‘A Great Way To Get in Shape’: Beau’s Boxing & Fitness Opens on Main Street

Jamal Beau had already been teaching New Canaanites fitness, including through boxing, for 15 years when he received a call from his then-employer that they were shutting down a gym, leaving him out of work.

Source: https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/File:Jimmy_Beau.JPG

It was September 2022 and Beau—grandson of boxing middleweight Jimmy Beau, who compiled a 36-16 record in the 1940s and ‘50s, fighting at venues that included Madison Square Garden—had just returned from vacation. 

“So I kind of got put in a bad place,” Beau recalled Tuesday. “It wasn’t planned. It was just kind of, ‘OK you know what? I’ve got to take the next step.’ ”

He did.

While working a final 30 days for his employer, Beau found commercial space on Main Street, purchased equipment, painted the walls and launched Beau’s Boxing and Fitness LLC. Offering group classes with his team as well as specialized one-on-one training in boxing and other fitness techniques, he launched the business Oct. 1. A basic “Boxing Burn” package starts at $180 for six classes (valid for three months) while premium one-hour private sessions range up to $1,500 for 12 sessions, with many plans in between.

Jamal Beau inside his boxing and fitness studio at 162 Main St. in New Canaan.

As the company’s founder and CEO, Beau immediately drew a following that he’d built for years as a trainer—a following that ranges in age from 5 to 89—and since then has started to attract new faces to 162 Main St..

“I’m feeling really excited,” Beau told NewCanaanite.com. 

“I’m starting to reach other people in the community that I’ve never seen before or met, or people that just moved to New Canaan and actually like boxing and didn’t think there would ever be a boxing place in New Canaan. I feel good, I feel confident. I just want to grow. Grow out of this and have a bigger space.”

The sweet science is in his genes. 

Jamal Beau has opened Beau’s Boxing & Fitness at 162 Main St. in New Canaan.

Introduced to the sport by his grandfather (“He was a big influence on me,” Beau said), young Jamal Beau got into boxing at a young age, competing in amateur fights on his way to a professional career until he was sidelined by a motorcycle accident.

“I was unable to continue with the boxing,” Beau said. “I healed, but I didn’t want to do it anymore. So I said you know what? I want to teach people how to do it. I feel like it’s a great way to get in shape. So I started doing the whole boxing classes—private, you know, just to show people how to be a fighter and what it takes. And Ii started moving around these places, just always doing boxing. I’ve probably worked with half the town. Everybody can do it. Not everybody can lift weights, not everybody can do hard cardio on the treadmill, but boxing is fun.”

Jamal Beau working with a client at Beau’s Boxing & Fitness at 162 Main St. in New Canaan.

Laura Budd, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, acknowledged Beau’s considerable following when asked about the new business downtown.

“It’s so great to see Jamal open his own studio,” she said. “He’s always had a loyal clientele here in New Canaan, and we know he will do well at his new location on Main Street.”

The studio offers not just boxing but strength and conditioning, speed and agility, Beau said.

“Boxing is one of the components that helps with the other sports, or it can be a stress reliever,” he said.

Asked what he’d tell New Canaanites who have tried various fitness programs in the past, he said, “Boxing builds your confidence. Boxing is good for your lungs, your heart. Pretty much full-body, and there are no excuses. Anyone can do it.”

Beau’s Boxing & Fitness LLC at 162 Main St.—here on Facebook and here on Instagram—can be reached via email at Jcb0116@gmail.com or Jcb314@gmail.com, or by phone at 203-807-1914.