Bairoa Gym is a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...

located in

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the Central Mountain Range of Puerto Rico, south of San Juan and Trujillo Alto, west of Gurabo and San Lorenzo, and east of Aguas Buenas, Cidra, and Cayey. Caguas was founde ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. ''El gimnasio Bairoa'', as it is known in Spanish, is the most famous boxing gym in Puerto Rico because of the list of world champions and top contenders who have trained there.

2005 shooting attack

On March 4, 2005, Bairoa boxer

Joseph Serrano Joseph Serrano (born April 18, 1984 in Caguas, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican who was an amateur boxing star. Serrano had an award-winning career as an amateur. A member of the Bairoa Gym boxing team, he met, among others, Miguel Cotto during ...

, a gold medalist at Central American and Caribbean Games competition as an amateur and 1-0 prospect, was standing near the gym's front door, when he was shot three times by an assailant. Serrano was picked up by his father Edwin and by fellow boxer

Victor Bisbal Victor José Bisbal Melero (born 2 July 1980) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games in the heavyweight divisionPaese, Gabrielle (2003)Puerto Rico ...

and taken to a hospital, where he recuperated from the gunshots. The shooting's alleged planner, Jonathan Huertas Claudio was sentenced to 15 years probation for paying $2,000 to Jorge Davila to shoot Serrano. Davila was sentenced to 6 months in jail and 11 years probation.

Notable boxers

World champions and well known boxers who have used this facility include Alfredo Escalera,

Héctor Camacho Héctor Luís Camacho Matías (May 24, 1962 – November 24, 2012), commonly known by his nickname "Macho" Camacho, was a Puerto Rican professional boxer and entertainer. Known for his quickness in the ring and flamboyant style, Camacho compet ...

Julian Solís Julian Solís (born 7 January 1957) is a former boxer from Puerto Rico. He was born in the San Juan area of Río Piedras, but because of the closeness of his birthplace to Caguas, he often trained at the Bairoa Gym in Caguas. His training base, h ...

, Henry Bruseles, Juan Cruz,

Alberto Mercado Alberto Mercado Monserrate (born January 2, 1961) is a former Jr. Featherweight boxer who was on the verge of fighting for a world title at least twice in his career. Amateur boxing career Mercado started boxing as an amateur at the age of 1 ...

, Jesus Rojas, Javier Garcia, Jose Miguel Cotto, Juan Carazo,

Miguel Cotto Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four weight classes, ...

, Daniel Rosario, José Rodriguez, and many more. The gym was managed since 1976 (year when it was inaugurated) by Cuban trainer Julian Delgado, until Evangelista Cotto replaced him during the late 90s. Bairoa Gym's creator Delgado passed away on December 14, 2021, at the age of 91. Miguel Cotto became the gym's first "homegrown"

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

when he conquered the WBO's world Jr. Welterweight title by knocking out

Kelson Pinto Kelson Carlos Santos Pinto (born November 26, 1976) is a Brazilian former professional boxer and world title challenger. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games. Amateur career Pinto represented his native country in th ...

of Brazil in six rounds in 2004. Cotto built a career that included various world titles and fights with

Antonio Margarito Antonio Margarito Montiel (born March 18, 1978) is a Mexican-American former professional boxer who competed between 1994 and 2017. He held multiple welterweight world championships, including the WBO title from 2002 to 2007, the IBF title in ...

, Sergio Martinez,

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Phil ...

, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and

Saul Alvarez Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

References

Boxing clubs in Puerto Rico Caguas, Puerto Rico {{PuertoRico-sports-venue-stub