Fight family battle back
DALE HELP AT FIRE FUNDRAISER
IN TIMES of darkness, there are few greater communities than the boxing world.
Over the last 12 days, Mick Delaney’s phone has barely stopped ringing after the Dale Youth Amateur Boxing Club, where he is the legendary coach, was destroyed.
The club’s recently refurbished gym was at the foot of the Grenfell Tower, where many lost their lives in a horror blaze last week.
“My phone and my wife’s phone have barely stopped ringing with people from other clubs offering help,” said Delaney, who has been training champions at Dale Youth for almost 40 years.
“They’ve been saying, ‘Mick, if you need a pair of gloves or bags, just let us know’, but we should be able to get ourselves back going on our own.”
Delaney had locked up the amateur club at about 9.45pm last Tuesday. A few hours later he received a call to say it was on fire.
The gym that world super-middleweight champions James DeGale and George Groves, as well as countless other senior and junior ABA champions came from, was gone.
But one of the victims of the ferocious fire was a man called Tony Disson, whose three sons boxed for the club and who used to regularly help out by tidying the gym. That put Dale Youth’s loss in perspective.
“People lost their lives, that is the real tragedy,” said Delaney.
But the boxing world is not just willing to help a club in need as some members of that gym have been helping to raise money for those that are really in a dark place.
Lee Eaton, who works for professional promotional outfit MTK London and is not involved with Dale, set up an impromptu event on Wednesday to raise funds for the families of the victims and those who lived in the tower.
Word quickly spread through social media and over 300 people turned out on a green space in White City, with coaches from Dale Youth among those offering the public a few rounds on the pads.
“I wanted to help in any way I can and the money will go straight to the families that were affected by the awful event,” said Eaton.
Big-name professional fighters also showed up, including British super-flyweight champion Charlie Edwards, Rio Olympian Lawrence Okolie and unbeaten prospect Reece Bellotti, to train with the kids and collect donations.