What is boxercise and how is UFC president Dana White associated with it?
It is not common knowledge, but UFC president Dana White used to give boxercise lessons in Boston. Boxercise is a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) class that gained popularity in the late 90s among homemakers and businessmen in the United States. It is considered a sub-genre of boxing, only that it does not involve sparring and the other competitive aspects of the sport.
It was first ideated in 1992 by British coach Andy Wake and became widely popular as a generic fitness workout. Subsequently, the concept was trademarked under the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office), and the company produced a boxing training program by the name Muhammad Ali workout.
According to an article from SimplyGym, boxercise classes comprise group exercises that have proven beneficial for cardio and resistance training. Boxercise also helps in improving hand-eye coordination, courtesy of pad work while training jabs, hooks, crosses, and uppercuts.
Why did Dana White choose Boxercise coach as a viable career?
Dana White picked up boxing gloves at 17 years of age. He began his combat sports training in 1987 whilst studying at Hermon High School in Maine. After switching jobs several times, White started giving boxing lessons in Boston to earn a livelihood.
White and his partner, Peter Welch, saw immense growth in the boxercise business and ventured into regional health clubs. The initiative became widely popular and was largely attended by businessmen and homemakers as mentioned above.
But things went south when Boston-based mobster Whitey Bulger's men came knocking at one of Dana White's classes. The crime boss' men reportedly tried to strong-arm White to extort $2,500. The entire fiasco forced White to leave Boston for Las Vegas.
"I literally hung up the phone, picked up the phone and called Delta and bought a ticket to Vegas," said Dana White.
Jake Paul brings up Dana White's past in recent Tweetstorm
In a recent interview with ESPN, Dana White blasted Triller Fight Club for giving favorable matchups to Jake Paul. White claimed that "The Problem Child" would face adversity if pitted against a finessed boxer, unlike Ben Askren, who predominantly relied on his grappling in MMA.
In retaliation for Dana White's flak, Jake Paul recently took to Twitter to compare their respective boxing credentials.
“Dear Dana, In my 15 minutes of fame I’ve done more in boxing than you have your whole life. Dana White Boxing Career: - You were a boxercise instructor - Your boxing reality show got cancelled after one episode - Zuffa Boxing died before it even started,” wrote Jake Paul.
Check out here: Does Dana White have a gym in his house?