Answers sought on unregulated fights in Waimanalo gym

By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer

WAIMANALO — An unregulated, unlicensed, bare-knuckle fistfight took place inside the boxing ring of a Waimanalo gym and was captured on videotape that also shows two brawls erupting among spectators on the sidelines.

An onlooker at Waimanalo Recreation Center on April 12 videotaped a bare-knuckle fistfight between two men. Brawls also took place outside the ring, and police are investigating assault complaints.

"After eight years of a peaceful program benefiting the kids of Waimanalo, we are forced to close the doors. We are open to other uses for the facility, but will not be allowing any boxing or fighting sports of any type," owner Kevin Andrews said in a written statement.

Investigators have received information that a group of Waimanalo men have been staging unregulated fights between angry individuals at different locations and then videotaping them, police said.

Kailua police have opened two third-degree assault investigations based on complaints from two spectators who were injured in the sideline brawls.

The fight that took place inside the ring is not under investigation. The bout was organized between two men who disliked each other, according to friends of those fighters. The fighters made plans by phone to meet at the gym, said Jake Cook, 20, who was injured at the bout and filed one of the complaints.

Neither fighter wore protective gear, no referee was present and the match was not sanctioned, police said.

The recreation center is not connected with the city Waimanalo District Park.

In a videotape obtained by The Advertiser, two men are seen in a regulation-sized boxing ring. One fighter, bare-chested and wearing blue shorts, attacks the other man, igniting a fierce battle. The two men head-butt, kick, knee, gouge, punch and choke each other in front of a cheering crowd of about 30 spectators. Police said one of the women seen in the videotape is the mother of one of the fighters.

Unregulated, unlicensed boxing matches are illegal in Hawai'i.

Police Capt. Frank Fujii said that police can initiate third-degree assault cases stemming from any consensual, unregulated fistfight if they have evidence of that altercation.

Andrews said he has donated use of the gym to the Police Activities League at a personal cost of $5,000 a month for the past eight years.

He said on the day of the illegal fight, his son called to tell him he saw a large group of people inside the gym fighting. Andrews said the large double doors on the gym, built in a warehouse on the back of a gravel road in Waimanalo, were shut, and that the crowd must have entered through a smaller side door.

He accused the crowd of breaking into the gym. Police said no burglary complaint has been made.

Patrol officers were sent to the gym that day to respond to a fight, but when they arrived the gym was empty, police said.

Police would not release copies of the two assault complaints filed by the spectators, citing an ongoing investigation. Both of the men who said they were assaulted required medical treatment.

One of them was Cook, a college student who is a friend of one of the men who fought in the ring. Cook said he saw another friend who went with him to the fight get smacked by a "very large man" just before Cook was attacked.

Cook said a Waimanalo man, with whom he has been friendly for a number of years, punched him in the face. Cook said he threw his hands up, said the man's name, told him that he didn't have a problem with him, and then turned to leave. Cook would not name him for fear of retaliation, but said the man came up from behind him and threw him to the ground, where he hit and cut the back of his head.

Cook said he had nine stitches in his face, suffered a fractured left cheek bone and needed three staples to close a cut on the back of his head.

"We wasn't eyeing them out. I wasn't even cheering on my friend (who was fighting). I wasn't doing nothing," Cook said in Waimanalo outside a gym where he trains as an amateur boxer.

His friend who went with him to the fight, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said he was punched in his right eye before being knocked to the ground. Both men filed police reports.

Fujii said PAL has not received any formal notification from Andrews that he will close the gym.

Duke Arturo, PAL's boxing instructor for East O'ahu, said he feels for the kids who will no longer have a place to lift weights and spar. But he said he will find a way to keep the program going.

"I can train the kids in any park," Arturo said. "Someone has to take care of the kids, get them off the streets so they don't get into trouble. I've been doing it (coaching PAL boxing) for 50 years, it's (the gym closing) not going to stop me now."

Arturo said that he trains 12 to 15 fighters who participate in the PAL league.

Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Correction: The Waimanalo Recreation Center is not connected with the city Waimanalo District Park. That may not have been clear in the story.