If you’ve been thinking about introducing boxing into your fitness offerings but keep putting it off, this one’s for you. We sat down with British Olympic bronze medallist and global boxing fitness entrepreneur Tony Jeffries to get the unfiltered truth on what works, what doesn’t, and exactly how Australian gym owners can turn boxing into a genuine revenue stream.
Boxing fitness is no longer a trend — it’s a fixture. Since around 2012, when Tony Jeffries retired from professional boxing and founded his now-legendary Box ‘N Burn gyms in Los Angeles, the appetite for boxing in mainstream fitness settings has done nothing but grow. Celebrities are doing it. Mums are doing it. Corporate clients are doing it. And they all want the same thing: the thrill of boxing, without the bruises.
For Australian gym owners, that demand represents a real opportunity — if you approach it the right way.
Tony would know. He built Box ‘N Burn into a multi-seven-figure business, earned the title of the #1 gym in California within its first year, and has since certified over 4,000 coaches across more than 20 countries through his Boxing Fitness Academy. He’s also trained some of the biggest names in Hollywood along the way — Chris Hemsworth, Robbie Williams, Ronda Rousey — so he knows a thing or two about delivering a product that keeps people coming back.
Here’s what he told us.
Small Group Boxing Classes: The Format That Maximises Revenue
The first question most gym owners ask is whether boxing works better as one-on-one personal training or group classes. Tony’s answer is clear: small group training is where the numbers make sense.
“You could do a one-on-one session and charge $80 or $100 an hour,” he says. “Or you could get 15 to 20 people into a class, charge $20 a session each, and now you’re generating $300 to $400 for that same hour.”
Beyond the revenue maths, Tony points out that group classes are actually easier to deliver than one-on-one sessions. “You don’t have to focus so intensely on one client. The energy in the room does a lot of the work for you.”
For gym owners who already have a facility and a member base, small group boxing classes are a natural addition that can drive both new member acquisition and, crucially, retention.
Why Focusing on Boxing Technique Is Killing Your Client Retention
This is where Tony gets passionate — and where a lot of gyms are quietly going wrong.
“When gym owners add boxing for fitness, a lot of them focus too much on making their clients perfect. They want them to look like real boxers. But if someone comes in for a fitness class and spends 30 minutes perfecting their jab, they’re not getting the full experience. And if they don’t enjoy the session, they’re not coming back.”
He puts it simply: your client could leave exhausted, technically competent, and looking like Floyd Mayweather — but if they didn’t have fun, you’ve lost them.
The priority, especially in the early stages, has to be creating an experience that people genuinely enjoy and want to repeat. Once a client is hooked on coming back, then you can start layering in technique.
“Making the sessions enjoyable is key to retention,” Tony says. “And a lot of gym owners get that completely wrong.”
This is more than just a boxing lesson — it’s a reminder that applies across every class on your timetable. The best workout in the world is the one your clients actually look forward to.
Hiring for Boxing Classes: Personal Trainer vs Former Boxer
If you’re bringing someone in to lead boxing classes, the instinct might be to hire someone with a real boxing background. Tony, himself an Olympian, thinks that’s usually the wrong call.
“I’ve hired over 300 trainers across my gyms over the years — boxers and personal trainers both — and I can honestly say I’d much prefer to take a personal trainer and teach them boxing for fitness than take a former boxer and try to retrain them.”
The reason comes down to communication and emotional intelligence. Personal trainers know how to read a room. They know when a client is flagging, when to push, and — critically — how to make someone feel capable and confident rather than awkward and exposed.
“Boxers often teach the way they were taught,” Tony explains. “Which means they’re trying to coach a middle-aged woman the same way their hard-nosed trainer coached them at 10 years old. That approach doesn’t belong in a fitness class. It makes clients feel bad, and the last thing you want in a boxing class is for someone to feel awkward.”
The exceptions exist — some former boxers make excellent fitness coaches. But Tony’s rule of thumb is sound: hire for coaching ability first, boxing knowledge second. The boxing part can be taught.
Boxing Fitness Is for Everyone, Not Just Boxers
While we were chatting, Tony mentioned a video he’d just posted on Instagram that had gone unexpectedly viral. It showed a woman holding pads — not perfectly — while another woman punched. The comments were brutal. People piled on, mocking her form and her technique.
Tony’s response was a video defending her.
“She’s getting a great workout. It’s helping her de-stress, burning calories, getting her out of the house. If she were training with a purist boxer, the chances are she wouldn’t come back — she’d feel awkward and judged. What she’s doing is exactly what boxing for fitness should look like.”
“It’s just sad that someone who’s doing something genuinely good — getting people moving, having fun, building a community — gets chased out by people who don’t understand what fitness is actually for.”
It’s a story worth sitting with if you’re building a boxing program. Know your audience. Your clients aren’t training for a title fight. They’re training for their life.
How to Set Up a Boxing Fitness Program in Your Gym
Good news for anyone worried about the upfront investment: boxing for fitness doesn’t require a full gym overhaul.
“If you want to run a simple circuit with three stations, you need six heavy bags,” Tony says. “That gets 18 people into the class — one group on the bags, one group doing bodyweight work, one group on some strength exercises. That’s it.”
As for gloves and equipment, Tony recommends a simple approach: buy boxing gear at wholesale and either sell it to members or rent it out per session. “You’ll generate a little extra revenue from each session, and it removes the barrier for people who don’t want to commit before they’ve tried it.”
Tony Jeffries' Plug-and-Play Boxing Program for Gym Owners
For gym owners who want to move quickly without having to build a program from scratch, Tony has developed something close to a plug-and-play solution through BoxingFitness.com.
Think of it like F45’s screen-based workouts, but for boxing. Tony’s workouts — the same ones that won awards at his Los Angeles gyms — are delivered through a program player. The trainer follows along with what’s on screen, which means you don’t need a specialist to deliver an excellent session. You can upskill your existing team and be running classes within weeks.
“It’s a massive time saver,” Tony says. “Rather than building a class, testing it, iterating — you’ve got a proven format that’s ready to go.”
He also has a full Boxing Fitness Certification Course available online, which he started in 2018 as a hiring mechanism for his own gyms and watched grow into something far larger. Right now, around 200–300 trainers are going through the online program at any given time.
If you’re not quite ready to invest, Tony’s YouTube channel is packed with free content on how to teach boxing for fitness — workouts, technique guides, and coaching advice, all at no cost.
See Tony Jeffries Live at AusFitness Expo Melbourne 2026
If you want to see all of this in action — and get direct advice from Tony himself — he’ll be at the AusFitness Expo Melbourne on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 March 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).
His Boxing Fitness Academy activation will feature live demonstrations, a punch machine challenge, and the chance to speak directly with Tony and his team about adding boxing to your gym, upskilling your trainers, or simply trying it for yourself.
“I’m not there to sell,” Tony says. “I’m there to help as many people as I can. The business stuff takes care of itself when you do that.”
Boxing is one of the most in-demand fitness modalities in Australia right now, and the barriers to adding it to your gym are lower than you might think. But the difference between a boxing class that builds your business and one that fades off your timetable comes down to a few fundamentals:
Make it enjoyable before you make it perfect. Run it in small groups for the best revenue return. Hire great coaches and teach them boxing — not the other way around. And remember that your clients aren’t coming to become boxers. They’re coming to feel better, burn calories, and have a genuinely good time doing it.
Tony Jeffries built a multi-seven-figure business on exactly that insight. There’s no reason an Aussie gym owner can’t do the same.
Find out more about Tony’s programs, certifications, and turnkey gym solutions at BoxingFitness.com. Catch Tony in person at the AusFitness Expo Melbourne, 21–22 March 2026, MCEC.
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