Gym off-limits when Manny’s in

LOS ANGELES — If you’re looking for the Wild Card Gym on Vine Street just a few blocks away from Hollywood Boulevard, don’t expect to find a ritzy joint.

It’s the sweat shop where Manny Pacquiao trains in the US and where celebrities like Wesley Snipes, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Denzel Washington, Scott Caan and lawyer Robert Shapiro congregate to stay fit.

Despite its high-profile clientele, the gym is low-key and reflects the personality of workmanlike owner Freddie Roach. Only the bare essentials are evident in the facility–no frills, no accouterments.

Roach, once a fringe featherweight contender and an Eddie Futch disciple, opened in 1994. When he fought as a pro from 1978 to 1986, Roach earned a reputation as a blue-collar, hard-hatter. His reputation inspired the gym’s motto "It Ain’t Easy."

The gym isn’t air-conditioned. The smell of sweat and liniment is in the air. You go to the gym to sweat it out–nothing more, nothing less.

The facility is on the second floor of a U-shaped, two-storey strip mall above a laundromat. There are 11 commercial slots in the building. Aside from the gym and laundromat, the strip mall has a liquor store, two beauty salons, a Thai food eatery, a clinic specializing in anti-aging, a customs design shop and some offices.

Since the gym is in the recessed portion of the strip mall, you might miss it if you’re cruising on Vine. The landmark is the Vagabond Inn, a building away from the strip mall. Pacquiao stays at the Vagabond when he’s in town. Across the street, about a block down, is the infamous Giant Dollar Store where Pacquiao bought two pairs of made-in-China socks for 99 cents. Pacquiao wore a pair for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas last May and the socks thinned out, causing a huge blister on his left foot.