Images by GGC Media
SADDLEWORTH can now punch its weight after the area’s first boxing club opened its doors.
YFG has set up in what was the Co-operative Building on Manchester Road in Greenfield.
It was based just down the road in Mossley, but head coach David Keane believes having such a facility is something Saddleworth has been waiting for.
He said: “It’s long overdue!
“I’ve walked past this building that many times, driven past it as I was going to our old gym and I’ve always thought, ‘That would be a great place for a boxing gym.’
“How many reasons for you want for having somewhere like this? The first is getting the kids off the street.
“I know because I’ve been one of those kids. You want to do something and these days they’re all on their consoles.
“It just gives you something and it’s not just about fighting. You’re meeting people, you’re making friends, you’re socialising.
“There’s a lot of kids that come in here who maybe have SEND and they love it. It’s great for them and we’ve had lots of interest from the local community.
“This is going to be attracting people we don’t know, who may be the next champion. They’re out here, they don’t know it, we don’t know it, but we want them.
“People may come in here and they might never box, but they come in and it’s a great social thing. It’s a great way to relieve yourself of stress.
“It’s great for us to coach them. It’s discipline and they don’t even know they’re being taught it.
“It just makes people better in life, it improves people, it makes them a better person.”
Luck may have secured the space, but a lot of hard work has gone into converting it into what is now YFG Amateur Boxing Club.
Saddleworth Independent told how the building, once used for storage, was being brought back to life.
And David told of the team effort that has gone into it – and how it will be documented.
He added: “This was dilapidated inside an we’re going to build a scrapbook.
“We’ve got loads of photos, but we’re not quite finished yet in here. We’re going to get more artwork up.
“And when it’s done, we’re going to build a scrapbook up, so everyone will be able to see where it’s come from.
“Scott’s have done a fabulous job for us. They’ve renovated the building – we’ve done all you can see but they made it ready.
“Loads of people have helped. The girls, the parents, everyone’s been fantastic.”
Now ir is in Saddleworth, YFG hopes to breed more success in the area and get people into the ring, with it being popular with women and girls.
Even how David set it up is testament to what the sport can do for people’s fitness.
He told Saddleworth Independent: “I boxed until I was about 23-years-old, then I stopped.
“When I was 40, I went back again. I went to a gym, started getting fit again and there was a pro boxer called Darren Stubbs, who wanted to set an amateur gym up.
“So I joined him with that in and was there until 2023, when I broke off as I wanted to do it myself.
“Matt wanted to do it with me. He was also at Stubbies, we’ve got very similar values about boxing ideas and we like working with each other.
“We’ve always been a bit of a team. We got together, set the gym up and it’s just gone from there.
“We’ve ended up with loads of girls. It’s a bit unusual but they’re are doing well.”
YFG attracted special guests for its opening in former world champion John H Stracey and Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke, who fights for the British heavyweight title on Saturday, November 29.
He told Saddleworth Independent of the impact a boxing club can have on people and its area.
He said: “It was very much a club like this that got me into boxing.
“I was an 11-year-old who wanted to lose a bit of weight and was a little bit low on confidence.
“I walked into one of these places, but the environment, the people, the discipline it gave me and the confidence it gave me developed me into who I am today.
“These guys, these youngsters here, I hope it can do the same for them as it’s done for me.
“Not everyone that walks in this boxing club is going to become a champion, but I believe when you do come in here, you can definitely leave with something.
“You might come in with nothing, but you’re going to leave with something, whether that’s some confidence, some fitness, some life skills.
“And that’s important, you know, that’s important not just for the boxing club, not just for boxing in general, but that’s important for society.
“These places are going to keep people off the streets, they’re going to stop anti-social behaviour, they’re going to get people away from the computers and the screens, keep them healthy and fit and that’s just great for society.
“It helped me with decision-making massively because these volunteers, these coaches, they become like a family and they hold you accountable for things. That’s what really, really helped me, I do believe that.
“I look at youth and I do see a lot of upset. I do see a lot of aggression, I do see a lot of built-up anger – and that’s not all their fault.
“But these places, you know, hit a bag, workout, the endorphins you get, the way it makes you feel, you leave here, you feel a lot better.
“You can have a bad day, a bad week, a bad year, you start coming to one of these places regularly, you get some routine in your life, you start eating healthy, you start being around good people.
“And the thing about the boxing club as well, which I always found was, it opened my eyes to new people, different religions, different backgrounds, people from all walks of life. It just broadens you as a person.”
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