Art Casciato knows his fair share of Philadelphia boxers, ranging from the Joe Fraziers to the Rocky Balboas and all the contenders and pretenders in between. Hoping to expose some of the city's storied boxing history to Penn students, the Harrison College House dean organized a trip for seven residents to visit the gymnasiums where many of Philadelphia's famed boxers got their start. The program was part of the house's "Finding Philly" series, which takes students to some of the less traditional but perhaps more fascinating places in the city. And yesterday, in between the sweat, punching bags and headgear, students got to see a side of Philadelphia far away from Locust Walk. The mood was set the moment local boxing instructor Ron Aurit arrived in the Harrison lobby to join Casciato and the students. Aurit, who led the tour of the gyms, offered hearty greetings of, "Where are you from?" to each of the students. No matter the city, Aurit replied with a five-minute anecdote about anything from a championship fight that took place in the particular town to a favorite hotel bar located there. En route to the first stop -- the Front Street Gym -- the stories flew like punches from Aurit's past. Aurit told the students that he is actually the answer to the Trivial Pursuit question, "Who is the only Jewish boxer to have fought Sugar Ray Leonard?" The self-proclaimed "Yid Kid" laughed as he recalled taunting the former champion, "Is that all you got, Sugar?" when he was unable to knock him out. At the Front Street Gym, the entrance is an unmarked door that opens to a narrow staircase and leads up to a boxer's haven, complete with a trainer named Angel, walls plastered in posters of previous fights and an obstacle course of punching bags. "The gym is so different from what you picture it as being," said College senior Ada Stein, referring to the fact that the gym seemed to lack the glitz and glamour so often seen on television. The next stop was the Joe Frazier Gym. The limousine parked out front seemed to indicate that the owner and namesake of the place -- the former heavyweight slugger -- was in. His son Marvis greeted the group and stuck around to sign autographs. In Frazier's office hung what Aurit described as "the best photo ever taken" of Frazier knocking out none other than Muhammad Ali. The final stop was Champs, a North Philadelphia gym. Located right across from Bill Cosby's former elementary school, the gym is touted as the home of some of Philadelphia's finest boxers. Currently training at the gym is middleweight champion Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins and welterweight champion Tony Martin. Champs also claims John Prin, Penn's own boxing club president. Finally, the knockout tour of Philadelphia's boxing world was complete with a visit to Nick's sandwich shop in South Philadelphia. Aurit, who has been teaching boxing skills to Penn students since 1976, then took the opportunity to pass out flyers for those interested in his boxing scholarships. He said part of his mission is to help adolescents make it to college, and he touts the benefits of boxing for many kids who might otherwise be left to the streets. "We all agreed we learned about the sport, and the people and culture of boxing," Casciato said. "The tour Ron gave wasn't sugar-coated."
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