The typical noisy banter regularly found at Time 2 Grind Boxing Gym in Baltimore has toned down some in recent days.
It’s fight week for three of the gym’s professional boxers — Malik Titus, Tyrell Boyd and Mack Allison IV — and with all the heavy duty prep work complete, gym owner and longtime trainer Mack Allison III likes to lighten the load for his star pupils.
Saturday night, the trio will showcase their skills in front of the hometown crowd at World Champion Boxing XXXVII at Horseshoe Casino.
As part of the 12-bout event, hosted by Ponytail Promotions, Titus (14-1-1, 13 knockouts) takes on Texas native Erick Prieto in the heavyweight division; Boyd (16-0, 14 knockouts) meets local Columbia resident Ashton Sykes in the super middle weight division; and, with his father, Allison III, in his corner, Allison IV (21-4, 14 knockouts) headlines the night against Mexico native Angel Varela Urena in the lightweight division.
For the Time 2 Grind contingent, it’s all systems go. The message from Allison III to his fighters is a familiar one.
“Fight hard because you trained hard,” said his son, Allison IV, 27. “Our gym is named Time 2 Grind, so he basically says you’ve done the grind and now it’s time to shine.”
After spending 16 years as a trainer at Upton Boxing Center, the senior Allison, who turned 55 on Tuesday, opened his gym in 2015. Fittingly, it’s located at Transforming Life Church of God on Sipple Avenue in northeast Baltimore.
In addition to boxing, life skills are taught in a family environment. Overflow success has followed. Titus and Allison IV are current U.S. WBC title holders and another prized fighter who is not on this weekend’s card, Destiny Day Owens, is the first female world champion out of Baltimore.
“Coach Mack has brought more to me than just boxing. He’s a mentor. He’s a dad. He’s a brother. And a great teacher,” said Boyd, 30, who’s been a pro for five years and worked with Allison III since he was 15. “He provides a lot of character development. When you’re involved with Coach Mack, he educates you on how to not only be a better fighter, but a better man as well.”
When Allison IV was a child, his father, who grew up boxing and competing in the martial arts, never pressured him into boxing. But tagging along with his dad, he quickly developed the same passion for the sport. Their work ethic is also a match.
“It’s beautiful,” Mack III said. “We share the same dedication. I would train every single day — train and train and train — and I look at him now and it’s like ‘Wow, he’s doing the same thing I was doing.’ And that’s without me telling him to do that. So I know he really loves it.”
Starting the sport when he was 6 years old, Mack IV had 115 amateur bouts and won five Golden Glove state championship and three Junior Olympic titles before turning pro. He recognizes and cherishes the unique relationship he has with his dad.
“It’s been wonderful,” he said. “He always gave me a choice to do things and would support anything I wanted to do and I always wanted to box. When he saw I made the choice and wanted to keep going with boxing, he’s given me his all.”
Come Saturday, the Time 2 Grind crew are ready to give their all. On Tuesday, the younger Allison gave his dad a new pair of Nike tennis shoes for his birthday. But him, Titus and Boyd have promised more presents for the elder Allison by the end of the night Saturday.
Three big wins.
“Yup, yup, yup. Gonna win another one for him,” Allison IV said.
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