Thursday, June 30, 2005 | 9:32 a.m.
It's not about the clusters of colorful tournament championship trophies waiting to be packed away on the cold concrete floor of Barry's Boxing gymnasium in an industrial section of Las Vegas.
It's not about tearing down the sturdy, steel-re-enforced ring where each day scores of hopefuls have sparred, dreaming one day they might be the next Oscar De La Hoya or Evander Holyfield.
It's not even about boxing.
The closing of Barry's Boxing gym today to make room for additional parking for the adjacent Treasures adult night club is about the young people and the loss of another venue that offers them an alternative to the city streets, the owners said.
"What do I do with my 400 kids -- where do I send them?" co-owner Dawn Barry said of her boxing students, tears cascading down her cheeks, as she helped pack away 22 years worth of memories, the last seven at their 2763 S. Highland Drive location. It's the gym's third site.
Dawn and her husband, former local amateur boxing star and longtime Metro Police officer Pat Barry, were given a 30-day notice in May to vacate the premises at the end of their lease on the property, which is today.
"We put on shows and sanction other people's shows," Dawn Barry said. "Of the nine (amateur) kids (nationally) ranked in the state, seven are out of our gym. Seven of our boxers graduated from high school this year. Six are going to UNLV and one is going to Notre Dame. This is more than just about a gym."
The Barrys are not ready to throw in the towel just yet, but they also do not know if they can get up off the canvas this late in the fight.
"Unless we get another building or the use of a storage facility my backyard is going to be real cluttered (with the gym's equipment)," Pat Barry said. "I'm not saying we are knocked out, but the referee is looking closely at us and is considering stopping the fight."
Barry said the longtime owner of the property on which his gym stands, Pat Clark, is selling it to the owners of Treasures -- a move Barry does not fault.
"Pat Clark treated us so well for so many years, allowing us to lease his property for a song and a dance," Barry said. "We understand there is greater value to the land."
There has been a good deal of public furor over the pending closure of the gym in the last week, with much of the anger being aimed at the Treasures topless club.
However, Ross Goodman, Treasures' attorney, said his client is not kicking anyone out in the street, especially kids. Treasures won't even own the property until next week when the deal with Pat Clark closes, he says.
Clark County Assessor's Office records show that the owner of the Highland Drive property is J & C. Inc., c/o Nevada Beverage Co.. The Clark family owns Nevada Beverage.
The notice that was given to the Barrys to vacate is on Pat Clark Enterprises Management Group stationery and asks the Barrys to "please remove any and all personal property ... leaving the premises as you found it, in good repair, free of damage, debris and/or trash." It is signed by Pat Clark.
An apparent condition of the sale, which also involves adjacent 2765 Highland, was that Treasures not be left with the issue of dealing with tenants or the decision whether to issue new leases.
The gym is just south of Sahara Avenue and adjacent to Interstate 15. A tall cinderblock wall divides the boxing gym property from the strip club land.
On Wednesday, coaches and student boxers were preparing to remove the mats, elevated boxing ring, exercise machines and other equipment from the aluminum building, unsure of where everything will be taken or whether the school that boasts it teaches "the science not the violence" of boxing ever will reopen.
Early Wednesday, things had begun to look up for the family-run business that also is managed by the Barrys' daughter Dawn Sanchez and her husband, head coach and local boxer Augie "Kid Vegas" Sanchez.
A deal for a lease on a new site for the gym at Valley View Boulevard and Russell Road was on the verge of being closed, but the land's owner nixed it at 10 a.m., citing, what Pat Barry said, parking issues.
"They were concerned we might take up too much parking because we have grown so much and continue to grow," Pat Barry said, acknowledging the irony of parking issues at his current site and the potential new one.
Barry said he needs a 7,500-square-foot building to replace the 5,000-square-foot facility that is being vacated. And, he said, he can only afford rent ranging from $3,000 to $4,000 a month.
Barry, who says he has been looking "frantically" since getting the notice to vacate, said several Realtors are scouring the valley looking for a suitable building, which he hopes will be in the urban part of town, given that many of his fighters are from the inner-city.
Barry said, however, he is willing to accept a building in the suburban areas and institute some kind of transportation program for the youths and young adults who can't or don't drive to get them to the new gym.
More than 300 youths and young adults are registered with Barry's gym and pay a $25 monthly dues. They also are members of USA boxing, the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, he said.
Barry's gym got a boost in its membership when the Golden Gloves Gym at 1602 Grayson Ave. closed over a lease dispute in December 2003 after 22 years of operation. Also, about that time, the Sugar Ray Leonard gym at Nevada Partners in West Las Vegas closed.
As many as 150 people on any given day train at Barry's facility, Augie Sanchez said, noting that the great majority are amateurs and several fighters are women.
Among those fighters is Raymundo "Ray Ray" Borquez, 18, who has more than 40 amateur fights in his 11 years of training at Barry's Boxing. His 19-year-old sister Jennifer Borquez also is a boxer who trains there.
"What really hurts is to see how the Barrys have put their life's effort into this place and their money to see it close like this," said Borquez, who works for a carpet cleaning company and puts in four-hour daily workouts at the gym.
"A boxing gym is a much better use than a parking lot. Although many kids are going to do what they are going to do and try drugs or alcohol or join gangs regardless of whether there is a gym, this is a place to stay out of trouble."
Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, which regulates amateur and pro boxing, said that while he knows of no definitive studies that support proponents' claims that amateur boxing keeps kids on the straight and narrow there is anecdotal evidence to support the theory.
"Whether it is organized and supervised boxing, basketball or any sport, parents know where their kids are," said Ratner, who also is a longtime local sports referee. "Boxing teaches discipline and training builds confidence. The kids at a gym get a sense of self-worth."
Ratner said the state supports amateur boxing by collecting 50 cents on every ticket sold for pro boxing cards in Nevada, money that is used to offset travel expenses and buy equipment -- $25,000 worth this year alone -- for local amateur gyms.
That fund, however, is not significant enough to purchase a new building for any program, even one as effective as Barry's Boxing, Ratner said.
"The Barrys are in this (sport) for the right reasons," he said. "If their gym is gone it will be a loss for our sport and our community."
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