IN BOXING, strength, fitness and the ability to give and take punishment are all necessary components for a career at the top. As Amit Davda, owner and co-founder of Pendulum Boxing (BXR), soon realised, culture, methodology and rhythm are just as important.
When it comes to training methods in the historical noble art, something needed to change. Artificial intelligence mixed with human intellect for an entirely different home fitness experience.
Finding a way from tennis to boxing, Davda sees similarities between the less violent world of racquet sports and what he describes as a “thinking man’s game”. Put aside the power and knockouts, implementing smart moves and nifty footwork are transferable skills.
“It’s the mental aspect. Of course, you need to be physically fit. But it’s almost like you’re running a marathon and you’re trying to play chess at the same time,” adds Davda.
Following five years in Amsterdam, returning to the UK to deal with family matters, Davda’s search for those blood-pumping dopamine hits ended with the realisation that the serene world of tennis just wasn’t going to cut it anymore. The challenges of the court would move to the ring.
Introduced to boxing via blood and thunder, pub brawl methods of “get stuck in, son”, it was at Marcos Camejo’s Cuban Boxing Academy in Shepherd’s Bush (a raw and rustic location) that the punch-ups morphed into sweet science.
The Cuban lifestyle, cultural and sporting ethos were not alien. 15 years ago, a trip to the Caribbean island included a visit inside the rudimentary diamond forging of the Rafael Trejo gym. Fast-forward to Essex, pounding the bag with fellow boxercisers left Davda wondering whether he was still operating within the same sporting discipline.
The travelling distance to Camejo’s gym was long, but as soon as Davda assured him of his dedication (the Cuban veteran was expecting to mould a professional boxer) every rotation of the hip was worth the effort.
“We hit it off and what he really wanted to see from me was commitment and discipline. Not just doing things in the gym but actually doing a lot of things at home. He gave me exercises and drills to do.”
Even though Cuban heritage brings with it a national credibility in boxing, Marcos’ resume is not without star names.
“He’s trained Jorge Linares and Daniel Dubois on occasions over a six-month period, from when Daniel was 18 or 19 years old. Marcos has also coached Ariel Hernandez, the Cuban Olympic gold medalist.”
Mimicking the likes of Guillermo Rigondeaux, the intricacies of the Cuban style inspired and fascinated. Spending more time with Camejo, the stories of life under Fidel Castro and the coach’s personal journey meant a relationship quickly developed.
“I started seeing him more and then I started helping him with his business. Marcos is a typical Cuban. Great at the boxing, but leaving the business side of things to other people. It wasn’t maintained as he would probably like.
“They didn’t have a booking system, for example, on the website. People were still paying in cash. It’s an old-school boxing gym and we wanted to keep that side but I was between jobs and had some time so I offered to help make his site better.”
As the site grew, so did their connection. The community-led club began to feel the benefits as did the wider North Kensington area, opposite Grenfell Tower.
Deprivation breeds tough competitors, with professional boxers basing themselves in the club. However, it was the home fitness market that Amit Davda had his eye on capturing and Pendulum Boxing was about to be formed.
“The home fitness market is just a bit bland. It’s either a cycle or treadmill or you buy some dumbbells and you do it. It’s just boring. I think it’s the methodology that needs to change in a lot of these gyms.
“The emergence of having AI (Artificial Intelligence) as well, the real-time form feedback and incorporating that in actual boxing training, while having access to a Cuban National Olympic coach.”
Mindset and methodology make this a cultural shift in the way British boxing is run and perceived.
“When I went to Cuba, it was all about understanding your body,” says Davda, who admits that, while he has drastically improved, he’s no Sugar Ray Leonard.
“Cubans are obviously good dancers. Marcos said in his gym, he implements things like salsa boxing. They use the hips a bit more.
“Boxing is very much like a dance. So if you can understand your body better and how it moves, and get into a rhythm, and get into that flow state, it helps you massively.
All of this led to Amit Davda and Marcos Camejo’s brainchild: Pendulum Boxing. Building boxers from the ground up, taking beginners who have never sampled the cut and thrust of the ring and avail of quality training through the app platform and structured modules.
“It is a bit of a cultural shift in the way that we’re going to train people. Take the basic stance, for example, and then move it on from there. It’s also implementing movement recognition. We know we have the technology. If someone is flaring their elbows, let’s just say they do it two or three times, it will pick up on that and it will tell you to tuck your elbows in, chin down, things like that.
“We have trainers, we have amateur boxers and coaches that are able to implement this and then feed it back to the developers. The AI will feed off that data.
“It’s not only the data that is the important part, it’s ensuring that people are training correctly, their form is correct, but making it fun and engaging.
“We want to have a career path. Everyone starts at their lower division as an amateur. And then once you complete drills, you win technical points and then you move up to professional. And then you win more points you move up to championship level.”
The built-in gamification element takes users from the lower weights to the realm of the heavyweights, if their dedication and improvement allows. Body fat percentage, muscle mass and other biometrics are taken into consideration through personally attuned programmes.
“That’s the boxing side, but there’s also a strength and conditioning side where there is a cabinet suite that will have 80 kg worth of weight plates, which is enough for pretty much everyone, I would say.
“Then there’s a kettlebell, boxing equipment exercises, maybe a jump rope. So they can do pretty much everything at home.”
The various subscription models will be implemented as soon as investors can be found for a project currently at seed level. Davda and co are actively fundraising to make the dream a reality. A Q1 2026 launch is optimistic. But that kind of ambitious action-taking has got them to this point.
“We obviously need the funding to hit some milestones, one of which is the app development. Rome was not built in a day. Peloton is Peloton now, but when it first started, it was just a bike. And that’s it. That’s what I feel. We can be the Peloton of boxing.”
Interested partners can contact Amit Davda: amit@pendulumboxing.com
