SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — Cleveland native Charles Pugh is proving age is nothing but a number, finding a new path for himself as a boxer—and reaching the top of the game with just three years of experience, and at the age of 35.
Pugh is an athlete through and through. However, it wasn't boxing that Pugh excelled in. After moving to Florida from Cleveland in high school, Pugh went on to play football at a high level and continued his playing career at West Virginia University.
After playing football for a time outside of college, Pugh switched gears.
"I started training athletes," Pugh said. "Women started calling me about weight loss and men and I was like, 'Okay, I can maybe do this for a time. I'll make a living off of it.' So a year ago, I just invested everything I got into this gym right here."
Pugh Fitness, located in South Euclid, became a place for Pugh to train his clients, but also where he trained himself for the newest sport he had picked up—boxing. Beginning with street boxing, Pugh was learning techniques and skills from other trainers in Northeast Ohio.
"The saying is boxing is a young man's sport. So most of the guys that I'm out there with, they started when they were four or five years old in the gym," Pugh said. "I started late. Three years of boxing. I'm 35 years old. I started when I was 32. And I accomplished what most boxers don't get to accomplish in their lifetime."
Pugh's sentiment is not an exaggeration. With just three years of boxing experience and a year of training in traditional amateur boxing, Pugh is on a trajectory unlike most others.
Over the past year, Pugh has had six fights. But in February, he entered his first tournament—the 2023 USA Boxing National Qualifier in Detroit, Michigan. Pugh is so new to the sport his team had to fill out waivers to compete in the tournament because most fighters have to have a minimum of 12 fights.
Pugh's age and background have his competitors in the ring often underestimating him.
"They see an old man with a bald spot and they’re like, ‘Oh, I got him’ until I get out there and they see how I move and how I prepare," Pugh said. "That's the thing I think surprises them. At my size, I fight heavyweight...in amateur boxing that's 203 pounds and below, so I'll fight around 200 pounds, but I move like a middleweight."
Pugh's agility from his football days and dedication to health and wellness have him in peak physical shape at 35 years old. So when he stepped into the ring in Detroit, his abilities spoke for themselves.
"I fought five days in a row and I end up winning every fight. That's why I'm the number one heavyweight in the country now, and I'm on my way to the Olympic trials," Pugh said.
Pugh's win in the national championship made him an Olympic qualifier. He called it "against all odds." Even the USA Boxing Committee was shocked to see him dominate the way he did.
"They're like '35 years old, six fights?' We've never had this in the whole time that they've been doing it. So it's kind of setting new grounds and just letting people know, never stop dreaming and put the work in," Pugh said.
That lesson is one that Pugh has spread around his gym.
"My age doesn't stop me because one thing that we preach in here is age ain't nothing but a number. And the training, the training is everything in boxing," Pugh said.
It's a lesson being well received by many who know Pugh, including his trainer DeAngelo Cunningham. Cunningham has been fighting since he was 11 and over the years has shifted out of the ring and into the corner. But seeing Pugh's determination, he's shifting his mindset.
"Usually when people come in and they want to fight, they do this at a young age, not at the age of 35," Cunningham said. "To see somebody come in at that age, it’ll be like okay. You’ll hear them say 'I want to do it,' but then to come in and actually prove it and show it, it was like, 'Wow.' He actually inspired me to want to get back in."
Pugh will spend the next seven months training at Pugh Fitness in preparation for the trials that are slated to take place in Lafayette, Louisiana this December.
If he makes the Olympic team, he'll represent his country in Paris at the 2024 Summer Games. No matter what the outcome is, however, Pugh will have left a lasting message thanks to his efforts in the ring.
"It’s not too late for anybody, and he definitely shows that," Cunningham said of Pugh.
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