Digital Social Hour
From Broke to 4,000 Members: How Boxing Saved My Business Career | Matthew Attalla DSH #988
Tue, 17 Dec 2024
From broke and struggling to building a 4,000-member boxing empire, Matthew shares his remarkable journey of transformation through boxing. 🥊 Watch as he reveals how he turned his boxing expertise into a thriving business empire, building one of Miami's most successful fitness brands from scratch. Starting in a small condo during COVID, Matthew grew his venture into a massive facility attracting world-class athletes, celebrities, and even Floyd Mayweather himself. Learn how he leveraged his amateur boxing career of 200+ fights into creating an innovative gym concept that combines boxing training with race car simulation, interactive basketball, and cutting-edge fitness technology. Discover the mindset shifts and strategic decisions that helped him build a community-focused brand that's revolutionizing the boxing gym industry. This inspiring conversation covers Matthew's complete journey - from his early struggles in Australia to building relationships with combat sports legends and transforming the boxing business landscape. Perfect for entrepreneurs, boxing enthusiasts, and anyone interested in building a successful fitness brand. Ready to be inspired? Watch now to learn how boxing became the foundation of an incredible business success story. 🎯 #BoxingBusiness #EntrepreneurshipJourney #BoxingGym #FitnessIndustry #BusinessSuccess #BoxingCommunity #MiamiBoxing #FitnessEntrepreneur #eliteentrepreneurs #howtogrowyourbusinessandsalesfaster #miketyson #boxing #strengthtraining CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:29 - Miami Boxing 04:59 - BetterHelp 06:19 - Overcoming Bullying 07:52 - 200 Amateur Fights 10:48 - Signing with a Promoter 12:59 - Journey as a Promoter 16:20 - Launching Boxraw 18:57 - Matthew's Return to Boxing 21:08 - First Boxer Rebellion Gym 25:10 - Fighters & World Titles 28:36 - Opening a Boxing Gym 32:40 - Jake Paul in Boxing 34:33 - Jake Paul's Membership Numbers 40:03 - Building a Brand in Sports 43:15 - Investing Time in Your Brand 43:45 - Finding Matthew and Boxer Gym 43:56 - Final Thoughts 44:52 - OUTRO APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Matthew Attalla https://www.instagram.com/mateoboxr SPONSORS: BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: How did boxing save Matthew's business career?
We had some of the best race car drivers in the game coming in and we were able to implement boxing to help them on the track because of eye coordination, speed and fast switch movements. Teach them the boxing fundamentals in order to help them in areas where they were lacking. So for example, footballers would come in, they need fast hand movements, boxing would help.
I bent a lot of rules to be able to create what we created today.
All right, guys, we got Mateo from Boxer Gym. Thanks for coming on today, man. Thank you, man. Thank you for having me. Yeah, you got one of the biggest gyms out here, right? Probably the biggest boxing gym in the world. Damn. And probably the biggest overall facility in Miami. Wow. So has Miami always been big with boxing gyms?
Believe it or not, it's got some great historic boxing gyms because Muhammad Ali actually used to do his training camps down here. Really? Yeah, he did it because of the heat. Yeah. The heat here is just on another level if you're not used to it, you know? So fighters have been coming here for quite some time to be able to do their camps, prepare for big fights whatsoever.
But yeah, it's a city that's well known for boxing.
Dude, when I landed here, I was drenched. Crazy, right? I flew in a hoodie and sweatpants and that was a huge mistake. Yeah, yeah.
Even like I was just telling you earlier on, I went to Vegas. I got so used to the weather here that when I went to Vegas and it was so dry... I was like, wow, the change is just completely different from the east to the west. Oh, yeah. Your lips were probably chopped for the first time. Yeah, I was bleeding from the nose. Vegas is big in boxing too, though, right? Vegas is that boxing hub.
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Chapter 2: What challenges did Matthew face growing up in Australia?
That's the entertainment capital when it really comes down to boxing fights. A lot of big fighters do their camps down there. It's always been the city for that, for the fight world, the combat sports world. But right now, as we speak... you know, as far as boxing, when we get into it, you know, we're going to turn this into the next capital on this side, boxing.
That's awesome. It's going to be good. You're going to flip it from Vegas. And how was boxing in Australia where you grew up? Yeah, boxing was great, man.
Like I fell into the sport. My father took me to the gym. One of the biggest names. from prehistoric boxing was Costa Zoo. He was the guy that actually defeated Zab Judah. If you know who Zab Judah is in the boxing world, that was a big upcoming name. Started at 12 years old. One of the top amateurs in the country. Came up, had about 200 amateur fights. And then after that...
Flew back and forth to the USA, competed in world championships, national competitions, stuff like that. And boxing in Australia is not as at a high level like the USA and other countries like Cuba and the amateurs and then Russia. You have a lot of, we're very behind when it comes to the boxing side of things. But we are great in other sports like rugby, cricket.
So those sports, they are very dominant when you're at a very young age. But for myself, it was actually very challenging because we had to leave the country in order for me to perform at a very high level to be able to bring the best out of me. Wow. And that's expensive in Australia. That's expensive. So my father invested some time into myself.
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Chapter 3: What was Matthew's journey in amateur boxing?
to be able to travel back and forth and to be able to get that experience so I could reach the goals that I wanted to reach. Yeah, so you were like an outlier growing up. You were doing a sport that no one else was really. Yeah, I come from a family of just, I'm an only child, so I don't have brothers, sisters, didn't have many friends. I found boxing to be really, it was like my best friend. Wow.
and i found it to be just very challenging where i could just challenge myself all the time you know yeah that's deep that's relatable i'm an only child too and everyone in my town had a brother or sister and it was yeah it was lonely dude for real but you know what it does it really just brings something out of you that you know you become a survivor right you become you become a person of knowing yourself more because you're always alone and then you start to realize and go damn you know what
I can really survive in environments, no matter where you take me, no matter where you put me, because I got no one to depend on. I got no one to talk to. And I think being an only child is like, it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. Some people think it's like, I wish I had a brother or sister. At the same time, it's like, nah, this is a good thing.
This is a blessing. I think so too. It could go one of two ways. There's that stigma that you're spoiled and stuff, but you can really lock in if you have the right mindset. 100%, I agree. Yeah, but it definitely was tough. But I mean, look at us now. So it paid off.
No, it works. It does work. It takes you on journeys that you least expect it to. It's just like, it's funny. I don't know about you, but in my case, it was hard to make friends. For sure, yeah, bounce friend groups all the time. Yeah, bounce friend groups, not understanding, you know, who to depend on, who to rely on.
You know, at times you'd be at home and you'd look to your father or your mother for things rather than siblings or brothers and sisters, you know.
This episode of Digital Social Hour is brought to you by BetterHelp. Making it easy and affordable to access online therapy. Give it a try at betterhelp.com slash DSH and get on your way to being your best self. The holidays are a tricky time of the year for a lot of people and I like to stay cozy and warm at home with my favorite movies and a warm blanket and also some better health.
With a lot of time to reflect during the winter months, therapy is a great way to embrace what's on our mind and find comfort that doesn't leave us even as the holidays fade away.
Even if you've never tried therapy or always wondered about its effects, BetterHelp's online therapy option can be a helpful tool to learn about positive coping mechanisms and set boundaries that will aid you in years and events to come. It doesn't just take trauma to make therapy worthwhile, as we want to empower everyone to be the best version of themselves.
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Chapter 4: How did COVID influence Matthew's business decisions?
Chapter 5: What innovative concepts are being introduced in boxing gyms?
So I just really loved what I did. And I love the sport of boxing. Yeah, you have over 200 fights, right? 200 amateur fights. That's insane. I never got an opportunity to turn pro just because I sort of fell off a little bit. We can get into that after if you want. But yeah.
Yeah, having that record and having that experience, it was something that at a time in my life, I was like, damn, I really went through all this and I was training that hard and I had these many fights at this amount of, you know, in this timeframe, it was just like, damn, a lot of guys in a lifetime don't even get that chance, but...
It was all the experience, you know, and I just, I love getting in the ring. Yeah. That's the most fights I've ever heard. No, there's guys that got 320, 360, 350. There's a lot of fighters out there and that are champions up to today that have had that experience. And there's champions that don't even have that experience.
But when you're in the amateurs and you're forced to fight at such a young age at 12, 13, like a lot of kids from Mexico and stuff have had 300 amateur fights. Holy crap. You got some guys at 400. Yeah.
Yeah, it's crazy. It's crazy. I feel like the damage of that is pretty massive at that.
Yeah, it is, but it isn't because in the amateurs, you got four rounds and you're doing two minutes at four rounds. So it's in and out. And more so in the amateurs, it's all about a point system. It's not about knocking each other out. It's about how skillful you are in the ring and how you can really dominate on a point system where you have to be fast, you got to be slick.
And even if you get a knockdown, In the pros, it's a little different. When you get a knockdown, it gets you ahead of the point system and winning the rounds. But in the amateurs, you get dropped and you come back up. That's only one point. But you could be leading throughout the whole fight just by outboxing someone.
So that's how it sort of worked. Reminds me of that one fight where the guy, Ashton, just was winning the whole fight and then he got knocked out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Chapter 6: How does social media impact modern boxing careers?
And then I realized, okay, I need to change completely because this shit ain't working out. I'm going to move. So I went to Columbia. Wow. Random. Grabbed my passport and left. And I lived in Colombia for about a year, year and a half, trying to figure out what I'm going to do. I had my money and I ended up landing up in Miami.
When I got to Miami, I met my partner at the time and we ended up getting stuck in COVID. Fast forward to the apartment, the condo, she said to me, she goes, why don't you get back in the ring? Why don't you do what you love? You love boxing. Because realistically, I didn't know anything else except how to box or learn what I learned on the streets, right? So that's really it.
So coming in, trying all these different, so I did, I tried, I tried making, tried doing some stuff from China, doing online selling and shit, drop shipping and shit. But that's not my shit, like that's not me, you know? And so I had a few contacts and people were offering me to get back in the ring. So I was like, you know what? Yeah, why not?
Let's get back in the ring and I'll start my pro debut. I got a good boxing background. So Cammy, my partner, she basically pushed me. She said, all right, so let's do it. I started training. I started getting ready. Boom. COVID hits. We stuck. What are we going to do?
So I decided to think to myself, okay, well, if I can't fight right now, I never thought about teaching, but let's give it a crack. So I started teaching and I had a client in the building. I don't know if you guys know of Chris Heria. He's the calisthenic king on YouTube. He's huge. His brother lived in the building and he was my first client. He said, man, teach me out of box.
I was like, all right, no worries. So I taught him in the building through COVID. And he was going, damn, I'm picking up the fundamentals from you, man. Like you teaching this stuff like accurately. He goes, what do I owe you? I go, bro, I don't even know. And I go, you give me whatever you think. And he's like, all right, just tip me, bro. I'm not even going to charge you. I enjoy doing this.
Let's just see how you progress. One thing led to another. Other people heard. So I started training him. in the building. And it was for nickels and dimes. It was for like 20, 30 bucks. Um, just tipping me to try and survive. And then obviously through that timeframe, I couldn't afford to pay the rent because there was no money coming in. COVID hit, whatever.
Anyway, so moving forward, uh, I was training people in the parking lots outside because gyms were closed. And then we had a, um, a house gym and then people in the buildings around started noticing me training them on the midst shadow boxing. You could hear the sound and be like, Papa, it gravitated people. And then they were like, oh, how are you? Where are you from? This and that.
And then they heard my accent. They're like, oh, you're from Australia? Yeah, yeah, I'm from Australia. And that's where it sort of kicked. Wow. That's legendary. It started. And it started with two myths. It started with my partner pushing and supporting. And then from there on, it was like, there was a time where I saved up money in such a small period of time.
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Chapter 7: What legacy does Matthew want to leave in boxing?
nobody's doing, which is a boxing facility infused into an area space where it was just a bodybuilding gym. So that you got the bodybuilding culture, but you ain't got the boxing culture. And then I can bring in all these high profile client base that could attract everybody else from different spectrums because they have their own platform.
So they see me working with them, they're gonna attract their own, these people to come in and sign up. So it went from being private one-on-ones to classes to now a membership base. And so we started at $99 and that included unlimited amount of classes. Is that a month? That's a month. Got it. And that was in a 3,000 square foot space.
So in that 3,000 square foot space, we're able to build up 450 members actively over eight months. Damn. Which is- Not bad for a boxing gym. 45K a month. Boxing gyms don't even have those amount of members. Boxing gyms usually have their fighters coming. They're open from a certain period of time from morning to the afternoon. They shut the gym and then they're open.
We opened all morning, all day. It was just me and my partner running it. Wow. I was doing the classes, taking care of clients. And she was running the operational side and making sure people were meet and greeted well. And it was just an overall good experience to come into Boxer.
Chapter 8: How can aspiring boxers market themselves effectively?
Yeah.
um now through through that time frame i attracted fighters fighters came in i prepared them the first line of fighters that we were able to train were were bare knuckle boxers bkfc yeah i had five fighters i had a female and i had four males at that time we were getting ready for uh the hard rock they were fighting at the hard rock We had five fights, five wins, four knockouts. It was like this.
And it went crazy. And then we got two world titles. For me, being as young as I am, coaches at my age, you don't really hear them. A lot of coaches come in at an older age. After they retire. Yeah, after they retire. For me, I didn't think about that.
I was like, man, I could take in what I learned from the 200 fights and all these coaches all around the world, and I could infuse my knowledge and experience into these guys because it just became natural now. At that present time, I realized that... I just developed skill sets that taught me how to become a teacher rather than a fighter now. And from the teaching aspect, I liked it more.
I preferred it more than actually getting in the ring and fighting. Wow, you were more fulfilled. I was way more fulfilled because I could see the results and it came out just naturally and organically with me, with people. And then from there, my business knowledge started to go up. So- I'm infusing all these different things in such a small period of time. And the growth was just like, boom.
And I was like, damn, okay, okay. I'm liking this. But in the end of the day, as far as where I was, we still weren't making good money. Like it was just, it was going back into the business. I was reinvesting all the money back into equipment, back into staff, back into coaches. I recruited some of the best coaches in the country. I didn't just get anyone, just put it on Indeed.
I called up and I brought... One of the best coaches in the game, his name is Jason Ingwalson. They call him the faith fighter. He actually trained Ryan Garcia. He trained David Benavides. He actually trained Dana White for a little bit. And I brought him out from Vegas where he wasn't doing well. And I said, man, I'm going to bring you out. I'm going to use my money, bring you out.
I want you to check out what you see. If you don't like it, it's cool, but I know you're going to like it. And you're going to like what I'm doing, but I really need the help. So I flew him out. He stayed for a week. He went back and I was like, I'm going to come back. Two days later, he calls me. He's like, man, I'm packing all my stuff and I'm coming to help you, bro. I was like, damn.
And then I recruited him. I didn't go on the computer and just say, hey, I need these coaches. No, no, no. Like I was looking for specific individuals to be part of this brand. And I think that was like one of the most important key aspects. And all these coaches are still with me today since the very beginning. Damn. They've all stuck with me. Their lives have completely changed. They make bread.
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