SW Valley Times

City of Goodyear issued the following announcement on Jan. 14.

Sonny Gutierrez’s first profession may have taken him all over the world, but his thoughts never strayed far from home.

The former boxer wore the red, white, and blue fighting for the 1992 Olympic Team, before turning pro. But since retiring from competition, he has focused on building businesses in the Southwest Valley.

Gutierrez has three in Goodyear, on the north side of Western Avenue at the corner of South Litchfield Road. In a large building that houses them all, a roughly 18,000-square-foot space in the middle houses his flagship enterprise, Sonny’s Boxing Gym. The eastern end of the property contains Sonny’s Old Town Barber Shop, while the western side, at the corner, is a banquet hall that he rents out for special occasions.

Most of Gutierrez’s life has centered on Goodyear and the surrounding area.

“I never wanted to get out,” he says, “because well I'm born and raised here. I know everybody.”

He opened the gym after he retired from competition, at first in an 800-square-foot space in a small building. He has moved it several times, always in the area, expanding it each time.

A Gym for All

Sonny’s Boxing Gym isn’t dominated by buff 20-something males. Among Gutierrez’s passions are training “master” fighters (age 35 and older) and kids.

“I train a lot of master fighters,” he says. “I trained a 72-year-old this year. I train a 65-year-old,” he says, pointing to a man working out. Gutierrez says he sees many master fighters in their 40s. Some are looking to box competitively, if not professionally.

“Maybe it’s something they always wanted to do growing up. Maybe they didn't have the money to do it; their parents didn't let them; or they had to work. But now that they're older and they're retired … they think, ‘Let me try it.’”

One of his boxers, a 55-year-old, is a world champion in the master division. Gutierrez usually hosts a November tournament in Goodyear for master boxers, though he hasn’t held it since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Increased societal attention to bullying has brought many younger clients to the gym.

“I’ve got a lot of kids that I’ve trained lately, I mean a lot. More than normal,” Gutierrez says. “These are kids that I’m showing how to defend themselves, how to box.”

But the focus is less on drawing blood than making a kid less of a target.

“They have a little bit of confidence, and they hold themself a little differently,” he says, and that’s something that can deter a bully.

Depending on a client’s goals, Sonny’s Boxing Gym offers personal training and group classes.

Revitalizing an Older Neighborhood

Sonny’s Old Town Barber Shop is an effort by Gutierrez to re-create a sense of community that he remembers from his childhood.

“Many years ago, there was a barber shop down the street that was ... called Henderson’s. I remember that people used to go in there and my dad would take me,” he says. “Everybody that knew anybody was in there. You’d sit down, [and someone would ask]: ‘You hear about what happened to so and so?’ And, ‘Hey, did you hear that what’s her name’s doing this?’ And the barber is just cutting hair. ‘Oh yeah, I’ve heard about that.’ And it’s just that conversation – that friendly environment.”

Gutierrez isn’t a barber; he leases out space for self-employed haircutters who need a place to work. The barber shop is small but well-appointed. There is a beauty salon in the back. The air conditioning is good, and there are extra chairs for folks who want to socialize.

The banquet hall on the corner is a work in progress. Right now, it hosts private parties, but Gutierrez would like to lease or sell the space to someone who would open a restaurant.

“That would be great for the city,” he says, “I think that would help everybody out. You've got … the baseball field, all the houses and businesses, there’s a lot of traffic – a lot of traffic – so this would be a perfect corner for a restaurant.”

As Gutierrez has gone about repurposing all three parts of the older property, he says Goodyear has been helpful in dealing with zoning and other red tape. “That was really positive. I appreciate that dearly.”

Applying a Boxer’s Discipline to Business

Following a short career as a professional boxer, Gutierrez was “kind of burned out” and looking for a change. He went to work for a neighboring city in the Southwest Valley, but that was a means to an end – giving him financial stability while he spent his off hours striking out on his own.

“I had a boxing gym when I started working for the city. I would get off of work from the city and go to my boxing gym, which I opened at 4 o’clock.”

As the gym grew and grew, Gutierrez also started a party bus/limousine business that he operated on weekends.

Eventually, he left his city job to become a full-time entrepreneur.

“It was a grind. Just pure, nonstop persistence,” he says. “I definitely took a chance. I knew that if, just like in boxing, I went 100% and gave it all I had, that I was going to make it. And I just had to get up and keep going again, so I know boxing had a lot to do with it, because of the discipline.”

Standing in his gym, Gutierrez points out the window. “My first home,” he says. “I grew up right there.” Later, his family moved to a neighboring city. As a young amateur fighter, he boxed for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department, training at a gym in the jail because there wasn’t one where he lived. He also remembers the people who helped him along the way and wants to give back.

“I hope that I’m making a difference in the community,” he says. “I’ve always hoped that.”

Entrepreneurs helping Entrepreneurs

Gutierrez and other local entrepreneurs will be participating in the InnovationHub @ GoodyearAZ’s free workshops and networking events throughout the year. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with these small-business owners to learn what they did right and what went wrong during their business startup phase.

The InnovationHub @ GoodyearAZ, founded in 2014, is a partnership between the city of Goodyear, the Maricopa County Library District and Arizona State University. As the city continues to grow, offering support to the local small businesses becomes more important and an invaluable asset to help the community flourish.

“We want to provide the best services and opportunities for businesses looking to set up shop in Goodyear," said Mayor Pizzillo. “We love to see local residents launch their businesses here because their heart is in Goodyear; they are invested in our community; and they believe this city can provide the best possible opportunity for success.”

The Hub offers free business classes, one-on-one mentoring, networking opportunities, professional meeting space and guided workshops to help local innovators and entrepreneurs who otherwise might not have access to the support and resources necessary to bring their ideas to fruition.

For more information on the InnovationHub, contact Darah Mann, Small Business Development Manager at 623-882-7958 or darah.mann@goodyearaz.gov.

Original source can be found here.