
Information about Holmes Academy
IG1 1PU, Ilford
Opening hours
- sunday: 7h-22h
- monday: 7h-22h
- tuesday: 7h-22h
- wednesday: 7h-22h
- thursday: 7h-22h
- friday: 7h-22h
- saturday: 7h-22h
Holmes Academy: Opinions
Fantastic experience: Honestly great coach, been going for over 2 years. Each session is tailored to each specific student and their weaknesses. Excellent coach and great for developing the youth. Highly recommend
Negative experience: This gym and coach are a joke. He talks a big game but delivers little, charging extortionate prices for minimal effort. Any feedback or challenge is always met with “you’re not coming enough” – a transparent excuse to squeeze more money. I trained here for over a year, twice a week on average, yet never learned proper defensive skills. After leaving, I was immediately told defense was a key weakness—something I’d repeatedly asked to work on, only to be dismissed with the same excuse. Even his own son trains elsewhere. Worse, he pretends to be an old-school boxing coach but lacks the skills to follow suite, instead he pushes his clients more and more past reasonable limits in order to achieve the results as he finds himself out of his boxing depth. Under him, I suffered a broken nose, a fractured rib, and chipped teeth—all definitely preventable injuries. All of which happened during friendly sparring under his supervision. Despite voicing my concerns, he laughed them off, allowing fights to continue after serious injuries, and ridiculed me instead of taking responsibility. He even sent me back in for a second round after I broke my nose—what kind of coach does that? A coach that understands the sport? Or a coach looking for a quick buck because all other avenues are closed? Holmes, I’m not here to take food from your kids’ mouths, but Islam teaches accountability—something you’ve completely lacked. I have hard evidence of my injuries, yet you’d rather mock me than own up to your failures. If you’re a man, step into the ring with me for six rounds, no TKOs. Im offering you a chance to prove yourself, as a boxing coach, and as a man. I’ll even delete this review should you win. Otherwise, I trust Allah will deal with a munafiq like you. Don’t go this coach under any means - my face has now completely changed because I was stupid enough to trust his words and expect him to have knowledge. Nothing shy of a scammer with a couple workouts from YouTube.
Dear Uthman Juman,
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We appreciate all feedback, as it helps us to continually improve.
At Holmescrossfit Academy safety and skill development are our top priorities. Our team consists of certified England Boxing coaches and referees/officials, ensuring that our training methods adhere to the highest standards of safety and professionalism.
Regarding your comments about sparring, we want to clarify that sparring is always conducted with safety in mind and is never mandatory. We assess each individual’s readiness and provide guidance accordingly. Participation is ultimately a personal choice, and we always encourage clients to make decisions that align with their comfort and experience levels.
It’s also worth noting that your comments seem inconsistent. You mentioned being “put in” for sparring, yet you also described challenging the coach to six rounds. This suggests a level of willingness and initiative that contradicts the idea of being unwillingly placed in sparring situations. We always promote responsible and voluntary participation in all aspects of training.
Consistency and commitment are crucial for progress in any sport, especially in boxing. You mentioned attending “on average twice a week,” but frequency and consistency are key factors in skill development. Our recommendations are always based on individual goals and commitment levels.
We take great pride in our track record of training a diverse range of clients, from complete beginners to national champions and well-known Box Cup competitors. Our programs are tailored to support weight loss, general fitness, competitive boxing, and enhancing stand-up skills for mixed martial arts.
We recognize that your experience did not meet your expectations, and we’re open to discussing it further. If you’d like to continue the conversation, please feel free to reach out to us directly. We value your feedback and wish you the best in your continued boxing journey.
Sincerely,
Holmes
Holmescrossfit Academy
Fantastic experience: Good place to train if your trying to loose weight. Good trainer and equipment clean and very live place
Fantastic experience:
Fantastic experience: 10/10 trainer. Very friendly. Definitely recommend to anyone looking to work out. Top quality gym!!!!
Fantastic experience: Good personal Trainer, cares about his Client's
Fantastic experience: Excellent personal trainer... Works you physically and mentally.... Helping me reach my goals in shaping up and generally living a healthier lifestyle.
Fantastic experience: Excellent Personal Trainer.
Leave your opinion about Holmes Academy:
Holmes Academy appears in the following listings:
Holmes Academy appears in the following listings:
Other gyms that may interest you

Glenda Health and Wellbeing






The Gym Group London Ilford Romford Road





Al Qawi Self Defence


Al Badr Kickboxing
Publish your gym in our directory for free
If you manage a gym and you want to appear in our website, send us the information about your gym so we can include you in our directory.Appearing in our directory is free!