Allen Frantzen is an avid amateur boxer.
For several years, Allen Frantzen has been working on his physical fitness and training with a number of talented coaches and boxing instructors including Mark Carlson, Andrian Mo, and Pete Spengler. His current coach and sparring partner is Israel Gonzales at Extreme Kung Fu in Chicago. Allen has traveled to Northfield, Minnesota, to work out with Gordon Marino, a boxing correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, and to Corpus Christi, Texas, to work out with the celebrated boxing coach, Raphael Davilla, and some of his boxers. While he does not enter into any official fights, Allen Frantzen still enjoys training with other boxers and sparring with his boxing coach a few times a week. This allows Allen to maintain his physical fitness and competitive spirit. Going out to train with these experienced boxers and trainers has been a very memorable and valuable experience for Allen Frantzen. The people he has met have taught him a lot both about life and boxing and how lessons learned from boxing can also be utilized as helpful life lessons as well.
At Extreme Kung Fu, Allen and Coach Gonzales have sparred over 230 2-minute rounds in a six-month period. Allen is proud of his ring time and proudly supports his Coach’s Golden Gloves champion boxers, including Jazmin Reyes (2015) and Erica Rodriquez (2016).
For many years, Allen Frantzen trained at the Evanston Boxing Club. Well known boxers who have trained here include Russell (Rocky) Fiore and Paul Littleton.
Although the EBC closed its doors in July 2015, Allen Frantzen still holds on to the great memories, laughs, and hard work he had the opportunity to experience there. He will bring these memories and experiences with him as he continues his journey within the wonderful boxing community.
More recently, Allen has started boxing at Extreme Kung Fu. EKF offers training in a variety of martial arts, including Wushu, Sanshou, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and specializes in children’s programs that teach discipline, hard work, and respect for others. Since starting at Extreme Kung Fu, Allen Frantzen has worked with his coach Izzy Gonzales to complete 140 two minute rounds. Allen is proud of the accomplishments he has made while boxing and is excited to continue training and boxing for years to come. He has also been grateful to have learned about the different forms of martial arts and how each form offers something beautiful, challenging, and unique.
To learn more about his boxing experiences over the years, check out Allen Frantzen/Boxing.
As a long-time author, Allen Frantzen has also decided to begin writing a book about his experiences as a boxer. His current work in progress is entitled: The Boxer’s Kiss: Fighting to Find the Whole Man. He also enjoys reading two or three boxing related books every month.
Allen has read many fascinating books about some of the greats such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson along with a number of essay collections and anthologies. To check out some of the reviews written by Allen Frantzen on boxing books, visit his boxing book review page.