Some fights end at the sound of the final bell, but true legacies never leave the ring. Long before Rodriguez Boxing Club became a boxing institution, Alfonso “Al” Rodriguez, the gym’s founder and a leader in the Valley’s boxing community, was training his children in an improvised gym at his home.
Rodriguez died July 6, 2026, at 79, leaving behind a legacy built over more than six decades of service, discipline and commitment to his community. Now, his family is working to keep the mission he started alive.
What started as a family space eventually grew into a refuge for generations of young people and a highly respected boxing gym in Phoenix.
Today, Rodriguez Boxing Club stands as a historic, family-run nonprofit gym in the heart of the Valley. Founded in 1961, the gym provides accessible training and personalized mentorship for everyone from beginners to professional boxers.
‘Everyone is a diamond in the rough’
Al and his wife, Carmen Rodriguez, both natives of Texas, settled in Arizona and had five children: Al Rodriguez Jr., better known as “Al Baby Rodriguez,” who died during the COVID-19 pandemic; Carolina Olmos; Ofelia Hooper; Fernando Rodriguez; and Seferino “Sefe” Rodriguez.
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For Al, boxing was always part of who he was. He came from a third-generation boxing family. Before founding Rodriguez Boxing Club, he led a boxing program at Club SAR in Scottsdale, but he always dreamed of creating a gym of his own. That vision began taking shape at his home in Mesa.
“My father had a backyard gym. That’s when he started it for us as a family. My siblings and I all competed when we were younger.” Seferino Rodriguez, head coach at Rodriguez Boxing Club and current president of Arizona USA Boxing, told The Arizona Republic. “From there, he went to Club SAR. He was there for many years and then from there, he wanted his own gym, and then that’s when Rodriguez Boxing Club started, in 1961.”
Although Rodriguez Boxing Club has developed accomplished amateur and professional boxers, Al always believed the sport had a greater purpose.
“My dad’s mentality, which he also instilled in me, was that everyone is a diamond in the rough. Everyone. From the little kids to the adults,” Seferino said. “He always treated every person like they could be the next champion.”
That philosophy transformed the gym into a place where young people found discipline, trust and a second chance. Over the years, it also earned Rodriguez Boxing Club the respect of the entire Valley community.
“We were always a gym with personalized attention. Everybody that comes into that gym has problems; we all have problems. And we need to, as a family, show them that there’s outlets here,” Seferino said. “We would get some of the worst of the worst. I mean, kids that were thrown away, that were brought to the gym, and my dad just showed them compassion and showed them love.”
Service above all: a legacy that continues
For Al, success was never measured only by championships. Rodriguez Boxing Club operates as a nonprofit organization, a decision that reflected his desire to keep the gym accessible to the entire community.
“My dad was very religious, and he instilled one thing in me and all of my brothers and sisters, he said, ‘money is the root of all evil.’ So to keep it pure, this is why he wanted to be a 501 (c) (3),” Seferino said. “Everything goes towards keeping the lights on, paying the rent.”
That same commitment is what his wife, children and nephew Frank Rodriguez, who is also involved with the project, hope to preserve after his passing. For his daughter, Carolina Olmos, continuing the gym represents a responsibility that goes far beyond maintaining a family business.
“I’m so proud to say that I’m a Rodriguez. I’m so proud to say that my dad and my mom had been doing this and passed it on to us. I’m so proud that we have this gym because it’s going to make us get up every day. It’s going to make us be strong and be back at it again,” Olmos told The Arizona Republic.
“But this isn’t about us anymore. This is about the kids (who train here). And that’s what I mean about the love for boxing. The love for these families and these kids,” Olmos added. “I just want everybody to know that my dad passed that out to us: to be very caring people and have that empathy, you know, and just to consider all these families.”
During his final days, Al remained close to Rodriguez Boxing Club, the place he dedicated an immense part of his life to building. Seferino said, “Even in his moments of frailty, he knew that he could still be there.”
“The gym was his church,” he added.
The same place that served as his sanctuary for decades is now where his family will continue honoring his mission. His absence leaves a void in the Phoenix community, but his legacy lives on through every young person who found discipline, confidence and an opportunity inside the boxing ring. For those who knew him, Al’s greatest victory was not only producing champions but also proving that discipline, compassion and service can change lives.
Contact reporter Paula Soria via email: paula.soriaaguilar@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: He built more than champions. This is Al Rodriguez’s Phoenix legacy
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