Boxing can be a force for good, says Smelting Club president

A BRISTOL boxing club has been held up in a national debate as an example of all that is good about the sport in the wake of the David Haye-Dereck Chisora brawl.

The Avonmouth National Smelting Club was described by its president, Bristol North West MP Charlotte Leslie, as the type of organisation which gives real hope and life skills for generations of young people.

There has been concern for the future of the professional sport after Haye and Chisora clashed at a press conference in Munich last month, leading for calls to sort out the sport.

But Ms Leslie, pictured, told a gathering of boxers, officials and media pundits in London – who were taking part in a national radio debate on the sport – that clubs like Avonmouth have a vital role to play which should not be tarnished by one incident which has had huge media attention.

She said: "The incident with David Haye and Dereck Chisora has done boxing no good at all and, as someone who is passionate about the benefits of the sport, I was absolutely mortified when I saw what happened.

"This was one awful incident, but there are hundreds, maybe thousands of cases where boxing has saved young people from a life of punch-ups, drugs and alcohol abuse.

"We are also seeing the real benefits of the sport in schools where kids who might find exams and academic work a challenge can get rid of their frustrations in the ring and the gym.

"And the long-term benefit is that they then tend to re-engage with school work because they are much more contented in their life overall.

"We see school results going up and they improve all aspects of their lives."

Ms Leslie said it was also a misconception that boxing was dangerous, especially in the amateur world.

"Most of the time, the youngsters are training, but even when they do box, it is heavily monitored. What I would say is look at the risks facing some of these youngsters, not boxing. The physical risks of drug and alcohol abuse are far greater."

Ms Leslie said she wanted to develop the growing links between schools and clubs and said amateur boxing was booming, with growth in numbers up by 50 per cent since 2008 in the UK. She added that the number of schools which have boxing as a sporting activity had risen in recent years from 20 to 2,000.

She said that in her role as chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Boxing, which acts as a political liaison group for the sport, she had expressed her concerns about the Haye/Chisora brawl to the British Boxing Board of Control.

Bristol boxing legend Jane Couch, who also took part in the debate, praised Ms Leslie's work with clubs in the Bristol area.

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