We had the good fortune of connecting with Charles Nwokolo aka Young Dick Tiger and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Charles Nwokolo, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
From age 13, when I switched from soccer to boxing, I always knew that boxing would inform the rest of my life. When I married my late wife, Patricia, we made a plan: I would continue my pro boxing career until age 41 and she would study to become a doctor and we would raise our children together. After my pro career I planned to open a boxing gym. But everything fell apart when she died suddenly of a brain aneurysm in 1997 at age 30. I was left all alone with my 11 year old son, CJ, while my younger son, Emeka, was in Nigeria. I was so devastated for 2 years that I had to leave boxing and just care for my son, who helped me to survive. One night, my wife came to me in a dream and told me to go back to what I knew: boxing. So I started to train people at a friend’s gym. And then one day while walking near our apartment in Hollywood, a psychic came outside and told me the woman behind me wanted me to talk with her. There was no one. So I knew it was my wife guiding me. The psychic told me I would have a gym within 6 months. Sure enough this very space became available when my friend left and I bought the business from him with my last penny. I have owned Tiger Boxing Gym in this very space since 2006.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a people person , and my gym reflects that. I prefer 1on1 lessons because I love the personal connection and I like to encourage each person individually, according to their needs and fitness level. So I can work with a 5 year old and I can also work with a 75 year old Person with Parkinson’s . I love working with young people who have been bullied because within a lesson or two I can see their confidence growing in the way that they carry themselves. And of course I love working with my amateurs and professionals. I just returned from Mexico with my son Emeka, who won his 2nd pro fight with a TKO. My 2nd wife, Elizabeth , is instrumental in helping me manage the gym and my fighters. As a family, we love to be accessible to anyone who has a passion for boxing. How I wanted to bring Nigerian boxing back to its glory days of the 80s when my team and I represented at the Olympics. But I had many bad experiences with boxers, mostly Nigerian boxers, running off to someone more famous in hopes of easy fame. But there are no shortcuts.   So now my son has taken on my legacy. He left soccer to pursue boxing only 18 months ago, and he looks like me even in the ring. He is a fighter like me, never backs down.  This brings me great pride and fulfills my belief to NEVER GIVE UP.

Was there a critical event in your life that shaped the rest of your life?

I have actually had many: when I changed from soccer to boxing, when I made the Olympic team, when my baby girl died from SIDS, when my beloved first wife died suddenly from a brain aneurysm at age 30. All of these, both devastating and joyous have made me who I am. But I would like to mention another event: in the 84’ Olympic Games I was in the quarter final bout. I knocked my opponent to the ground TWO times. And still they gave me a loss. There was outrage and Nigeria threatened to pull all its athletes from the Games.  Somehow the Nigerian athletic  commission accepted a solution which did not help me and the games continued.  I had a choice at that time, to wallow in bitterness or to move on and embrace my future.  I understood that bitterness would poison and restrict  my future and that I must release all negativity. I am not a scientist but I understand that  our thoughts vibrate at a certain frequency and attract other people and thoughts which also vibrate at that level. So I choose everyday to remain positive: every obstacle becomes a blessing. This  has shaped how I live my life and how I guide my sons and my students,

What do you want your legacy to be?
Well I am happy to have achieved many goals: African Champion Boxer, winner of Gold Medal and Best Boxer in the 1983 Commonwealth Games, member of the 1984 Nigeria Olympic team and my pro boxing career. All of these achievements make me feel good. But then there is the rest of my life. I love owning a gym and being a coach. I love changing the life of a child who is being bullied or encouraging people towards their own fitness goals. But I always wanted to pay if forward and help the present generation of Nigerian boxers achieve the same level that we achieved back in the 80s. There is not the same kind of governmental support today. So i have tried in that i send Equiptment to my former teammates, who are now coaches.  I have also brought some Nigerian boxers here. Unfortunately this has not had good results as they tried to take shortcuts to fame. But in boxing, as in life, THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS.  Finally I have a fighter who has surprised me! It is my younger son, Emeka. He came to live with my second wife and me 5 years ago, having been a soccer star in Nigeria. He agreed to help me in the gym and slowly learned how to coach boxing and all of the basics. But it was never his passion.  Suddenly at the beginning of Covid, he began sparring with me behind our apartment….for 45 minutes non stop!  And something changed in his brain. He is now a passionate student of boxing, boxing training, boxing life. He has made such progress that he was ready to turn pro after only a year.  We just returned from his 2nd pro fight, both of them with TKO results.  He is a fighter and an attacker just like me, but he has his own charisma .  So both of my sons are my legacy: my older son, CJ has his own boxing gym in Melbourne, Australia * Ambrose Boxing Gym and my younger son has followed me into the ring. I could not be more proud as a father.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When friends come to visit we definitely like to be active: I take them on a hike up to the Hollywood sign, we would do the Santa Monica stairs before going to enjoy the beach and walk around Venice beach. We would eat some Korean BBQ, go to a favorite hole in the wall Thai place on Santa Monica @Normandie called Spicy BBQ specializing in Northern Thai food. For a special meal we would cross the street from my gym to the amazing Italian restaurant called Spartina! And of course we would go to the Hollywood Bowl to hear a concert when my wife is playing because she is a musician.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give recognition to a few former coaches, because they made me who I am today. My first coach is a lovely man named Dirisu. He coaxed me to leave soccer telling me that boxing would take me all over the world. In fact it is true. I have travelled and competed all over the world from East Germany to Thailand to Russia to a gold medal/best boxer in the 1983 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Dirisu gave me so much love and encouragement, he picked me up when I needed it. He gave me the seeds of belief that I needed to achieve my lofty goals. When I made the national team, I worked with Coach Ekhorowa. He was a wonderful technician who taught me everything I needed to go into international competition. His discipline still informs my life to this day. And lastly, my beloved American coach: Bill Slayton. Bill taught me how to be a pro; he encouraged and refined my attacking style. And he loved me like a son, which I needed, being so far from home. I am still in touch with my coaches regularly, although Bill has passed and my conversations with him are internal.

Instagram: @tigerboxinggym

Facebook: Young Dick Tiger

Yelp: Tiger Boxing Gym

Other: Personal Instagram: @charles_tiger_nwokolo Son Emeka: @emeka7o7 2 min doc of my life: https://vimeo.com/57346685 Buzzfeed video at our gym: https://youtu.be/njrk7YJsY_k One of my pro fight KO: https://youtu.be/KPskv6aAj2c My debut music video with my wife: https://youtu.be/ZZWSh1VZXpo

Image Credits
My wife @lady_e_self_taught took all of these pics except for the group pic, which was taken on her phone by a stranger.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.