Lucas Williams, Reporter
When I say boxing, what do you think of? Maybe cauliflower ear. Maybe Muhammed Ali. Yet I would wager everyone reading envisions violence. I’ll be the first to admit, from an outsider’s perspective the sport presents itself as two fighters unleashing a flurry of unbridled rage. But what if I told you boxing is often a saving grace for young boys (and girls) in developing communities from being led astray; Is that even possible?
To understand the bigger picture, let’s take a detour and acknowledge for most New Canaan is a bubble. Those who have lived here their whole life know little of the struggles present in developing communities, and probably never will. Those who moved from other places are likely to have a broader lens on these issues – and if that is you, I hope my points resonate even further.
Now, I could sit here and talk big about where I’m from and the differences between my early life and your average “New Canaanite’s”, but the reality is I have spent the past 5 years living in New Canaan.
To see through an alternate lens, I took a trip to Wythenshawe in Manchester, England. Now Wythenshawe is by no means the roughest part of Manchester (Moss Side takes the cake), but it’s no New Canaan. For ease of comprehension, think of it as Bridgeport.
I spent a couple of days training with the lads at Jimmy Egan’s Boxing Academy, some as young as 7 years old. The boxing gym is esteemed as it trained the Gypsy King himself Tyson Fury in his youth, who currently has a record of 33-0-1 fighting as a heavyweight. Much of his family continues to train at Jimmy Egan’s.
In my tenure, I spent time with some of the coaches and fighters to dissect what boxing has provided to the kids in the surrounding community. The most recurring answer? Mentorship.
Mentorship is hugely important in many aspects of life when trying to do something new, but it is even more important for youth. Young people lack life experience in comparison to older people, and a mentor has the power to lend their own experience as insight – which can have profoundly positive or negative effects.
The coaches at Jimmy Egan’s focus on sating the desire for accomplishment and belonging through discipline and boxing, as opposed to the alternative of joining a gang. The gym fosters a space where fighters are encouraged to apply their youthful passion to training and rigorous conditioning – and more importantly, a place where they can feel accepted.
The home life of many boys and girls from these communities can oftentimes be very poor – riddled with substance abuse, domestic abuse or other mistreatments. The gym and by extension coaches take the place of a parental figure for these kids who would otherwise be left lost.
An example of this can be seen through one of the coaches, Mark Greenlee, who often takes his fighters out on weekends to train. I went out with him and a 12-year-old fighter named Jaime, who has a fight in three weeks, on one of these sessions. It consisted of a 5-mile run, followed by three rounds of sprints and finished with a core workout.
The aforementioned training leads to another key thing boxing provides. Discipline. Training is five times a week, and the fighters show up each and every night – despite how gruelling it is. This commitment builds discipline, a vital life skill even outside of boxing. As one of the coaches put it, “Motivation can take you far, but once it runs out – you plummet. Discipline never falters.”
I find it important to also set right a common misconception of boxing being a male sport. Male-dominated? Sure. But Jimmy Egan’s had its fair share of girls who were treated just the same as the boys. It really felt like a community, where all were welcome and pushed to achieve what they could. Beginner, amateur or professional? Male or female? It didn’t matter.
And of course, there was a generous amount of competition in the form of spars. Spars are used as both a way to gain in-fight experience and further emphasize discipline. Fighters are expected to inflict no serious damage to their sparring partner, whilst still connecting hits. To do such requires a surprising level of restraint and control over your strikes.
With all the clear benefits of boxing, is it not a wonder why we lack true communal gyms like Jimmy Egan’s in our town and surrounding ones? Sure we are blessed not to have many of the issues these gyms aim to provide salvation from – yet that does not mean they would be irrelevant in our areas.
It would definitely be something New Canaan is not used to. Most communal gatherings consist of sitting down and getting food or coffee. I suppose when it is looked at like that, the prospect of introducing standing around the ring and fighting seems almost radical.
Yet, if boxing were brought to New Canaan, in at least some form, I would anticipate it would find great success – bringing health and social benefits. All it takes is to realize that different perspective.
Boxing is not a blood sport; merely a method for a community to come together and an invaluable teacher of key life skills.
