BOXING NEWS is pleased to report that Dale Youth ABC are hoping to re-open in August following the tragic fire at Grenfell Towers in west London. Their current gym was at the foot of the towers, but Mick Delaney is planning to move to a nearby premises in Ladbroke Grove.
The famous amateur boxing club โ which spawned the likes of James DeGale, George Groves and Daniel Dubois โ is run by Delaney. He was last in the gym just hours before the fire started in the tower block that sits above it.
โWe trained in there on Tuesday night and left at about 9-45,โ he said. โThen I got a call at a quarter to five the next morning and they said the building was up in flames. I couldnโt believe it. Now all I can think about is all the lost lives, and the families who have lost everything.โ
As news of the fire broke, Groves tweeted: โMy old club Dale Youth ABC has been there for the past 15 years. I was even there Sunday, and this is so sad.” DeGale added: “Shocked at the devastation at Grenfell Tower block where my old amateur club Dale Youth is. My thoughts are with everyone affected.”
Delaney was โborn and bred a spit awayโ from the Towers where the fire struck, but doesnโt believe any of the boxers that currently train there or their families were affected.
โNone of our boys live in the flats โ which is one consolation.โ
But Delaney believes a man who used to clean the gym couldnโt get out of his flat in Grenfell Towers, and a parent of a former Dale Youth boxer could be among those who are missing.
โWeโve got to keep things in perspective,โ said Delaney when commenting on the fate of the gym. โAll these people have lost their lives.โ
The current gym had only been open since November after it was renovated along with the rest of the building, but Delaney hopes to move his troops down the road to a makeshift gym they were using during the building work.
โWeโll apply for a lease there and make sure weโve got somewhere for the new season. We liked it there anyway,โ he said. โAs long as weโve got a ring, some bags and some trainers, Dale Youth will be okay.โ
Delaney wanted to let people know he plans to be open for the first training session of the new season on Sunday August 15.