Founder and CEO Ben Amanna wanted to start a boxing brand that embodied the lifestyle of a boxer. He did that with BOXRAW, which is embraced by the sport.
Everlast, Rival, and Grant are some of the established names in the boxing apparel and equipment business. However, there’s a relatively new player in the market, and that’s BOXRAW. However, it’s their philosophy that sets them apart from all others.
According to a press release, BOXRAW CEO and founder Ben Amanna describes the company’s vision as more than “the sport or practice of fighting with fists.’ It was a lifestyle, ‘the way in which a person lives.’”
The term “raw” in the brand’s name reflects Amanna’s concept. It parallels his early conception of BOXRAW and its simple beginnings. The idea first came to him while he was on a boxing training run.
“I was running down the street in a sh**ty Adidas tracksuit,” Amanna told FanSided. “I remember thinking that I wanted people to know that I was training for a fight. You know, I was proud to be a boxer. Anyone that seen me running on the side of the road would just assume that I’m, you know, running for whatever reason. That was a moment I realized and sort of start to delve in further thought that there wasn’t a brand that represents the boxers.”
That was Amanna’s “aha” moment. It was a great idea, but building an apparel brand with a worldwide reach is another thing. Amanna’s dream didn’t materialize overnight. It actually took over a year of research and social media hype before BOXRAW was ready to launch.
“We never set out just to sort of sell product,” said Amanna. “It was more about the ‘why,’ you know, and it took maybe about a year and a half on social media before we launched the actual brand.”
Amanna built up a following on social media, which added buzz to BOXRAW’s launch. At the time, BOXRAW had about 20,000 followers on Instagram. Today, it has nearly 300,000. His social media presence and unique ability to market enabled him to make a lot of progress in a relatively short amount of time.
Amanna studied the business, crunched the numbers, and developed relationships in terms of production and warehousing. The history of BOXRAW is covered in a YouTube video on Shopify’s channel.
Along with business relationships, Amanna forged relationships with some of the biggest names in boxing. BOXRAW clothing has been rocked by Oleksandr Usyk, Gervonta Davis, Michael Conlan, Errol Spence Jr., Jermall Charlo, and Vasiliy Lomachenko.
In Shopify’s video highlighting BOXRAW’s success, Amanna is seen attending Lomachenko’s bout against Jose Pedraza in New York back in 2018. BOXRAW designed much of Lomachenko’s ring walk and team apparel.
BOXRAW is building a large following and is championed by some of the biggest names in boxing, including Vasiliy Lomachenko and Gervonta Davis
When fans see athletes wearing a clothing label, they assume that they are part of an endorsement deal. That’s not the case with BOXRAW. They have a different business model.
“We haven’t paid a penny to this day in any endorsements,” said Amanna. “The only people we’ve got like formal deals, are the people we have collaborations with.”
Amanna added, “all the boxers you see wear it, they rock it because they want to rock it.”
Those with collaboration deals with BOXRAW have a share agreement with them. The rest wear the brand because of its cool factor. It appeals to a younger generation and has a subtle style that engages people. In a sense, it has street credibility. It’s the label for boxers who put in work in the gym and is not just about having swagger on fight night.
“The initial inception where I came from, the sport wasn’t represented, you know, how I knew it to be,” explained Amanna. “The brands that were there before us, they just seem to focus on the end result, you know, fight night.
“So now I really saw to try and sell that lifestyle into a border market and share boxing for what I knew it to be.”
With BOXRAW, Amanna wanted to move beyond the vision of the sport as just for superstars. It’s something that anybody can partake in. It starts with sweating in the gym, not in a giant arena filled with over 10,000 people. BOXRAW can represent a struggling everyday person who’s just trying to get a workout in as it can Deontay Wilder.
Boxers understand Amanna’s vision, which is why they support his product. He’s dressing boxers, and BOXRAW is crossing over into training equipment as well.
BOXRAW’s popularity is steadily growing. As Gervonta Davis prepares for his Oct. 31 pay-per-view bout against Leo Santa Cruz, you can notice the distinct BOXRAW logo on his clothing. He’s part of boxing’s youth movement that’s helping carry BOXRAW to the masses.
Amanna’s company is growing at an accelerated rate and has a promising future. His goals are lofty but simple.
“The vision is to be the reason why the world got into boxing, and that’s what we want to be pioneering.”