IT looks like gyms will be able to open on April 12, though what forms of boxing training can then happen are still to be confirmed. There is a long way to go and this lockdown has been especially trying for amateur boxing clubs. Steve Egan, the head coach at the wonderfully successful Jimmy Eganโs, explained, โWe exist on a shoestring. We always get by on the kids coming in paying three quid. If they canโt afford it, we donโt turn them away. Like all boxing clubs. Most of the kids are on a council estate, thereโs not many parents that have got money.โ
Keeping up with bills is the challenge. They pay a peppercorn rent but subletting prevents them from applying for certain grants. But Jimmy Eganโs is the kind of essential community centre that must be preserved. โIn the 2000 census it [their area] was the poorest ward in the country. Obviously itโs not in the top 10 now. The estateโs come up a bit in the last few years, but itโs still pretty rough. A lot of kids who are rough round the edges, we put them on the right track and we teach them discipline, manners and respect. Boxingโs the last thing,โ Steve said. โIโm not horrible, Iโm passionate. I scream and bawl but I encourage and pat you on the head and put an arm round the shoulder. You can tell when a ladโs feeling a bit off, feeling a bit down, you take them to one side and have a quiet word with him to make sure everythingโs alright, make sure everythingโs okay at home.
โWeโre everything as a coach, boxing coach, male role model, life coach, step dad. You name it weโre it. I donโt think thereโs a sport like it!
โItโs like family and thatโs the way we treat everyone.โ
Not only that, the gym also gets championship results. โ[My father] was a superstar on the estate. Everyone knows who Jimmy Egan is. Thatโs why we changed the name to my dadโs name when he was passing away,โ Steve said. โWe have had six different names now and 13 different premises since we started in 1980. Weโve been kicked in the teeth every couple of years. That someone fancies your building or โsorry you canโt use it no more.โ Weโve heard all the excusesโฆ Weโve been shut that many times but my dad wouldnโt have it, he kept going and going and going.
โSince my dad passed away, weโve had 33 national champions and thatโs on a shoestring, against some of the great gyms youโve got in the country.
โ33 in 16 years, itโs not bad.โ
One of the clubโs greatest triumphs was Tyson Fury. He began there as a teenager and won the ABAs with them. Steve always felt Tyson was going to do something special. โThere was just something about him, I always told him โ think like a middleweight, donโt be a big daft plodder like the rest of them. Do the pace, work rate, think like a middleweight,โ he said.
That is an inspirational example of what an amateur club in the heart of a community can do. But Jimmy Eganโs serves a wider function. They tried to explain that to Boris Johnson when the prime minister visited the gym for a photo op. โWe did talk to him as well after that. In the kitchen we spoke about how many agencies get involved when a kid goes the wrong way, probably five, six different agencies and theyโre all getting paid, I think itโs ยฃ2000 a week for one young offender. Give us ยฃ1000 a week, weโll sort five or 10 of them out, not just keep them in the system,โ Steve said. โWe have wrote to Boris since, telling him the gym is struggling. Weโve had no reply yet.โ
โ[Boxing] deals with kids that wouldnโt go into other sports. Other sports couldnโt handle them. Football would just kick them out straight away,โ he continued. โWeโd 42 carded fighters, which is a ridiculous amount really for the size of the gymโฆ We can have 60 to 70 kids in the kids session.
โ[Eventually] we can bring the kids back in and reignite their boxing careers. Get them on the right track again because God knows what theyโre doing now.โ
To support Jimmy Eganโs visit their funding page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jimmy-egans-boxing-academy-community-support.