Frank Maldonado, a soft-spoken man of few words, began coaching young men to box in the 1980s, out of a garage he converted on his block on Cordova Street between Seville and Munich streets. Now, his archives speak for him, stored alongside binders of photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, framed prints and polaroids that cover every inch of the walls of a space that has grown quiet.
Frank Maldonado does not remember exactly when the last punch was thrown in his garage boxing gym . The sign-up sheets, however, offer a clue: the last entry is from 2016.
Maldonado, who turned 85 on May 25, began coaching young men to box in the 1980s, out of a garage he converted on his block on Cordova Street between Seville and Munich streets. Those daily sheets tracked the fighters’ names, rounds completed and body weight before and after each session. A sign-up sheet from 2016 was still posted at Frank Maldonado’s home boxing gym on May 15, 2026.
Now they are artifacts of a distant era, stored alongside binders of photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, framed prints and polaroids that cover every inch of the walls of a space that has grown quiet. A soft-spoken man of few words, Maldonado lets his archives speak for him.
"The gym used to be packed," Maldonado said, recalling the days when kids would arrive after school unannounced, sometimes even uninvited. "It’s just word of mouth ... they would just show up. "Maldonado grew up in San Francisco and moved around the city to neighborhoods like the Excelsior, the Bayview and the Fillmore, eventually settling back in the Excelsior on Cordova Street in 1971 with his new wife Florence.
He held a day job as a produce manager for 45 years, but his passion was his boxing ring. At 14, he had learned boxing by watching and occasionally absorbing punches from his older brother. He decided it would be a good way to protect himself. Later, Maldonado trained atat Eddy and Leavenworth streets.
It was a place, he recalled, where you could buy gloves or trunks on the way in and then head downstairs to a small ring. There was no place in the Excelsior like Newman’s, so kids in the neighborhood eventually found their way to Maldonado’s Boxing Gym, or just Frank’s, as those who trained there knew it.
At its peak, Maldonado, who boxed in the 1960s in the, an amateur boxing competition, would take on a dozen students at a time. And some went on to have successful boxing careers themselves. The corner where Frank Maldonado would sit at in his home boxing gym on May 15, 2026. Photo by Xueer Lu.
Mini boxing figures lay around a miniature boxing ring at Frank Maldonado’s home boxing gym on May 15, 2026. Photo by Xueer Lu. A red boxing glove was hanging from the ceiling with the words "Maldonado’s gym" written on it on May 15, 2026. Photo by Xueer Lu.
Words about what boxing is were posted by Frank Maldonado’s home boxing gym on May 15, 2026. Photo by Xueer Lu. Words of inspiration were posted on the wall at Frank Maldonado’s home boxing gym on May 15, 2026. Photo by Xueer Lu.
What is taught at the Maldonado’s home boxing gym is listed on a piece of paper posted at the gym on May 15, 2026. Photo by Xueer Lu. In 2002, then-Mayor Willie Brown declared November 2 that year as Frank Maldonado Day in San Francisco. The proclamation noted that Maldonado had coached two Golden Gloves champions: his son Roman Maldonado in 1998 (who is now in his 50s) and Omar Barefield in 2002.
Brown’s proclamation credited Maldonado as "an incredible coach" who taught fighters "not only in skills necessary to do well in boxing, but the hard work, discipline and dedication to do well in all aspects of life.
" Steward, who sent Maldonado a letter after serving as a flight engineer on a combat search and rescue helicopter in Iraq, wrote that he had taught fellow service members to box during his deployment, using what Maldonado had taught him. "I felt prepared based on all the training I received," Steward wrote. "And because of you, I understand hard work, adversity and poise.
" A proclamation given by former Mayor Willie Brown was posted on the wall of Frank Maldonado’s home boxing gym on May 15, 2026. Photo by Xueer Lu. In 2016, then-Mayor Ed Lee declared November 2 that year as Frank Maldonado Day in San Francisco. The proclamation noted that Maldonado had coached two Golden Gloves champions: his son Roman Maldonado in 1998 (who is now in his 50s) and Omar Barefield in 2002.
Lee’s proclamation credited Maldonado as "an incredible coach" who taught fighters "not only in skills necessary to do well in boxing, but the hard work, discipline and dedication to do well in all aspects of life.
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