Egidijus Kavaliauskus wants to make everyone feel at home in a place he is all too familiar with.
Kavaliauskus hosted a grand opening of the Mean Machine Gym in Newbury Park earlier this month. The welterweight contender, who also goes by the nickname “Mean Machine,” oversaw a class full of either amateur fighters or beginners hitting the heavy bags, even demonstrating the proper technique in rotating wrists while throwing a punch.
The 37-year-old owns and trains at the gym that was once known as 101 Boxing.
Kavaliauskas (25-3-1, 19 knockouts) has had a long connection with Ventura County, having trained for several years in local gyms after a successful amateur career, culminating in him representing Lithuania at the 2012 Olympic Games. Prior to Newbury Park, Kavaliauskas trained for many years in Oxnard.
Kavaliauskas used to reside in Camarillo and currently lives in Moorpark. He is trained by Marco Contreras and managed by Thousand Oaks resident Egis Klimas.
Even while continuing a successful pro career, Kavaliauskas put into plan of owning a gym.
“I had a small dream in my head a few years ago about (owning) a boxing gym in town,” Kavaliauskas told The Star. “I consider myself a Californian. I wanted to show people my experience. Teach and share with them the knowledge I have. I just had that small dream somewhere in my head and then the opportunity came to finally open the gym.”
The Conejo Valley community has responded, signing up for memberships to the gym. Kavaliauskas said classes are usually full or almost full.
“People have responded and they’ve supported the gym, particularly (on the grand opening),” said Kavaliauskas. “There’s 40 (heavy) bags and all of them are being used. Some were sharing bags. It’s just amazing to see people who had no idea about boxing and they’re supporting in many ways. They’re very excited.”
Amongst the crowd of participants were children, both boys and girls. They had already had their hands wrapped, ready to work or were watching the adults take part in the class.
Kavaliauskas wants to impart knowledge to kids and hope they can have a successful amateur career.
“I had a long amateur career. We have amateurs who train here, some as young as six years old. We want to teach them the right way when it comes to fundamentals,” he said.
“When a kid comes in, we want to make sure they know the right technique. Movement, how to punch, etc. We see kids who want to just work out, but we also want to teach them the sport the right way. People want to come and learn boxing and I love to share my knowledge with them.”
Amateur fighters and those who just want to work out are not the only ones who train at the gym. Former WBC light heavyweight titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk and unbeaten welterweight Joshuah Lupia also train there.
In his last bout on Nov. 28, 2025, Kavaliauskas defeated Samuel Molina of Spain by split decision, winning the EBU welterweight title in the process. The fight took place in Kavaliauskas’ hometown of Kaunas, Lithuania.
Knockout winners
Two fighters who are trained by Robert Garcia secured wins on Feb. 15 at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Junior middleweight Leo Ruiz of San Bernardino stopped Casey Streeter (15-3-2, 6 KOs) of Portland, Maine, at 1:23 of the fourth round. Ruiz has won his last two fights and improved to 17-1, 9 KOs.
Junior featherweight Emiliano Alvarado stopped Devin Gantt (5-3, 5 KOs) of Sicklerville, New Jersey, also in the fourth round. The time of the stoppage was 1:24.
The 18-year-old Alvarado, who resides in Coachella, improved to 10-0, 8 KOs.
Francisco A. Salazar covers boxing for The Star. He has also written for Ring Magazine and Boxingscene. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at FSalazarBoxing.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Pro boxer Kavaliauskas opens gym in Newbury Park
Reporting by Francisco A. Salazar, Special to Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
