“It’s better to sweat in the gym than to bleed in/on the street(s)” is a slogan of several inner-city gyms, in an attempt to take at-risk individuals off of crime-ridden streets. The saying has been used by many gyms that feature boxing.
 
“It’s better to sweat in the gym than to bleed on the streets” was cited in print in 1987.  The saying is of unknown authorship.
   
 
30 May 1987, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, “Overweight deputies are made to shape up for Richmond force” by Joan Hennessy, pg. 13A, col. 2:
“It’s better to sweat in the gym than to bleed on the streets,” Myers said.
(Capt. Ray Myers of Richmond County, GA—ed.)
 
18 April 1996, Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution, “Augusta’s raising amateurs’ status,” pg. K8:
Augusta—The recruiting message on the sign out front along Walton Way reads, “It’s better to sweat in the gym than bleed in the streets.”
   
Dan Washburn’s Sporting Life
June 1st, 1999
Boxing: ‘It’s better to sweat in the gym than to bleed in the streets’
(...)
The Reverend let me borrow his hand wraps. He’s a giving type of guy. Together he and his wife Sharron operate the Freedom and True Peace Ministry. They volunteer their time at the gym.
 
“It’s better to sweat in the gym than to bleed in the streets,” is their motto.
 
9 December 1999, Charlotte (NC) Observer , “Boxer, aspiring baber wants to be a cut above competition,” pg. 1B:
At the Charlotte Boxing Academy, 407 E. 36th St., coaches still brag about getting kids off the street, posters still insist “It’s Better to Sweat in the Gym Than to Bleed in the Streets.”
 
New York (NY) Times
Angel’s Dream
By DAVID CRITCHELL
Published: January 30, 2000
(...)
Boxing has declined sharply in recent years. But a few poor young men, like Mr. Rios, still hope the ring will bring them riches, will transport them far from the tough, troubled world outside their doors. The dream is painted in big red letters above a row of mirrors lining a wall of the gym: ‘‘It’s better to sweat in the gym than to bleed in the streets.’‘
(A gym in Morris Park, in the Bronx—ed.)
 
Google Books
Much to Your Chagrin: A Memoir of Embarrassment
By Suzanne Guillette
New York, NY: Atria Books (Simon & Schuster)
2009
Pg. 78:
Above the cracked mirror (at a Bronx gym—ed,) a painted slogan reads: “It’s better to sweat in the gym than bleed in the streets.” All the words are black, with the exception of the word “streets,” which is colored by chunky horizontal stripes of red, white, and blue.
 
Google Books
Move:
What 1,000 Churches Reveal about Spiritual Growth
By Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
2011
Pg. ?:
Boxing club. Ex-addicts coach eighty kids in boxing. Their motto is that it’s better to sweat in a gym than bleed on the streets.
   
YouTube
Fox 6 WITI Del Porter Ace Boxing Club Continues To Serve Milwaukee’s Youth
Ace Boxing
Published on Jun 15, 2012
“It’s better to sweat in our gym, than to bleed in the streets”, that’s the saying at the Ace Boxing Club in Milwaukee. FOX6 Sports Anchor Tom Pipines shows how at-risk youngsters are cleaning up their neighborhood, and cleaning up their lives.
 
Twitter
Hoop Movement
‏@hoopmovement
To some basketball is all they have. It’s the only positive thing in their life It’s better to sweat in the gym than to bleed in the streets
2:23 PM - Nov 30, 2012