's garage.
Now they train in a modern, fully equipped facility with gloves, pads and plenty of room.
Fighters training there include Julio Sanchez - who is already 2-0 - John Brown and a female boxer, Jamillia Lawrence.
Hill said he also has a phenomenal 9-year-old - Scotty Crawford, of Barnegat Township - who has won the Silver Gloves competition and "every tournament out there."
Serious boxers are only the beginning of All N's clientele. Others come to get in shape, to lose some weight or just to feel good and confident. Some want specialized training with assistants Troy Maxwell, a professional mixed martial arts fighter, or jiujitsu expert Jason Alcoba.
Carla Hill, Virgil's wife and business partner, said her husband designs and oversees each customer's training personally, which must be a little intimidating at first, since he's undoubtedly the strongest person they have ever been within arm's reach of.
But when he talks, Virgil Hill sounds like one of the gentlest, most patient people you could ever meet. Maybe it's because he grew up in North Dakota, or maybe it's never having to worry about someone giving him trouble, or maybe it's that with five world titles, he doesn't have to prove anything anymore.
One client who has benefited from the champ's conditioning techniques is LaShawn Daniels, a songwriter with Darkchild music productions in Pleasantville.
"He went from a guy that has always been heavy to now, you know, he's lost 70 pounds. He looks different, he acts different, his walk is different, his talk is different. And LaShawn has never been a real shy guy and stuff, but his swagger is just different," Hill said.
Other customers include youngsters involved in just about any sport, and classes of children putting some physical fitness into their increasingly technology-based lives.
This month, All N Conditioning has combined that goal with another: Giving busy, hands-on parents a break to have dinner, do some shopping, whatever. It's holding a Kids Night from 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays so parents can drop off their children for fun and fitness.
Having already become the world's best, Hill now finds fulfillment in seeing improvements in others.
"My favorite thing is seeing the improvement, seeing them get the movement, and when they get through a really tough workout," he said. "When they've trained really hard and their bodies have changed."
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Posted in Business on Sunday, May 10, 2009 4:00 am
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