The Boxer
In a small walk-up on Brooklyn’s waterfront, in between two interior design stores, lies Gleason’s Gym. Inside as boxers run up and down concrete stairs, a former college English professor, millionaire, insurance company CEO, rapper, model and convicted felon named David Lawrence is teaching young boxer named Tim Duff how to position his feet.
Lawrence, a short, slightly hunched figure in a fitted red shirt, black baggy sweatpants and grey hair, begins to throw punches, Duff, bounces back and forth on the balls of his feet, hands tucked tight below his chin. After a minutes of bobbing and weaving, he steps away, he takes off one of his gloves, and reaches for his water bottle, “He’s killing me right now,” Duff says. Lawrence laughs and urges him to keep going, but Duff, dripping with sweat insists he needs a break and sits down.
Lawrence has always loved teaching. During his undergraduate studies at the City College of New York he tutored fellow students. “I loved tutoring,” Lawrence said. “I loved it because you have that one to one contact.” In 1976, after getting his PHD in literature, he became a professor at Hunter College. But after three years, the college didn’t renew his contract and he had difficulty finding another teaching job.
Lawrence’s father was a silent partner at an insurance company on Wall St., called Allied Program Corporation and offered him a position. Lawrence was hesitant, he had never taken a business class. But he felt he had to support his wife, Lauren, and their young son. He turned out to be good at the business. After a few years he became a millionaire with a Rolls-Royce, a chauffer and a weekend home in the Hamptons.
Lawrence came to boxing late and inadvertently, he was an avid motorcyclist. In the mid 1980’s, his chauffer, also an enthusiast, died in an accident. Lawrence’s wife and son insisted that he find a new hobby. “They were afraid the motorcycles were going to kill me,” he said. So when he took up boxing, “it was, off the cuff, almost meaningless.” “But here I am thirty years later teaching in a gym,” he said.
Looking for a place to train, he stumbled upon Gleason’s Gym, where the best boxers in the city trained including: Jake LaMotta, Roberto Duran and Mike Tyson and Mohammed Ali. For Lawrence, it was symbolic of the time when New York City was the center of the boxing world, when dozens of serious gyms could be found all over the city and when big fights were being held in Madison Square Garden. Now Gleason’s is the last of its kind, and stays in business by letting ordinary men and women train side by side with professional boxers.
For Lawrence, boxing was more exciting then motorcycles. Because of his age, he was 44 when he began to box, he struggled to get into the boxing scene.
He had to pay thousands of dollars to take part in his first professional fight and was even given a fake birth certificate that said he was ten years younger. At 44 Lawrence got himself into the ring and began fighting 20- year-olds.
Lawrence had his first professional fight in Denver against Steve Valdez, a 21-year-old local. It was an easy win for Valdez; with one punch he was able to knock Lawrence out. Four months later, Lawrence got back in the ring and took on his next opponent, William “Caveman” Lee, one of his most memorable fights. After spending the first round running around the ring in fear, Lawrence threw a straight right punch that knocked Lee out. “I was fighting in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and everyone was saying that I was too old to fight,” Lawrence said. “They put me on T.V. and people couldn’t believe it, and they were asking is this idiot doing something so dangerous. But I did it anyhow.”
During this time, a new boxing coalition was created, The Rappers Boxing Federation, a group exclusive to rappers. Lawrence was eager to participate so he talked to the owner and was told he needed to make some rap music. Lawrence called up the rap producers Mellie Mel and Freddie Fox, and put out a couple of rap songs under the name “Awesome D.” One song was titled “The Renegade Jew.” “I made a little noise, Lawrence said. “I mean for a forty-year-old, white, Jewish businessman I did pretty well in the rap world.” The Rappers Boxing Federation set up a match for him against Kurtis Blow, and even though Blow had no professional training he knocked Lawrence out.
Lawrence’s boxing career ended with a 4-2 record and a total of three knockouts, when he was sentenced to prison for his time on Wall St. “I was convicted for tax evasion,” he says. “And I went to prison for two years.” At first Lawrence was nervous about going to jail but he says that it turned out great.
“When I got to prison, I was kind of a mini-star,” Lawrence said. “I had just released my album the Renegade Jew, and we ran an ad in Source Magazine, which all the guys read up there. And so when I first got there, they greeted me by saying ‘Yo, the Renegade Jew is in the house.’”
He says that many of them knew his album and the others had seen him fighting on television. “The things that get you respected in jail are being tough,” Lawrence said. “And even though I wasn’t necessarily tough, I looked tough on paper.” He got to work for a few hours everyday and the rest of the time he was able to spend writing. He said that during his two years in prison he wrote ten screenplays and a book of poems. One of those screenplays was turned into a documentary called “Boxer Rebellion,” and it was accepted into Sundance Film Festival.
Lawrence was released from prison, he signed up for a comeback fight in Madrid. But his wife found out and made a phone call to the boxing commissioner and said, ‘if you let my husband go to Madrid and fight, I’m going to sue you and your promoters,’ “She’s tough in her own way, and so I didn’t go,” Lawrence said.
In order to make money he began modeling. “I made decent money,” Lawrence said. “I played bums and stuff.” Lawrence’s most famous work was for the MTA. He posed as a homeless man on an ad that ran on the subway cars for seven years. The ad read ‘He may be without a home, but he’s not without help.’ Lawrence quickly grew tired of modeling so he made a phone call to Gleason’s Gym. “I called and said, hey I used to fight in your gym, can I teach there?” “They said sure and now here I am.”
Lawrence leads Duff over to the weights. Duff lies down and begins bench pressing. Lawrence is standing right behind him. “Five more,” Lawrence says. “Come on, you got it.” “You’ve worn me out today.” Duff replies. “After working out his arms, Duff moves over and begins lifting weights with his legs. Then he lies back on the bench and begins working on his abdominals.
Duff says that training with David is a unique experience. “We all see him as a friend, and he feels the same way about us. I’ve trained with a couple of other trainers and none are nearly as fun.” “I mean the guys got some wisdom. He’s seen a lot of shit.”