Gym celebrates 20 years of the “Sweet Science” in Sunset Park
Above the bustle of Fourth Avenue construction and traffic, and the barks from Paws & Rec, sits a second-story refuge with its own soundtrack: the rhythmic click of a stationary bike, an electric chime that starts sparring rounds, the slap of leather timed to the hiss of sharp exhalations.
Old-school and unassuming, Ardon Sweet Science Gym (861 4th Ave, 2nd Fl) marked its 20th year this May. The gym’s first-floor entrance is marked by a faded sign, two fighters joining to create a yin-yang symbol. Once through the steel-blue door, a long, narrow staircase greets visitors, and entering the gym means first making a commitment to go up the steps.
“When you’re located on the second floor, they think twice about coming up,” Greg Ardon, founder and head coach at Sweet Science, says with a smile.
Dedicated to family
Ardon’s first fights were on the pitch, not in the ring. A former amateur boxer and New York State kickboxing champion who went on to win a WKA national Muay Thai title, he started by getting into scraps during soccer matches as a kid. His mother, Ester, a Bruce Lee and kung fu movie fan, steered him toward martial arts to keep him out of trouble.
“I really owe it to my mom. She passed away a year and a half ago in an accident and it kind of broke my heart,” Greg says. “I miss her every day.”
His pedigree spans Fu Jow Pai (Tiger Claw), Wing Chun, Muay Thai, grappling and boxing, but another family voice shaped the course of his life: his grandfather Moises Ardon, who urged him to open a gym and share what he knew. Ardon embraced the idea.
“I love training and if I have a place where I can teach people, I can actually train every day, whenever I want,” Ardon says. “That’s how it happened.”
A bronze pair of gloves crowns a plaque above his small corner office, dedicating the gym to Moises. Around it hang framed signs for Golden Gloves champions who trained here: Dominique James, Moses Johnson, Walter Velazquez, Sascha Machenzie, and William Whitt.
Over the years, Ardon has also worked with elite pros, including Yuri Foreman, the rabbi who won the WBA super welterweight title, as well as David Telesco, Armin “The Bosnian Prince” Mrkanovic, Angel Garcia, Juan Villalobos, and Bakhtiyar “Bakha Bullet” Eyubov, currently preparing for his professional comeback.
Many others who came through these doors found refuge from the dangers of the streets. When the Sunset Park Police Athletic League ring was removed from the park house and the program closed, Ardon welcomed kids whether or not they could pay.
“A lot of them, they came to me and I took them with open arms. And believe it or not some of them that came here, they actually have their own gyms now,” says Ardon. Alum Argenis Arce went on to found Sweatbox Brooklyn on 46th Street below Third Avenue.
“This gym is great,” says Cliff Pacheco, a retired NYPD detective and longtime masters-division boxer. “And the best thing about this gym — and anyone you speak to about this gym will agree — it’s a family.”
Raising the next generation
Pacheco, now 55 and no longer fighting, was born and raised on 36th Street and worked the neighborhood on his beat. Today he still trains regularly at the gym, offering encouragement and tips to younger fighters.
He’s seen a lot of fighters come and go, but the ones that stick around have a hunger for it. “It’s in their hearts; it’s in their blood,” says Pacheco. “You see the drive in some people.”
He cites three-time amateur champion and recent Temple grad Ben Land as an example.
“I joined this gym when I was 18, and that was definitely a transitional period for me,” says Land. “At that point in my life, I really had no idea who was the man I wanted to become.”
Training at the gym, Land says, allowed him to get his priorities in order, blocking out a lot of the noise from the outside world. Land won his first title in 2023 at the World Kickboxing Association Nationals, a trial by fire, fighting seven bouts in two days.
“I remember my body being completely destroyed after that, but it was honestly one of the happiest moments of my life,” says Land.
He went on to win Muay Thai and kickboxing championships at the Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts event, but the road wasn’t linear. He had taken some losses and had doubts he could win at a higher level. Now he is looking to make his professional debut within the next couple of years and credits much of his success to Ardon.
“Greg has been with me for all this time and he’s just been cheering me on and helping me become the best version of myself,” says Land. “So I feel like it’s just made me more of the person I want to be and when I wake up in the morning I truly can look at myself with some level of pride.”
Looking to the future
As rents continue to rise, Ardon is unsure how long the gym will stay at its current location. He’s adamant about not raising his rates. Currently, unlimited adult classes are $225 a month and children’s classes are $160. He also has discounts for law enforcement and students, as well as $125 monthly passes for use of the gym without any classes.
“The rent is a killer, so it’s tough,” Ardon says. “We’ll see how it goes in the near future. If I need to move on, I move on, and I’m sure everybody will follow me. They’re good people; they know what we have.”
In the meantime, Ardon watches the neighborhood continue to change, with the addition of more condos, more new apartments, and a lot of new people moving in.
“Some people say it’s bad, some people say it’s good, I just go with the flow,” says Ardon. “I just welcome everybody.”
From kindergarteners to octogenarians, Ardon accepts all ages. He’s also clear it doesn’t matter what language you speak.
“I like to teach people what to do, but I also like to show them, so they follow me,” says Ardon, who makes it a point to adapt to his students rather than forcing them to adapt to him. “It really doesn’t matter what language. Body language, everybody understands that.”
Coming up in September, Ardon has three Muay Thai fighters slated for Battle in the Basement 17 at Church Street Boxing Gym in Manhattan on Saturday, Sept. 13. The following Friday, Sept. 19, he’ll have fighters representing at Warriors Cup 72 at Melrose Ballroom in Queens.