Islington Boxing Club has seen a surge of new recruits since Tyson Fury’s victory over Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas on the 22nd February.
The club’s manager and competitions secretary, Reggie Hagland, told Islington Now,
“I don’t think we need to worry about the coronavirus here, it’s just Fury fever.”
On a busy Monday night at the club on Hazellville road, Hagland said: “There’s almost sixty kids there on one floor at the moment, and upstairs you’ve got another thirty kids and that’s just one night, so the club is going places.”
Hagland added: “It’s not just our club that benefits. It’s every club in the country. For a club, these big fights are always a big bonus. Hopefully other kids will be inspired to become champions of the world or just take up boxing to keep themselves out of trouble.”
Islington Boxing Club’s Beginnings
Islington Boxing was set up in 1974 by a group of volunteers and boasts notable names like Audley Harrison and Caroline Dubois among its former trainees.
Hagland’s grandfather, Ron, was a founding member and the club has stayed in the family. “My Dad runs the club,” Hagland said, “my Grandad ran it before him and now I’m running it alongside my Dad. My Mum and my sister help out and even my aunt’s involved. It’s a family atmosphere and all these guys are family. When they box for us they’re family.”
Outside of the Hagland clan, the club relies on the loyalty of its staff, such as long-time trainers, Jerry Mitchell, the self acclaimed “bad cop” of the gym, and John Richards. Both of them have been at the club for 30 years, and Hagland describes them as “part of the furniture.”
“Loyalty is key in boxing,” said Hagland, “although you don’t get as much of it nowadays. There’s a saying in this gym that loyalty is black and white, not grey. You’re either loyal or you’re not. All of us volunteer in the evenings, and we go above and beyond sometimes, going up and down the country, we’re minibus drivers, trainers and we’re there to speak to the boxers when they have their ups and downs in life.”
A History of Success
As well as the influx of new members, the club has been enjoying success with their existing fighters. Last Saturday, Islington Boxing club and Fight For Peace boxing club, in North Woolwich, put on a joint show. Islington returned with six winners and five runners up.
“It was a good opportunity for us to get a lot of our boxers out on the circuit and compete on the show,” Hagland said. “It’s difficult for us sometimes to get bouts, because there’s the cost to rent facilities. Fight For Peace are another club in London who are affiliated with England Amateur Boxing and they wanted to do a show, so we’ve gone in with them.”
Struggling for funding is a common problem for amateur boxing clubs throughout the country, and it’s no different at Islington Boxing club. Hagland said: “The club is funded through subscriptions, donations, memberships and anything we can get really. We’ve got a very high membership rate at the club and that’s helped us to keep moving forward.”
But Hagland hopes to expand Islington Boxing Club in the future, saying, “We’ve got a massive plan to hopefully redevelop the site we’re on at the moment, to give the future Olympic hopefuls the opportunity to train in better facilities. This building was bought by my Grandad in 1980 for £50 from Bose Construction Limited and it was meant to just be temporary, so it’s funny how it’s still standing.
He said: “There’s a lot of problems running the club as it’s an old building and it’s probably just a lick of paint holding the place up. It’s something that we’ve got ambitious plans for. It will not only benefit the local residents, but it will benefit the whole of London, as it’s somewhere that we’d like to be able to hold our own shows.”
Boxers in the gym:
Name: Matin
Age: 18
Stance: Orthodox
Weight class: 64kg
I would describe my boxing style as rangy, similar to Tommy Hearns. I wasn’t doing sport and I felt like I really needed to get out and do something because I was just at home a lot. So, I just decided to take part and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. I want to see how I do in the amateurs and then maybe progress to the pros someday.
Name: Niall
Age: 16
Stance: Orthodox
Weight class: 53kg
My boxing style is awkward. I’m trying to make it to a certain ability and then make my style a bit flashier. I’d say I’m a very bad version of Lomachenko! I started boxing because I thought I’d try to learn a bit of self-defence and so far I love it.
Name: Christos
Age: 17
Stance: Orthodox
Weight class: 64kg
I just want to see how far I can take my boxing, but I really enjoy it. I’ve got a decent jab but I try and do inside work mainly.
Name: Kieran
Age: 22
Stance: Orthodox/ Southpaw
Weight class: 64kg
I can mix it up. I can box, fight mid-range and fight on the inside too. I would compare my style to Terence Crawford. I got into boxing because I liked fighting from a young age so I thought why not start boxing.
Name: Denzel
Age: 28
Stance: Orthodox
Weight class: 72.5kg
My boxing style is tactical, keeping it long and being sharp and original. I would compare myself to Andre Ward, he’s got a really unique style and he’s a true student of boxing, which is something I admire. It’s like a game of chess in there and I love testing the mind as well as pushing the limits of my body.
