Is Sugar Rays a famous respectable gym?

[Ogata]

The gym is 24/7 and owner mentions that its the largest gym in western Canada with fighters from all over Europe and North America traveling to train at their own expense.

Not sure what to think, the owner is very well spoken and talks about the importance of footwork and weight transfer and they are open 24/7 in which you have a key fob to enter at any hour of the day and every day.

But comments are strange and yet his set up is correct, no classes, no private sessions, just show up and have a trainer work with you and monitor your training to ensure correct habits are being re-enforced.


Has anyone trained at Sugarrays and have met Bob?





Prices are 300 dollars a month with no contract + 10 dollar monthly cleaning fee or half that with a yearly contract + 10 dollar monthly cleaning fee. Is this a good deal?

 

[Smashus Clay]

I've trained there before, quite a few years ago now, though. Bob is a great guy and some of his ex fighters have now gone on to open their own gyms around the GVRD, including the guy who operates my current boxing club. I did find it difficult to get time with trainers sometimes and found it difficult to get consistent sparring when I was a newbie as there's no schedule. Bob is well schooled and you'll certainly learn a lot if you can consistently get time with him, although maybe its a better gym for somebody who already has a little ammy experience. When I was there Amir Khan came in to train for a couple weeks before a fight he had booked in Las Vegas and I believe Bob at one point was well connected to the Ingle Gym, but my memory is a little fuzzy. It's a solid gym but to be honest I'd probably seek out Tony Pep or head into Quinnit Boxing in Vancouver.

 

[Ogata]

I've trained there before, quite a few years ago now, though. Bob is a great guy and some of his ex fighters have now gone on to open their own gyms around the GVRD, including the guy who operates my current boxing club. I did find it difficult to get time with trainers sometimes and found it difficult to get consistent sparring when I was a newbie as there's no schedule. Bob is well schooled and you'll certainly learn a lot if you can consistently get time with him, although maybe its a better gym for somebody who already has a little ammy experience. When I was there Amir Khan came in to train for a couple weeks before a fight he had booked in Las Vegas and I believe Bob at one point was well connected to the Ingle Gym, but my memory is a little fuzzy. It's a solid gym but to be honest I'd probably seek out Tony Pep or head into Quinnit Boxing in Vancouver.

Tony Pep is a great trainer and human being I was at his place in 2012. That being said, he no longer has a gym and free lances. John Q is a nice dude but his gym is super crowded and small which is fine but a bit out of the way. I just tried Rain city and loved it! Sean is a great dude and has an amazing facility and the current location is very transit friendly and open gym is the type of environment I thrive vs taking classes. He used to be at Sugar rays.


From what I saw, Bob has a very standard squared up stance that he teaches based on what I have seen online and told by others. While Ingle gym has a very unconventional style that seems the opposite. That being said, his style is similar to what Paul Ingle does which is the guy that fought Naseem Hamed. Squar up, move head side to side and jab your way in is very similar to Bobs video instructions.

What is he like personality wise and training style like? Does he have a pro fight team? He made few claims of coaching top fighters in Europ and Canada but does not seem that well known of the name in pro boxing world but maybe I am wrong and I made the thread to know if he is well known trainer outside of B.C?

 

[Smashus Clay]

Tony Pep is a great trainer and human being I was at his place in 2012. That being said, he no longer has a gym and free lances. John Q is a nice dude but his gym is super crowded and small which is fine but a bit out of the way. I just tried Rain city and loved it! Sean is a great dude and has an amazing facility and the current location is very transit friendly and open gym is the type of environment I thrive vs taking classes. He used to be at Sugar rays.


From what I saw, Bob has a very standard squared up stance that he teaches based on what I have seen online and told by others. While Ingle gym has a very unconventional style that seems the opposite. That being said, his style is similar to what Paul Ingle does which is the guy that fought Naseem Hamed. Squar up, move head side to side and jab your way in is very similar to Bobs video instructions.

What is he like personality wise and training style like?

100% agree about Tony, he's a great coach and a great guy. I throw out Quinnit as they have a ton of guys competing around town as ammies and pros with good results. I see Josh Jauncy there a ton and Eric Basran trains there as well. But agree it's quite crowded.

I'm at Raincity right now since I live in Richmond. Sean is a great guy and Mikhail has a ton of knowledge of the soviet school of boxing. We just had one of our guys win his Golden Gloves and they have a couple guys actively competing on the pro circuit. They consistently put on ammy cards at the gym and the guys do well.

I really liked Bob, he's enthusiastic, super outgoing and a fun guy to train with. He preaches being in great shape so be ready to do lots of conditioning and burpees. I really liked that he took the time to explain the "why" as much as the "how". The only reason I stopped going there was because at the time I lived quite far away and decided that a 1.5 hour skytrain ride round trip was just too much.

 

[Ogata]

100% agree about Tony, he's a great coach and a great guy. I throw out Quinnit as they have a ton of guys competing around town as ammies and pros with good results. I see Josh Jauncy there a ton and Eric Basran trains there as well. But agree it's quite crowded.



I'm at Raincity right now since I live in Richmond. Sean is a great guy and Mikhail has a ton of knowledge of the soviet school of boxing. We just had one of our guys win his Golden Gloves and they have a couple guys actively competing on the pro circuit. They consistently put on ammy cards at the gym and the guys do well.

I really liked Bob, he's enthusiastic, super outgoing and a fun guy to train with. He preaches being in great shape so be ready to do lots of conditioning and burpees. I really liked that he took the time to explain the "why" as much as the "how". The only reason I stopped going there was because at the time I lived quite far away and decided that a 1.5 hour skytrain ride round trip was just too much.

With Tony I loved his gym and training with him so goddamn fun that I was with him until Peps boxing closed down and I kind of did not join any other gyms. Tony had the open gym concept and he was so passionate about teaching. No classes and made sure every person in the gym got 1 on 1 time with him for at least like 20 minutes and moves were broken down and explained in great details while offering variations to play with.


Damn, we are actually in the same gym since I absolutely love rain city and Sean has created an incredible environment and is one of the most likeable people I met which in fact began my curiosity about Bob because I was going through Seans video to learn more about him and I saw this strange comment:








Also the reviews, Bob mentions that he offers best instruction in Canada and that no one is better than Sugar rays:





I mean I agree with best hours, no question about that he wins it by a landslide but best instruction in Canada is a bit questionable but I thought maybe he is in fact a famous trainer and that I am out of the loop.

 

[Smashus Clay]

With Tony I loved his gym and training with him so goddamn fun that I was with him until Peps boxing closed down and I kind of did not join any other gyms. Tony had the open gym concept and he was so passionate about teaching. No classes and made sure every person in the gym got 1 on 1 time with him for at least like 20 minutes and moves were broken down and explained in great details while offering variations to play with.


Damn, we are actually in the same gym since I absolutely love rain city and Sean has created an incredible environment and is one of the most likeable people I met which in fact began my curiosity about Bob because I was going through Seans video to learn more about him and I saw this strange comment:


View attachment 981363





Also the reviews, Bob mentions that he offers best instruction in Canada and that no one is better than Sugar rays:



View attachment 981364

I mean I agree with best hours, no question about that he wins it by a landslide but best instruction in Canada is a bit questionable but I thought maybe he is in fact a famous trainer and that I am out of the loop.

I trained with Tony in the early 2000's in Surrey and then later at his gym in New West, loved it and learned so much. He's got a ton of great stories and insite.

Sean's good people, Raincity is great. Strange that somebody would expect him never to branch out though. Especially tapping I to the Asian market in Richmond lol. Sugar Ray's is good though, 24 hours is really, really convenient. I don't know about now but he used to have a proper sauna available and I thought that was great for recovery and something most places dont have. Good instruction but maybe claiming best instruction is a bit of a stretch. However he's very, very knowledgeable, been in the game a long time and has something to offer just about anybody for ammys to pros.

 

[Ogata]

I trained with Tony in the early 2000's in Surrey and then later at his gym in New West, loved it and learned so much. He's got a ton of great stories and insite.

Sean's good people, Raincity is great. Strange that somebody would expect him never to branch out though. Especially tapping I to the Asian market in Richmond lol. Sugar Ray's is good though, 24 hours is really, really convenient. I don't know about now but he used to have a proper sauna available and I thought that was great for recovery and something most places dont have. Good instruction but maybe claiming best instruction is a bit of a stretch. However he's very, very knowledgeable, been in the game a long time and has something to offer just about anybody for ammys to pros.

Tony is universally well liked and for a good reason. He is just a great person overall with incredible skills. He grew up in a very harsh circumstance and he really is inspiring. When he found out that I was coming from far away to his new west gym, he would give me a ride to the sky train. Absolute honor training with him, its just that running a gym is a different skillset than being a trainer which he was amazing at being a trainer.

This is why sugar rays is a strange case. Even bad trainers do not amass a cult following of hate like Bob. In his videos, you get polarizing comments:



I knew two people who trained with Bob. One guy mentioned how Bob was not training anyone and one guy asked him ( skilled boxer trained by Kevin Howard) for boxing advice. Bob saw that he was helping a member asking for help and freaked out and went in fit of rage. He was able to calm him down by letting him know that he was asked and was not poaching students.

Second guy had the opposite experience. He mentioned Bob let him train for free and gave him free lessons every single day for extended times, helped him with setting up his punches using his jab and offered him a job at sugar rays and when he was broke and could not afford food, Bob would buy him food. This dude thinks that Bob as is angel in disguise but he had kickboxing aspiration and left the gym and later on was training at Diaz and still talked about how amazing Bob is.


Hence I had to ask because people's perception of Bob are extremely polarizing and somewhat amusing to hear since there are many trainers who are extremely famous, have social media and YouTube presence active and yet you never hear anything outlandish.

 

[Smashus Clay]

Tony is universally well liked and for a good reason. He is just a great person overall with incredible skills. He grew up in a very harsh circumstance and he really is inspiring. When he found out that I was coming from far away to his new west gym, he would give me a ride to the sky train. Absolute honor training with him, its just that running a gym is a different skillset than being a trainer which he was amazing at being a trainer.

This is why sugar rays is a strange case. Even bad trainers do not amass a cult following of hate like Bob. In his videos, you get polarizing comments:
View attachment 981513 View attachment 981514


I knew two people who trained with Bob. One guy mentioned how Bob was not training anyone and one guy asked him ( skilled boxer trained by Kevin Howard) for boxing advice. Bob saw that he was helping a member asking for help and freaked out and went in fit of rage. He was able to calm him down by letting him know that he was asked and was not poaching students.

Second guy had the opposite experience. He mentioned Bob let him train for free and gave him free lessons every single day for extended times, helped him with setting up his punches using his jab and offered him a job at sugar rays and when he was broke and could not afford food, Bob would buy him food. This dude thinks that Bob as is angel in disguise but he had kickboxing aspiration and left the gym and later on was training at Diaz and still talked about how amazing Bob is.


Hence I had to ask because people's perception of Bob are extremely polarizing and somewhat amusing to hear since there are many trainers who are extremely famous, have social media and YouTube presence active and yet you never hear anything outlandish.

Lol some of those quotes are extra spicy. I can somewhat see why his gym set up could be polarizing. If your brand new to the sport or just doing it for casual fitness then his hands off/no schedule approach wouldnt be the easiest way to introduce yourself to the sport. He clearly wants to see you in the gym and working hard on your own before he commits time with you. When I was there he got a couple of other new guys plus myself and had us do a bunch of conditioning exercises to see who would quit, I lasted and got attention when I was in the gym. The guys who stopped early or guys who didn't take direction well had a much tougher time getting coaching and he made sure they knew why. He's very direct and I always appreciated that.

Interesting to me that NBBC gets shouted out there in some of those comments, I didn't like (the admittedly limited) experience I had there.

 

[Ogata]

Lol some of those quotes are extra spicy. I can somewhat see why his gym set up could be polarizing. If your brand new to the sport or just doing it for casual fitness then his hands off/no schedule approach wouldnt be the easiest way to introduce yourself to the sport. He clearly wants to see you in the gym and working hard on your own before he commits time with you. When I was there he got a couple of other new guys plus myself and had us do a bunch of conditioning exercises to see who would quit, I lasted and got attention when I was in the gym. The guys who stopped early or guys who didn't take direction well had a much tougher time getting coaching and he made sure they knew why. He's very direct and I always appreciated that.

Interesting to me that NBBC gets shouted out there in some of those comments, I didn't like (the admittedly limited) experience I had there.

The reviews are insanely detailed and very colorful. Also Tony Pep ran it similar to Bob. Occasionally he would hold intro class but for most parts Tony's gym was like Bob in a sense of you show up a trainer would take care of you regardless if your a casual, quitter or a pro fighter. Tony would give everyone the time of day to make sure they are off to the right start with their foundation. The idea is that, you payment entitles you to use of gym and boxing instruction to go with it.

Its strange to hear that Bob would make people do conditioning exercises to see who quits. He mentions that he works with people based on their fitness level and builds them up as they progress while the main focus is on the foundation which revolves around transferring weight and using jabs to set up their punches. I really enjoy that someone out there passionately talks about the importance of boxing fundamentals. Some of my best moment was mundane moments transferring weight in front of the mirror.

Nice to know that Bob is nice to some folks but damn bro, the reviews are seriously soap opera level drama:

 

[Smashus Clay]

The reviews are insanely detailed and very colorful. Also Tony Pep ran it similar to Bob. Occasionally he would hold intro class but for most parts Tony's gym was like Bob in a sense of you show up a trainer would take care of you regardless if your a casual, quitter or a pro fighter. Tony would give everyone the time of day to make sure they are off to the right start with their foundation. The idea is that, you payment entitles you to use of gym and boxing instruction to go with it.

Its strange to hear that Bob would make people do conditioning exercises to see who quits. He mentions that he works with people based on their fitness level and builds them up as they progress while the main focus is on the foundation which revolves around transferring weight and using jabs to set up their punches. I really enjoy that someone out there passionately talks about the importance of boxing fundamentals. Some of my best moment was mundane moments transferring weight in front of the mirror.

Nice to know that Bob is nice to some folks but damn bro, the reviews are seriously soap opera level drama:

View attachment 981659 View attachment 981660

To me the conditioning came off as filtering out who would/wouldn't take direction and who would try to keep going instead of packing it in as soon as you had to do something difficult or unpleasant. His location at that point was right on Granville St and I saw numerous guys walking in, telling people they were going to be champ/I'm the best fighter in this gym right now due to having a couple drunk fights down the street at Caprice or something. They'd stick around for a while until they actually had to drill or spar and then never be seen again. That location was sort've a blessing and a curse that way. I think he's left that location though, so not sure about now. I could see him coming off as rude or not "PC" enough for the Yaletown boxercise fitness types. Personally I liked Bob, I liked his banter and he always matched us well for drills and sparring. I can't say he's the best in Vancouver, that title goes to Tony. To me, going to Tony's gym was the best boxing experience I've had.

 

[Ogata]

To me the conditioning came off as filtering out who would/wouldn't take direction and who would try to keep going instead of packing it in as soon as you had to do something difficult or unpleasant. His location at that point was right on Granville St and I saw numerous guys walking in, telling people they were going to be champ/I'm the best fighter in this gym right now due to having a couple drunk fights down the street at Caprice or something. They'd stick around for a while until they actually had to drill or spar and then never be seen again. That location was sort've a blessing and a curse that way. I think he's left that location though, so not sure about now. I could see him coming off as rude or not "PC" enough for the Yaletown boxercise fitness types. Personally I liked Bob, I liked his banter and he always matched us well for drills and sparring. I can't say he's the best in Vancouver, that title goes to Tony. To me, going to Tony's gym was the best boxing experience I've had.

I agree with you 100 percent!

Tony's passion was above and beyond anyone I ever met. Funny thing is, I was doing a private session with him at his old location in new west in the plumbing place and this fat guy dressed up like a pimp with gut hanging down his shirt walked in and he said in the most casual and relaxed manner:

Can I pay you after I become a world champion?

No snicker, no smart ass tone, did not sound cocky or confident but rather he said it like he was asking for a latte with extra sugar and it sounded so casual and mundane. I thought he was going to be like, yo im kidding but he stood there waiting for an answer. Tony just mentioned the prices and ignored the guy and the dude left. I was in shock and he said that this happens from time to time. But to me, this was mental and I couldn't believe it.

Watching YouTube clips, the Granville location looked very nice with wooden flooring and brick walls and seemed like it had a nice little lounge area as well.