Yessenia Montalvo with one of her champions.
The building that housed the Legacy Boxing Club, located at 341 Cortland St., was also destroyed by the fire.
Yessenia Montalvo, the club’s owner, said the landlord indicated that he will not rebuild, but instead, sell the land.
“At the moment, we’re still looking for a location,” said Montalvo in an interview on May 15. “We want to stay in the same community, the same vicinity.”
They are looking at several possible locations. “It just comes down to whether we can afford it or not,” Montalvo said.
The club features a youth boxing program, which has a pee wee division for 7- to 9-year-olds, and a program for children ages 10 to 16, totalling approximately 100 participants. In addition, the club has several hundred adults who train.
In the meantime, the club continues to help boxers with their training. Thanks to support from the Essex County Recreation Department, as well as Bloomfield Mayor Jenny Mundell and Assemblyman Michael Venezia, the club has been training at Belleville Park a few days a week for about an hour or so at 5 p.m., “just trying to keep the community together,” Montalvo said. “We have to keep them active.”
Montvalvo and the club’s coaches have been overwhelmed by the community’s support.
“I never knew how much of an impact we had on the community,” said Montalvo. “We help kids, we mentor them, we help them. The outpouring of support and messages we have received, our coaches are thankful for what they have done. We are overwhelmed by the love.
That’s why we want to stay in the community and continue the momentum of helping these kids. Definitely, we want to stay in the community.”
Montalvo, who was a police detective in Newark for a long time, and the club have organized the annual Jingle Brawls, which involves police, fire and military personnel from several towns competing in the ring, with the proceeds benefitting the club’s youth boxing program.
Montvalvo also was part of the coaching staff for USA Boxing’s Youth High Performance Team that won 11 medals at the 2025 Brandenburg Cup in Germany.
A gofundme account has been created for the club.
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