The California Gully-based gym, run by brothers Pat and Gary Connolly, has established a temporary outside training facility, to allow its eager stable of boxers, headed by undefeated professionals Brad Morgan and Dino Rafaeles, to again don the gloves after months on the sidelines due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Its centrepiece is an outside boxing ring, allowing for a return to competitive sparring.

Gary Connolly said the gym, which has been operating for 50 years, took its COVIDSafe requirements 'very seriously'.

"Obviously with the uncertainty around COVID, inside gyms can be dangerous places to train. It can be really hard to maintain distances," he said.

"So we decided to build an outside gym to allow us to be flexible and adapt to whatever is going on with COVID.

"But it also gives the boxers a sense of security, somewhere they can come and feel safe, train and not feel too stressed about things.

"We've had COVID plans in place ever since coming back to training. They are pretty strict, actually, and in accordance with what is going on.

"If there is an outbreak in Melbourne at any point, we tighten up that little bit more."

"We know it's going to be such a long journey back to normality - next week things could change quickly, for the better or for the worse."

The gym has enforced strict social distancing guidelines and even tougher protocols on who individuals can spar with or do bag work alongside.

"With our professional fighters, they are actually allowed to do contact work, but we make sure, for instance, Brad only works with Dino," Connolly said.

"We don't mix it up, so we are very strict.

"When there is other contact work to be done with pads, they wear masks. And while training everyone is at least 1.5m apart the whole time."

The return to training has allowed the Connollys to turn their attention to what the new year might entail in terms of actual shows and fights for their stable of boxers, albeit Gary acknowledged there was still plenty to play out on the coronavirus front.

Tentative plans have been hatched for the staging of an exhibition show, similar to that held at the Bendigo racecourse in March 2019, which partly served as a farewell to one of the gym's favourite sons, former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and Australian heavyweight champion Justin Whitehead.

"The last show combined exhibition boxing and music and proved really popular, especially online," Connolly said.

"We actually had over 1000 sites on Facebook watching it live.

"Shows like that give all the fighters in the gym, and their families and friends, something to look forward to.

"If things don't change, I'm reasonably confident - with a good COVIDSafe plan - we could have 500 or so people comfortably there.

"With the uncertainty that's around, we can't really invest in a full-scale show.

"In the second half of the year, with vaccinations coming into play, I'm hoping we might have the certainty of being able to do more things with our boxers."

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