At 90, Joe Brown is a master at boxing
Former attorney Joe Brown has stayed on his toes while dancing around the ring of retirement — taking up boxing in the supposedly later rounds of his impressive life.
Boxing is not for the faint of heart, but Brown, 90, is proving it's for all ages.
"All of a sudden I'm whacking and whacking, and I'm proud of myself," Brown said. "I think I look forward to coming here more than anywhere else."
It is a workout that Brown started doing around 2018. He has only fallen in love with more now.
Brown works out in the city and at his local gym with his trainer, professional boxer, Kendrick Watkins, who said one would never know Brown's age by his punches.
"If you ask me, I would say like 45, 50. It's unbelievable, man," Watkins said. "Some days, we're doing one-twos walking backwards, and he's almost running me over. I'm like man, I've got to wake up."
Trenches Boxing & Fitness at 5711 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood, is open 24/7. If you ask Brown, that is probably how often he wants to be there.
"It gets more and more all the time," Brown said. "It started once a week, then twice a week. Now we're even getting to twice a day sometimes. But we're both enjoying it."
"Sometimes we're like kids at a playground, so we've got to get back on track, because sometimes, we get to do too many moves, and we turn music up, and we vibe together," said Watkins. "He loves his violin. We've got a nice playlist."
Brown and Watkins have developed a strong relationship, working together for over two years. Each makes the other better, in more ways than one.
"I just give it all to him," said Watkins. "It motivates me, you know what I'm saying, to keep going and be safe and just keep giving out to the community."
"This form of exercise helps with his balance, and it's helped him physically and mentally — because he gets everything out," said Brown's daughter, Linda Arrandt.
Most importantly, Brown has fun doing it.
"It makes me proud of myself that I can do this as well as I can do it," he said.
Before getting into boxing, Brown wrote 12 children's books over the last 20 years — and often visits classrooms to read to kids. His other daughter is well-known makeup artist and entrepreneur Bobbi Brown.
