No matter the place, no matter the time, Yvonne Grealish was always ringside. A native of England who moved to Boston as a young woman and raised a family in Dorchester with her husband, Martin Grealish, she died in February 2022 at age 69. But the members of the Grealish Boxing Club that she co-founded with Martin keep on punching as they work at training new generations in the sport made famous by names like Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, and Ali.

On Sun., April 6, hundreds of people gathered in Dorchester’s Florian Hall for an afternoon of bouts in the introduction of the Yvonne Grealish Memorial Fights. 

“She’s front row upstairs. She wouldn’t miss a fight,” said Yvonne and Martin’s daughter, Nicola (Grealish) Dillon. “When me and my brother fought, she was always ringside, you could hear her. She had a really cockney London accent you could hear her a mile away. She’s shining down.”

Today, Martin continues to run the gym they founded in 1996 with their adult children, Nicola and Gerry. “Without mom, this club wouldn’t be,” Dillon told The Reporter. “Dad trained neighborhood kids in the driveway, and she said we need a permanent building.”

Martin Grealish, who opened the Grealish Boxing Club with his wife Yvonne in 1996, spent Sunday, April 6, cheering on his fighters with his granddaughter Ahri and her best friend Audra. 

Losing Yvonne was a huge blow to the family and to their club. This year, having had time to process and mourn her loss, all hands felt ready to take a swing at honoring her life and legacy by transforming Florian Hall’s banquet room into a arena for 18 bouts. By noon, young men in their teens, twenties, and thirties dressed in trunks and tanks were lacing up their shoes, wrapping their wrists, and shadowboxing in the lobby.

In the midst of the hectic warm-ups and weigh-ins, Yvonne and Martin’s granddaughter, Ahri, reflected on what the day meant to her and her family. 

“This is a memorial fight for my nana. This is also just to showcase everyone’s talent. She always loved boxing, and she’d always be ringside, supporting them, going to nationals with them. Overall, she just loved the sport.”  

Though the sixth-grader has opted out of boxing itself, she has found a way to sort of be in the ring, a place where Grealishes seem to belong. She is the club’s media person, covering amateur and pro boxing on Instagram. With that as background, she knew just about everyone who participated in the April 6 event. 

Between running around with her best friend, Audra, and keeping an eye on some of the younger club kids, Ahri also reflected on the impact the gym has had on so many. 

“Boxing keeps people off the street,” she said. “They don’t get into fights because why would you want to fight in the street and get in trouble and maybe even put into jail when you can come in the ring and win and go to nationals and all these tournaments.”

She added: “I see it have an impact on me as well. I feel like I’m surrounded by so many people who love me and care for me.” 

Many Grealish Club boxers and their parents say they feel the same. Sean McIntyre attended the event with his son, Brendan, and daughter, Emma. Brendan, 11, was supposed to be in the ring, not ringside, but his opponent dropped out at the last moment. 

Despite not getting to swap punches, Brendan, who won a Silver Gloves New England event in November, showed up anyway to cheer on his friends.

“We came to support the gym,” his dad said. “We’re there five to six days a week.”

In addition to his success in the ring, Brendan said, he has felt his personality blossom while training at Grealish. His dad agreed, noting that his son has “gotten a lot more confident” and that “the gym’s made a huge impact on him.” 

McIntyre, who lives in Quincy, recognizes how the Grealish Boxing Club has helped other kids, too.
“Grealish, especially, is an outlet for kids,” he said. “A lot of them need something after school. Grealish is a low-cost outlet for them to get in shape, build mental strength, and prepare them for life. Boxing prepares you for life because it’s all about the challenges.”

Nicola Dillon, who spent some of the day watching with Brendan, said that that is what it’s all about.
“I just want a decent human being to come out of here. I don’t care about belts, I don’t care about titles,” she said. “Yes, it’s great we can say we have these accomplished fighters, but our kids become policemen and firemen. I had a kid who became a lawyer. When he started, he was in a gang and now he’s a lawyer. These success stories that come out are just fantastic.”

Nicola Dillon, the daughter of Yvonne and Martin Grealish, proudly poses with club boxer Christy McDonagh after his victory over Noah DePiza on April 6.  Cassidy McNeeley photos

Many of her fighters, like Brendan, seem to gain confidence with every jab, uppercut, hook, and cross,” she noted. “These kids come in, their heads down, they’re not motivated, but now they come in and shake your hand and make eye contact. “Really important things that they’re not getting at home maybe, but they’re getting here.”

When Brendan McIntyre’s ‘s opponent dropped out of their fight, the 11-year-old still wanted to show up for his friends in their bouts at Florian Hall. In ringside seats, he cheered them on with his dad Sean and sister Emma. 

Josh Phippen, the owner of South Shore Boxing, has known the Grealish family for years. He said that Dillon and her family’s commitment to the community’s youth is nothing new.

He referred to Yvonne as “a staple in New England boxing” and said that signing his athletes up for the fights that honor her was “a no-brainer. She was awesome, and dedicated to the sport and youth. It was all about community and kids.”

He added: “It’s vital to have a boxing gym in the community. “We’re not only coaches, we’re mentors, we’re life coaches, we’re marriage counselors, we’re financial advisors.”

Yvonne Grealish was long seen as playing all those roles more for many, many athletes. 
During the tenth bout of the afternoon, a Phippen’s boxer, Jack Kelly, faced off against Grealish’s Collin Dillon. His mother, Monique Lloyd, was one of many spectators in the room and she said she had seen the club’s impact her 20-year-old son’s life far beyond the ring. 

“I think this is a great experience for kids to really home in on their skills but it also helps them in life, to focus on schoolwork and dreams and goals,” said Lloyd. “This is really helping Collin, and I’m loving it. His goal is to buy a house next year. I’m very proud of him and Grealish and what they’re doing for him.”

Lloyd and her son, like so many of the participants at Grealish, are from Dorchester. “Our rent has doubled in the last year, so this is a huge fundraiser for us,” said Nicola. “We’re so grateful for our sponsors. This community gives all the time and that’s why we don’t want to leave Dorchester. Rent would be a hell of a lot cheaper if we went outside the city line, but we don’t want to do that.”

She added, “We accept any donations. We’re just trying to stay in the city. These are the kids we want to help.”

Event winners included Grealish boxers Christy McDonagh, Tevin Stowers, Brendan McIntosh, George Alves, Jerry Civil, and Ayo Martins. Ayo and his opponent, Armani Dotson, of On Point Boxing, won honors for The Fight of the Night.