IF you think boxing is a sport exclusively for men, then get ready to be blindsided and to kiss the canvass.

That’s because 60 percent of boxing enrollees are women—at least in the 14 branches of Elorde’s Gym, according to gym manager Bernard Alvarez of Elorde’s Gilmore, Quezon City branch.

“Not only do women outnumber men in our gyms, women go to the gyms more frequently than men,” said Alvarez, adding that “most women go to the gym four times a week versus twice a week for men.”

Cucuy Elorde, boxing legend Gabriel “Flash” Elorde’s youngest daughter who oversees nine of the gym’s 14 branches, disclosed that there are currently 10,000 women enrolled in boxing at Elorde’s Gym. And these women are no career pushovers, either, with many of them being professionals in their own right.

If you go by women’s national boxing team head coach Glicero Catolico’s estimate that in general, “10 to 15 percent of women aged 7 to 50 in the Philippines are into boxing,” then those numbers can easily reach the million-women mark. That’s a lot of punches.

Catolico, who also runs a boxing gym in Baguio City, clarifies that most women boxers are into the sport just to stay fit. But what keeps them punching may well be caused by something outside of the gym—the drive to compete with men and fellow women in almost all aspects of society. During that day-to-day struggle, a lot of emotions and frustrations build up.

And the best outlet to let off steam? That stubborn punching bag that’ll be more than happy to take a beating. It turns out that boxing is a better stress reliever than, well, other sports. “You can hear my female students yell while they punch away,” Catolico pointed out in Filipino. “Aside from that, it’s also a great cardio work out.”

Catolico has been training 11 women competitively in the national team. He is now in Bacolod screening another 26 hopefuls for the national boxing team.

Cucuy, who at the age of 31 started boxing for fitness in 2000, observed that boxing’s popularity escalated in 2001 mainly because of the heroics of Manny Pacquiao, who burst into world prominence when he became IBF Super Bantamweight champion.

When the Oscar-winning movie “Million Dollar Baby” featuring Hilary Swank as a tragic boxer was shown in 2004, female enrollees in Elorde’s gyms started coming in droves.

Cucuy’s daughter, Alexis, 9, is proof that one can’t be too young to box. Alexis has been boxing since she was 4, according to her mother. Her brother Jordan, 14, already competes in the amateur level, while another sibling, Alec, 10, is also training to box competitively. Cucuy’s three other sisters are also into fitness boxing.

Ironically, the late great Gabriel “Flash” Elorde dissuaded his daughters from following in his footsteps (three of his sons are still managing professional boxers up to this day). In fact, it took all of 15 years after the Flash’s death in 1985 for any of the Elorde women to venture inside their father’s gym.

“When we were in high school, dad would not let us go inside a boxing gym. He believed it was a place reserved only for men,” recalled Rita Elorde Jose, the third of the Elorde daughters.

After giving birth in early 2004, Rita found herself swelling to 160 pounds. She decided to go back to fitness boxing to shed off some pounds. After three months of boxing, combined with a disciplined diet (no fasting, just mostly vegetables and fruits), she lost 30 lbs.

Boxing, she said, helped her gain “self- confidence,” and that “constant feeling of sexiness.”

Rita’s daughter Lui Elorde Jose, 21, has also been boxing every other day for four years. A nurse by profession, Lui feels that boxing is good for her profession as it is “a total body work out.”

“Every part of the body is moving,” she said. Lui has recruited her female friends, her selling point being that boxing adds to one’s sex appeal.

Marketing communications practitioner Hazel Ludovice started boxing in 2005 at Elorde’s Gym in Gilmore after abandoning her membership in what she described as a “high-end expensive air-conditioned fitness center.”

Since then, she’s had no regrets in moving to a boxing gym in an old building without air-conditioning. She said this image was “astig” (cool), and she likes the feeling that her whole body moved with speed, power, stamina and focus. Hazel said she has achieved the desired form and weight that her expensive fitness club couldn’t do for her. She was also awed to discover that a nondescript-looking gym like Elorde’s was home to trainers who were former boxing titlists. What’s more, the Gilmore gym has been teeming with celebrities and politicians similarly hooked into boxing.

Hazel recalled that when she was just starting in the sport, her knuckles swelled for more than a year. She later learned to use foam or petroleum jelly for her knuckles before going into an intense boxing workout.

On the other hand, she also noticed that she started to have “glowing skin.” She felt her mind sharpen and her sweat come out “clean” (no smell, she claimed). No, Pacquiao didn’t have a hand (or a fist) in her decision to go into boxing, she said. “It just looked very challenging, very invigorating” and came at a time when her career demanded so much of her, as she had to constantly organize media events. Travelling 60 km one way to work every day was strenuous enough, she added. (She lives in Quezon City but works in Laguna).

In a bid to to experience what all this hoopla over boxing was all about, this writer got an appointment for her first-ever boxing session at Elorde’s Gilmore on Jan. 20. The first “knockout punch” was the sight of all those buffed and sweaty professional boxers (males, training at noon time).

The second “knockout punch” was the routine itself. In a nutshell, it isn’t for the weak-hearted or “limp-wristed.” Just the 15-minute calisthenics/warm-up routine would make you sweat buckets.

The workout proper included 90 minutes of shadow boxing, treading (bob-and-weave under a rope, with punches in between), working the punch balls, the double-end ball, and the punching mitts (punching the trainer’s hand). I accidentally punched my trainer’s jaw, which he nonchalantly shook off. But probably as punishment, I was made to skip rope and do agonizing abdominal exercises (sit ups on an inclined bench). The trainer told me he was still going “easy” on me, as other trainers had the tendency to push their wards to exhaustion, even to the occasional blackouts. Yikes!

I surmised, after this session, that there would be a 50-50 chance of me falling in love with this sport. Boxing, in spite of the heightened popularity it now enjoys, is still not for everyone, certainly not for ladies who still think that a boxing glove isn’t as glamorous as a clip-on nail polish. But after seeing the fabulous forms of many fulfilled female fitness boxers in this gym, I thought to myself, “Oh, what the heck.”

So now I’ve scheduled a second session with my trainer. And I’ve asked him to be a bit more intense on my routine. If he didn’t, I’ve threatened to just sit there, eat my popcorn, and watch celebrities like Phoemela Baranda, and Lucy Torres, etc. do their thing.

Tale of the tape

Boxing gloves—P2,300 to P3,500
Hand wraps—P500 to P600
Elorde Gilmore boxing gym rate (varies in 14 branches):
P500 annual membership
P200/session (half an hour to two hours), inclusive of trainer for members
A discounted rate of P150 per session, if you pay in advance for 10 sessions (P1,500)
Walk-in rate: P250
Sunday promo: P150 per session for members