Spotlight on Radcliffe - Radcliffe Amateur Boxing Club

Reporter: Marcus Chippindale
Date online: 05 November 2010

Britain has a proud boxing history full of fighters who have taken on the best in the world and won, from Ken Buchanan and Howard Winstone to Lennox Lewis and David Haye.

These are household names for anyone who knows their boxing, but once upon a time they were just a kid from the local boxing club who caught the coach’s eye.

All great champions are made somewhere and at venues such as the Radcliffe Amateur Boxing Club any youngster who walks through the door could end up being the next big thing.

When Amir Khan first started punching bags at the club no one knew he would go on to become Britain’s third-youngest world champion.

“You could see he had some sort of ability in him, but he would just come down and train once in a while like everyone else,” said Head Coach Steve Haslam.

Mr Haslam has worked as a boxing coach for 20 years, training anyone from five to 40 who wants to give it a go.

Of course not everyone who has jumped in the ring under his watch has gone on to greatness, but that doesn’t mean it’s not for them.

“We don’t tell people they are not good enough, I have made it so everyone is equal,” said Mr Haslam.

“Whoever they are they all blend in together at the club. I don’t care where they are from.”

From the age of five children can start punching bags with Mr Haslam and the two other coaches at the Bridgefield House gym, and anyone over nine can get sparring in the ring.

But for all the staff involved it’s not just about training people to fight; the club has become strongly community minded in recent years and wants to be a benefit for everyone in Radcliffe.

“I am a community builder and am trying to get people in the area working together,” said Mr Haslam. “It is a good environment, a family atmosphere.”

He added: “There’s no discipline with these kids so they learn to appreciate other people and how to work with other people. It does help them and it keeps them fit. Their eating and sleeping patterns change for the better.”

As part of their project to help the community, the club held a series of training sessions earlier this year for underprivileged youngsters at Bury Football Club’s Gigg Lane ground.

The 20-week course was part of the Bury Council’s ‘Healthkick’ initiative and professional boxer Scott Quigg, who fights for Ricky Hatton’s promotions company, was on-hand to help out.

Yet despite all this and its respectable attendance figures, the club is facing financial difficulties and is in desperate need of a sponsor.

“I am always looking round for funding sources, but there are so many strings attached to government funding that it is very difficult to get,” said Chairman Peter McEvoy.

The club charges attendees just £2 for the hour and a half sessions, but a lot of the younger visitors are unable to pay even that.

Mr McEvoy said: “Even though they cannot afford to pay we would never turn them away and stop them from boxing.”

The club is currently on the look out for a matchmaker to help organise fighters and matches with other clubs, and once this happens the club hopes things will start to look up.

Mr Haslam has 12 potential fighters who could help put the club back on the map waiting to be credited and registered by the RBA.

“Once we have sorted them and a matchmaker we can put on some good events,” said Mr Haslam.

For the coaches volunteering at the club can make their lives pretty hectic, especially when you have a job and five children of your own to worry about, as Mr Haslam does.

But that doesn’t stop them from wanting to help everyone who comes realise to their potential.

“I love the sport,” said Mr Haslam. “I’ll be doing it till I die I suppose.”

The Radcliffe Amateur Boxing Club meets at Bridgefield House on Bridgefield Street every Tuesday and Thursday from 7pm till 8.30pm.

Find out more about Radcliffe Community Groups: www.buryfocus.co.uk/community/groups/radcliffe