If God is For Us: The Randburg Boxing Club

Ashley Fourie has been boxing as long as anyone can remember. Or least since 1958, which is the oldest photo I can find on the wall of Ashley Fourie's Boxercise Gym, also known as the Randburg Boxing Club. Yet Fourie turned professional in 1969, which means he must have been boxing even longer than the first photo indicates. It turns out he started boxing at age 5, on account of being teased for his big ears and Afrikaans name at an English-speaking school in Yeoville, now downtown Johannesburg. Not long after his professional debut, though, he had a near-death motorbike accident which allegedly left him in a coma for seven weeks and scuttled all hopes of staying pro, despite a shortlived comeback.

The club is situated on a grungy corner of Randburg, sandwiched between the Hot Pot Takeaway and Lombard Tyres. When I first pulled up, I wasn't even sure I wanted to park my car outside, let alone venture inside. But venture inside I did, to find a sweaty group in the midst of a gruelling abs routine, and of course, Ashley Fourie himself with his long curly hair, heavy silver chain and bracelets, and an impressive array of tattoos, one of which features himself flexing his right bicep, on his right bicep.

Every square centimetre of Ashley Fourie's gym, from floor to ceiling, is covered in newspaper and magazine clippings about boxing, dating back to the 1930s. It is an interior design work of art in its own right, that reflects a lifetime of record-collecting, interspersed with messages about God ("If God is For Us, Who Can Be Against Us?"). All this combined and I knew the Randburg Boxing Club was for me. 

Despite his intimidating appearance, Ashley Fourie has attracted a plus-fifty-percent female following. His training sessions run six days a week, ranging from boxercise to amateur to professional. On Sundays? "You go to church and pray that you'll be able to recover in time to train again on Monday", he jokes.

Yes, it's still the New Year but I haven't missed a training session so far.