WE become something in different ways. Glyn Rhodes has a good life. He has a lovely home, big too, in a well-to-do area of Sheffield. His back garden looks out over a green valley, where the famous Dam Busters practised for their bombing run in World War Two. He doesnโt live far from where he grew up but he has come a long way.
Rhodes is from a council estate. โIf Iโd never started boxing Iโd probably still be in there. None of my family ever boxed so it was just by chance that I ended up boxing. But boxingโs enabled me, not that thereโs anything wrong with where I used to live, but boxingโs enabled me to move away from the area and live here and I love it. Every day I love it,โ he said. โI never went on to be a world champion or anything like that, but look what boxingโs done for me.
โThatโs what I tell the kids in the gym all the time. You donโt have to become undisputed world champion for boxing to change your life.โ
When Rhodes was a child though, he was going nowhere fast. โIt always seemed to me more exciting to be doing things that you shouldnโt be doing than just being a nice kid and, you know, going to play football. We always seemed to get involved doing things that were just things you shouldnโt have been doing,โ he laughed. โWhen everybody else was going through a car stealing phase, we nicked a boat off the canal in Sheffield and were sailing down the canal. And we thought we were pretty good because everybody else is only nicking cars and we got this boat.โ
On that occasion they were rounded up quite easily by the police when they docked the vessel at Attercliffe. At the time it seemed like a great adventure. But with hindsight Rhodes takes a very different view. โThe sad thing about it is now looking back at the age Iโm at, that was somebodyโs boat. That was somebodyโs pride and joy probably. But at the time we never thought that. It was just exciting. On this boat, it was exciting sailing down the river. Youโre never thinking to yourself somebodyโs probably saved a lifetime of money to buy this and here we are, three little rats, just nicked it and sailed it down river and just dumped it when weโd had enough. So I feel a bit bad about that. I never thought this is somebody elseโs property. You just donโt think, do you?โ he reflects.
โI think thatโs why I get along with kids in the gym. Because I know where theyโre coming from and I know what theyโre doing.โ
It was Brendan Ingle, the legendary Sheffield trainer, who changed everything for Rhodes. โThere was a gang of us hanging around on a street corner. Somebody suggested we go and join his boxing club,โ he recalled.
โFor a 16-year-old kid like me to walk in and meet Brendan, I thought heโs proper crazy. I remember the first day in the gym. He got us all on the side of the ring and he said to us, โRight youโre all sparring today.โ So he pointed to a kid, the kidโs name was Walter Clayton and he [later] boxed pro. He got a little flat nose and he was smaller than me and Brendan said, โRight you can hit him and he wonโt hit you back.โ And I thought that sounds good to me. Little did I know he were a Junior ABA champion. So I get in the ring, I couldnโt lay a finger on him. He absolutely boxed my ears off. But again I got out and I kind of admired it and I respected it and I thought you know what, thatโs clever what heโs done to me. Because I must be swinging like a windmill.
โIt were only the fact that Walter knew how to jab and how to make me miss, itโs that what kind of fascinated me. A little kid, smaller than me and Iโm thinking bloody hell look what heโs just done to me.โ
Herol Graham, who quickly became an icon to Glyn, joined the gym at about the same time. โI remember seeing him moving around the ring and thinking this kidโs brilliant. So when he actually walked in the gym I knew who he were,โ Rhodes remembered. โBack then I would have given my right arm to be โBomberโ Graham. He had everything. He was a superstar in Sheffield. He had everything. He had the first sponsored car Iโd ever known anybody to have.โ
The ABA would ban Brendan Ingle, because at that time you were not allowed to train professionals along with amateurs. So he took his boxers professional with him. Rhodes competed on Herol Graham undercards. He enjoyed it, he was active. He made money, he spent money. โBack then the money were good for doing something that you enjoyed doing,โ he said, but added however, โOne day thereโs no next fight.โ
โI had 65 pro fights, which is a lot of fights, so thatโs quite a lot of money as well. But when I retired I didnโt have a pot to p**s in,โ he continued. โOne day itโs all over and you have to go and get a job. โI started with Brendan when I was 16 and I stayed there till I was 33. And then all of a sudden at 33 when your careerโs over, you have to go get a job. What can I do?โ Leaving boxing, leaving the gym, he lost the friends and the structure in his life. โI worked on a few doors in Sheffield, which I didnโt like,โ Glyn said. โThatโs when guys can start going off the rails a little bit because theyโve lost that circle of friends what are keeping them on track.โ He remembered, โOne of the things I remember doing when I retired I went to sign on, unemployed. Because a lot of people know you in Sheffield, youโre walking in to sign on and people are coming up to you saying, โWhen are you boxing again?โ or โHowโs boxing going?โ and you kind of donโt want to say, well, you know what Iโm retired and Iโm signing on because Iโm broke. But I remember signing on and I used to dread it, dread seeing people that you knew because then people realise itโs just another ex-boxer, whoโs got no money and heโs here signing on, signing on the dole.”
โSo I used to walk in to sign on and hope to God nobody saw me because then I didnโt have to explain what are you doing as well,โ Rhodes added. โTo find yourself suddenly signing on because you havenโt got a pot to ps in, itโs a bit embarrassing after, like I say, having all them fights.
โAnd thatโs why you end up doing jobs that you donโt want to do. But itโs better than going and signing on.โ
It was a period in his life that he found difficult. โWeโre in this sport where weโre supposed to be tough and hard. You have to act hard. You have to climb in the ring and you have to act like youโre not scared. When really boxers arenโt like that. I know a lot of boxers that are not like that. So itโs good that people like Tyson Fury have come out and said he suffered with his mental health,โ Rhodes considered. โIf people like Ricky Hatton and Tyson Fury can talk about it, itโs good for everybody.โ
His fortunes though would change. Rhodes walked into a building site to ask for a job. It turned out to be a gym that was under construction. He ended up working there as the boxing trainer. โThen I realised I could do this. I was doing what Iโd been taught by Brendan,โ Glyn recalled. โIf you think about the amount of time I spent at Brendanโs gym, 16 to 33, I had a good teacher โฆ just by being around him and watching him and seeing what he did. All I did then is did what Brendan did but my own slant on things. Then after a year, the gym got really busy. I thought to myself rather than working for somebody else, being a trainer, I think I can do this myself. But it were a big step.โ
He founded the Sheffield Boxing Centre and would eventually move the boxing club into a school building, where itโs been for the last 23 years. Herol Graham would walk back into his life too. Even though he didnโt feel he could teach โBomberโ anything, he worked Grahamโs corner. โHerol took me as a raw novice trainer to the top level. Iโve gone from retiring myself, just training six-round fighters, four-round fighters. Now Iโm in Atlantic City training Herol Graham for a world title. No only were we in Atlantic City for the fight but we trained in Miami beach because Lennox Lewis was top of the bill boxing Shannon Briggs. So we were in Miami training in the same gym as Lennox Lewis and Manny Steward! So here I am, not long since being a trainer and we train in the same gym as Manny Steward and Lennox Lewis. It were brilliant so I owe Herol a lot. Not just for being my friend and being on the undercard when he were boxing but what he enabled me to do as a trainer,โ Rhodes explained. โHere I am a little kid off a council estate and Iโm in the gym with Lennox Lewis.
โEverything about it were brilliant, apart from the result [Graham lost to Charles Brewer in 10 rounds]. But thatโs boxing.โ
Another man, Richie Wenton, also brought Rhodes in. With Glyn as his trainer Wenton won the British title and would challenge Marco Antonio Barrera. Glyn had been boxing on the undercard when Michael Watson was gravely injured against Chris Eubank and, together with Wenton, he would also experience tragedy more directly. โHe [Wenton] ended up boxing for a British title against Bradley Stone who sadly died. So I got propelled from being a normal person to, probably a year on from signing on, to training a kid whoโs got a British title but we never got to celebrate that because Bradley died,โ Rhodes said. โThat was my first encounter of a tragedy and that hit me really hardโฆ How can I go in the gym and train kids knowing this is what could happen? So I did find it really hard when Bradley Stone died. I thought to myself, why donโt I just get a job and, you know, be like a normal person, go to work?โ
Years later tragedy would overtake his life again. He trained Scott Westgarth, who died after winning a 10-round title fight in February of 2018. โScott dying left a big cloud over the gym, the whole gym because he were a great kid,โ Glyn said. โHe were a chef, fitness fanaticโฆ The nicest kid you could ever wish to meet.โ
It was only after the contest, when he was changing, that Westgarth felt unwell. โI remember he went into the shower and he said, โI feel sick.โ He was sick, which is a bad sign. Thatโs the first thing youโve got to look for, a boxer vomiting. But he was still alright. So the doctor came back and said, โLook Iโm sending you to hospital.โ So the paramedics came in with a stretcher. Scott said, โIโm not getting on that. Iโll walk to the ambulance.โ He was still with us then,โ Glyn said. โThe paramedic said, โNo youโve got to get on the stretcherโ.โ
So the rest of Westgarthโs family could stay together, Rhodes volunteered himself to go along in the ambulance to the hospital with Scott. It was in the ambulance that everything changed. โHave you ever seen something but then wished youโd never saw it? But then you canโt unsee it. You canโt unsee something that youโve seenโฆ I wish, even to this day, I never got in the ambulance,โ he said.
What unfolded was horrifying. โHe had a big puffer jacket on at the time, Scott, and, this is probably just my imagination, I remember when the doctors took the scissors and cut up his sleeve and as he pulled the sleeve back like that, feathers went everywhere,โ Glyn said. โI just remember trying to blow all these feathers away. And in my mind, it was as though there was thousands and millions of feathers everywhere. There probably werenโt.
โI remember when we pulled up at the ambulance station of the hospital and the door swings open and I remember all these feathers blowing about again because it caused vacuum. I remember thinking thereโs feathers everywhere.โ
He followed Westgarthโs stretcher through inside the hospital. โYour mind kind of goes blank. I remember picking one of Scottโs shoes up. I donโt remember when it fell off,โ he said. โI remember standing in this hospital room with flashing lights and everything, thinking what the f**k do I do? Iโm just stood there holding a shoe, I couldnโt remember where the shoe f**king come from. And Iโm thinking, is somebody going to tell me what to do? I didnโt know which way to go.โ
They still thought he would pull through. But Scott died, from complications arising from a blood clot on the brain.
โIt kind of hits you like a wave, youโre thinking this canโt be f**king right. Iโve just come from Doncaster Dome, heโs just f**king won, he just had his hand raised and now youโre telling me that heโs died. It was surreal,โ Rhodes recalled. โWhat do we do? Nobody prepares you. What happens next?
โIt was just surreal. Like, is this a f**king dream, am I having a dream?โ Itโs impossible to come to terms with, the loss of someone young, strong and loved by those close to him. Rhodes struggled with it. A large banner and tributes to Westgarth hang from the walls of their club. โFor me it was hard,โ Glyn noted. โI didnโt want Sheffield Boxing Centre to become a shrine but I also didnโt want people to forget about it.โ Harder still was coaching Tommy Frank through his Area title fight that followed afterwards. โI was having flashbacks and I was thinking I canโt do this. And I remember taking Tommy on pads in changing room and I had to keep leaving and going somewhere else, because I was cracking up. I was f**king cracking up. But I didnโt want Tommy to see me looking like Iโm cracking up so I had to take him on the pads, warm him up and Iโd just disappear, saying Iโve got to go to the toilet, when really I was going f**king hell in my head. It was f**king horrendous.โ
โI was thinking Iโve got to pack this in,โ he added. โPeople donโt understand how close you become to people.โ
Rhodes has seen the most horrific aspects of the sport, more intimately than most. But he is aware of its benefits. It did change his life directly. He still has the school report from just before he drifted into the Ingle gym, when his teacher wrote in no uncertain terms that his attitude was โvery disturbing in a boy of his ageโ and could โonly lead to disaster in later lifeโ.
โYou always think to yourself where would I be if Iโd never met Brendan and I donโt know,โ he wonders. โI always feel like Iโve got this volcano in my tummy and itโs always bubbling, ready to goโฆ It doesnโt take much for it to explode.
โThere were times when I used to think to myself, I wish I could have harnessed it a little bit better. But I didnโt know where it were coming from, I donโt know where it comes from.โ
But he pours his energies into a positive avenue. His club, the Sheffield Boxing Centre continues to help a host of young amateurs. It has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity and runs a variety of programmes, from supporting bullied children to exercise classes for people with Parkinsonโs disease. Rhodes himself was awarded an MBE for his services. His craggy face breaks easily into a smile. He explains his visit to Buckingham Palace for that ceremony.
โI had this vision in my mind that as I was being called out to get the award, I had a vision of tripping up and the more I tried to put it to the back of my mind the more I was thinking about it. And Iโm thinking, โNo please donโt trip.โ Itโs one of those occasions you want it to last forever but you want it to be done as well.โ
Sitting in a lovely home, overseeing a thriving club, Rhodes can still feel that it is somehow fragile. โYou can lose everything at the drop of a hat,โ he says wryly. โMe being me I could spoil it all.โ
Though scarred by tragedy, Rhodes has lived this good life. โLook at what boxingโs done for me. Iโve been all over the world. Iโve done things I never dreamt of doing. Iโve met people I never dreamt Iโd ever meet,โ he said, adding without sadness, โBoxingโs the best thing that ever happened to me.โ