BoxRec

When the movie Rocky was filmed were certain scenes filmed at Howie Steindler's main street gym in Los Angeles...? Does anyone know if so please post...................

vatech1983 wrote: ↑31 Dec 2017, 14:02

When the movie Rocky was filmed were certain scenes filmed at Howie Steindler's main street gym in Los Angeles...? Does anyone know if so please post...................

Yes, El Lay's Main St. Gym was the gym Rocky trained at.

You can always recognize the Main St. Gym. Two boxing rings side by side and cardboard cutouts of legendary fighters nailed to the wall.

The crusty Burgess Meredith character was 100% based on Steindler's persona.

Steindler was quite a guy. He must have been about 5'5", 125 lbs. but he gruffly barked at everyone there like he was King of the World.

I think the fighters themselves were intimidated by him.

Funny story: Roberto Duran was training there about the time of his third go-around with DeJesus.

When Duran was finished sparring, he stepped out of the ring and hawked a loogie on the floor.

Steindler's was watching and boy did he explode.

He yelled in broken Spanish not to disrespect the gym. It's not a barnyard.

And how did the then "baddest man on the planet" react?

Meekly.

Duran got a towel and wiped it up. Steindler glared a bit, turned and walked off grumbling.

But Howie did have heart.

Occasionally when my boxing mad friend and I visited the gym (usually several times weekly), Steindler motioned to ancient doorman Rip Roseboro to let us pass without paying that steep 50 cent entry fee.

I always thanked Steindler for such displays of generosity. And he would then bark at me "Don't get used to it. Next time you're paying triple."

RIP Howie Steindler.

RIP Main St. Gym.

Neat, you knew Howie. I am not sure if your stating this but were scenes from the movie Rocky really taken at Howie's gym in LA...........?? after he died his daughter ran the gym for yrs although I think it was moved to a new location..........

vatech1983 wrote: ↑31 Dec 2017, 18:14 Neat, you knew Howie. I am not sure if your stating this but were scenes from the movie Rocky really taken at Howie's gym in LA...........?? after he died his daughter ran the gym for yrs although I think it was moved to a new location..........

Yes, as I said, the gym seen in Rocky was filmed at the Main St. Gym.

They did a lot of filming there which probably interrupted the fighters' training schedule (many times I went there and saw a sign on the door alerting that the gym was closed because of film production) but Steindler wasn't about to turn down the revenue.

It had the right, seedy atmosphere that most associate with a skid row based boxing gym.

It was funny in that article you linked about Carole Steindler referring to guys spitting on the floor. Especially after I related the Duran/Steindler spitting episode.

I believe Carole sold the gym, maybe to trainer Johnny Flores a few years before it was demolished ('They paved paradise, put up a parking lot').

The last fighter I ever talked with in there was Albert Davila, who was lamenting the gym's expected closure.

He was being managed at that time by Alhambra bar owner Bennie Georgino.

Davila said that if it wasn't for Steindler and the MSG, he probably would be in a low wage construction job.

Instead he became a respected world champion. Very nice guy.

Actually just about all the fighters I conversed with at MSG were good guys. Friendly and open.

Ray Robinson, who was probably in his 50s the first time I encountered him at the gym, might be an exception.

He was very dismissive of people, including the fighters who trained there.

I was once sitting in the bleachers chatting with Shotgun Alvarado while we watched Robinson work the heavy bag.

Alvarado studied him and said in a low voice "That might be the greatest fighter who ever lived but he's a complete culero (ass).

I doubt that the Steindler murder will ever be solved. It's been 40 years.

The murderers are probably dead too.

Some of course attribute Steindler's slaying to the mob. Very stereotypical stuff.

But police suspect that Steindler, who always flashed jewelry and money at the gym, was probably beaten to death as part of a simple robbery.

That is neat that you had been to the Main St Gym in LA........... If you like boxing throwbacks go to my site, google, Abandoned America by pat.......... I am number 1 on there and have some old boxing pictures, check it out.........I also think boxing magazines today should perhaps do a throwback article....in which they discuss the career of Howie Steindler as boxing manager...........perhaps try to update the investigation into his homicide....................I saw it profiled on AMW once..............

https://www.google.com/search?q=howie+s ... zfhTL6Ya7M:

WHAT ABOUT THE LOCKER ROOM SCENE IN THE MOVIE ROCKY WHERE HIS LOCKER IS TAKEN BY DIPPER...........?? WAS THAT FILMED IN THE MAIN STREET GYM RUN BY HOWIE.......?? ALSO WHAT ABOUT ROCKY ENTERING THE GYM WHEN THE GUY IS DUMPING THE TRASH....IS THAT THE MAIN STREET GYM....? I THOUGHT HOWIE STEINDLER GYM WAS ON THE 2ND FLOOR.......IN THE MOVIE ROCKY THE GYM APPEARS TO BE ON THE FIRST FLOOR. WHEN DID HOWIE MOVE HIS GYM TO A SECOND STORY ........? HE DID AT SOME POINT AS A FIRE BURNT THE FIRST ONE DOWN........................PLS POST ACCURATE INFORMATION...

WHAT ABOUT THE LOCKER ROOM SCENE IN THE MOVIE ROCKY WHERE HIS LOCKER IS TAKEN BY DIPPER...........?? WAS THAT FILMED IN THE MAIN STREET GYM RUN BY HOWIE.......?? ALSO WHAT ABOUT ROCKY ENTERING THE GYM WHEN THE GUY IS DUMPING THE TRASH....IS THAT THE MAIN STREET GYM....? I THOUGHT HOWIE STEINDLER GYM WAS ON THE 2ND FLOOR.......IN THE MOVIE ROCKY THE GYM APPEARS TO BE ON THE FIRST FLOOR. WHEN DID HOWIE MOVE HIS GYM TO A SECOND STORY ........? HE DID AT SOME POINT AS A FIRE BURNT THE FIRST ONE DOWN........................PLS POST ACCURATE INFORMATION...