H e i s a t r e b l e w i n n e r, t h e 2 0 1 3 U E F A B e s t P l a y e r i n E u r o p e a n d

a f r e e r a d i c a l i n t h e m i d f i e l d a t F C B a y e r n M u n i c h .

F r a n c k R i b é r y ’ s s t o r y i s o n e o f a n a t h l e t e w h o h a s h a d

t o f i g h t f o r h i s s u c c e s s . A t N e w Yo r k ’ s l e g e n d a r y G l e a s o n ’ s G y m ,

w h e r e h e s t o p p e d i n f o r a t r a i n i n g s e s s i o n d u r i n g t h e 2 0 1 4 A u d i

F o o t b a l l S u m m i t , h e d i s p l a y e d s p e e d a n d c o o r d i n a t i o n —

a n d t h e h e a r t o f a b o x e r.

S a b i n e C o l e ( c o p y ) , A n n a B a u e r ( p h o t o s )

The fighter088

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Hector Roca, a 73-year-old native of Panama, knows how to handle fighters and celebrities. A legend at Gleason’s Gym, where Muhammad Ali once trained, Roca has coached not only world champion boxers but also Hollywood stars such as Wesley Snipes and Usher, not to mention Hilary Swank for her role in Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby.

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While Ribéry’s sport is gaining a following in the US, in Europe it’s the most popular hands down—so pro boxer Scotty Burrell, who was raised in England, knew exactly who he was up against. Minutes after the training session, he tweeted enthusiastically: “It was nice meeting and training with French football star Franck Ribéry #boxing #football.”

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The address itself contains a clue as to what is housed behind the gray facade of this building at the foot of the thunder-ously loud Brooklyn Bridge. Hint: It’s not just a couple of offices and a yoga studio. Here, on Brooklyn’s Front Street, fights are the order of the day—with pounding fists, fancy footwork and mus-cles in all weight classes. Over the past 60-plus years, this boxing gym has produced 129 world champions. Gleason’s, the last of the great clubs from the era when New York was the center of the boxing universe, counts Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson—even by modest assessments the greatest boxers of all time—among its alumni.

“I’m a Tyson guy,” amateur boxer Matthieu declares, thump-ing the spot over his heart. “Tyson fought his way from the very bottom all the way to the top. And, despite all the blows life dealt him, he still managed to become the best.” Matthieu is talking with a fellow Frenchman who has used a break in his own training schedule to accept an invitation to Gleason’s: Franck Ribéry, star midfielder of FC Bayern Munich. Ribéry counters, “They are both legendary athletes and personalities, each in his own way. I have a clearer picture of Tyson; Ali was before my time. But it’s like trying to compare Pelé and Maradona in football. Each of them is unique.” Still, there is one comparison that seems apt. Muham-mad Ali was the essence of agility and elegance, even in his own assessment of his qualities as a boxer: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Ribéry nods in agreement: “I also have strong technical skills and, just like Ali, I keep moving. Always fast, always on the ball, always 100 percent. I try to be everywhere at once and wait for the moment I can strike.” Like Muhammad Ali, the stinging bee. That’s what makes Ribéry so unpredictable and dangerous in front of the goal. We ask whether he also had to battle his way to the top. “Yes, I’ve always been a fighter. I had a rough time while I was growing up. When I was 14 or 15, I took charge of my life. I wanted to be independent, and all I wanted to do was play football. It wasn’t easy, but I made it.”

Ribéry’s trainer in the ring today will be Hector Roca, who starts by wrapping blue tape around the Frenchman’s fingers. The other boxers recognize Ribéry as a fellow athlete, give him his due respect and return to their workouts. The air reverberates with the purr of the punching balls being pummeled, the rapid-fire clack-ing of rotating jumping ropes, and the muted thump of thick box-ing gloves meeting yielding plastic pads and heavy sandbags. >>

It wasn’t just Franck Ribéry’s first time in the boxing ring, it was also his first visit to New York. On the way to Gleason’s, he expressed his awe: “A vast place, and there’s so much going on—day and night, on weekends and holidays.”

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The pair enter the ring. Roca puts gloves on Ribéry and gets him started with some footwork. First he indicates the positions he should take on the floor, and how and in what direction he needs to turn. This way, he teaches the footballer how to move around an opponent. After a quick warm-up, Ribéry lands his first punches on the pads Roca holds up for him. He learns to duck under them, curl his fists inward, right, left, take cover. Roca is thrilled: “He’s fast, he’s strong, he moves exceptionally well.” Roca summons his proté-gé, pro boxer Scotty Burrell, a 23-year-old Jamaican, into the ring. Burrell, who is aiming for a lightweight title, will be Ribéry’s spar-ring partner today. An intently focused Ribéry counters Burrell’s moves and adjusts to his rhythm. Burrell, who grew up in London, was an avid football player until he was ten. Whether Ribéry would have made a better boxer than Burrell a football player is anybody’s guess. The two contenders laugh, clearly enjoying their bout.

At the end of the session, Hector Roca sums up: “He would make an excellent boxer. He’s welcome back anytime.” The Bayern star is genuinely pleased at this praise. His conclusion: “It was fantastic. A great atmosphere, completely different, an entirely new situation, and I learned a lot from my coach. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Matthieu, Scotty, Hector and Franck say goodbye to one an-other. Each of them has his own idols and dreams, his unique his-tory. And what will Ribéry be aiming for next? “I am completely content. I have a wife and three children. I can provide for my family and offer them opportunities I never had when I was growing up. And I can also teach my children things my parents couldn’t teach me. I’ve achieved everything.” The only place Franck Ribéry will be fighting in the future is right where he has always wanted to be: on the football field. //

2014 Audi Football SummitFollowing the successful Audi Football Summit events in India and China, this year Audi treated American audiences to a superlative sports experience: The brand with the four rings invited FC Bayern Munich, the 2014 German champions and Cup winners, to go head to head with Mexican record champions Club Deportivo Guadala-jara just outside New York on July 31. Over 25,000 fans filled the sold-out Red Bull Arena in New Jersey for the match that ended 1-0 for Bayern thanks to forward Claudio Pizarro’s header. Franck Ribéry provided the assist, and also wore the captain’s armband: “It’s an honor to lead the team onto the field as captain. But, of course, you don’t need that kind of role to make your mark on the game. We have a lot of young players in the ranks, and the more experienced players help build their confidence. It was fantastic to lead the team this time.” On Wednesday, August 6, FC Bayern Munich wrapped up their US tour with a match against the all-stars from Major League Soccer, the top North American professional league, at Portland, Oregon’s Providence Park, home of the Port-land Timbers. The game ended 2-1 for the MLS squad. www.facebook.com/audifootball

01 Hector Roca was pleased with Ribéry’s coordination from the word go. “His stance is good and he instinctively holds his fists right.” 02 You can’t hold a bottle with boxing gloves on. Roca gives his student some water. 03 After the training session, Ribéry needs to “unwind”; Roca shows him the quickest way to remove his tapes. 04 Ribéry thanks Roca for a fantastic afternoon and the “great atmosphere here.”

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