T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM — Liver Shot Boxing Club Head Coach Luis Alejandre trains one of his students in the location in Meadow Land Mall. Even though the location was opened to experienced boxers, new students can take classes starting Monday.

“It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”

That famous saying from fictional boxing character Rocky Balboa is on the wall of the new Liver Shot Boxing Club, and is representative of the values the coaches are teaching their students, who they regard as family.

Inside Meadow Lane Mall, head coach Luis Alejandre and coaches Adan Rodriguez and Adan Ortiz are preparing to open their new nonprofit club to the public. On Monday, they will be able to take on new students, and are prepared for all skill levels.

Right now, the coaches are training athletes they became familiar with when they were coaching at La Raza Marshalltown Boxing Club. After it closed in April, the coaches trained students in Alejandre’s basement, but they took that situation to teach their students to never quit.

Finding a location which fit space and budget requirements was a challenge, but they found a home in the mall, and Alejandre chose the Liver Shot name for the club because it is his favorite boxing punch.

“It is one of the punches every boxer should learn,” he said. “It’s a knock-out punch.”

Beyond the liver shot punch, Alejandre said students learn boxing skills, discipline and resilience.

“They will learn about taking the right path in life and being respectful,” he said.

Rodriguez said in the beginning, the new boxers will learn more than the basics such as footwork and how to throw punches. He added everything athletes learn at Liver Shot can be taken into the outside world.

“Boxing isn’t just about punching,” Rodriguez said.

Both coaches saw firsthand how boxing training benefited athletes at La Raza. Alejandre spoke about a La Raza student who was very aggressive at the start, but gradually he noticed a shift in attitude and behavior.

“He changed around people,” he said.

Rodriguez recalled the same athlete.

“He couldn’t control his emotions, and he was very closed off in the beginning,” he said. “He would never chat, never say ‘Hi.’ In time, he got accustomed to us and would come up and talk to us.”

Alejandre provided another example of boxing benefiting a student of theirs. He said the student was looking for trouble and was not doing well in school.

“He became comfortable with us,” he said.

One reason behind the positive change in behavior is boxing releases stress, Alejandre said.

“It also gives you more focus on how you want to live,” he said. “If you want to do this for a living, you have to be disciplined and dedicated.”

Beyond the combat skills and the behavior changes, Alejandre added boxing also instills different habits – what foods to eat, when to go to bed, when to wake up and even impacts grades earned in school.

One boxer who followed the coaches from La Raza to Liver Shot is Luis Garcia, 25, who qualified for the Golden Gloves finals in April. On Monday in the gym, he said he was excited for the opportunity to train in the new location.

“It’s going to be a better environment,” Garcia said. “Nothing is going to hold us back, now. You’re only as good as hard as you work. You’re not going to be the best everyday, but as long as you keep going, you can be the best.”

ABOUT LIVER SHOT

Contact: Instagram, Facebook

Location: 1720 S. Center St.

Hours: Monday through Friday, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Cost: $50 per child, $60 per adult every month

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.