Muir stars but Dina’s off menu
SHADOW Sports Minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan claims boxing clubs can help curb the knife crime epidemic sweeping London and the rest of the UK.
Fresh figures released by the Metropolitan Police showed that stabbings are up by 16 per cent.
At least 51 people have been fatally stabbed this year, with the capital’s murder rate outstripping New York’s early in 2018 after a spike in knife attacks.
Boxing has its fair share of detractors, but Allin-Khan, the Labour MP for Tooting in south-west London, believes clubs like the one she uses in Balham have a major part to play in helping to reduce such alarming statistics.
She said: “The amount of knife crime we have seen this year shows it is really important to get young people into boxing clubs.
“It’s about getting the message out that there is another way to feel like you belong.
“You don’t have to be in a gang. Come to a local club and get involved – now it’s more important than ever.
“So much of gang culture and violence is about a sense of belonging. It’s about telling young people that, if you can gain respect in the ring, you don’t have to get respect from stabbing on the street.
“You can gain from being part of a team, a community team, which trains together and boxes together.
“I would go further than to say boxing clubs are important in terms of getting youngsters off the streets, I would say they are vital. Firstly, they are in the heart of their communities, it’s not just about boxing, it’s about family.
“It’s where local young people can come to make friends, engage with sport and get mentorship.
“But at Balham, as with many other boxing clubs, they also invite whitecollar workers to come and train.
“It’s about fitness, it’s about community cohesion and it’s also about getting young people off the streets and involved in physical activity and mentorship programmes.”
Allin-Khan works as a junior doctor at St George’s Hospital in her constituency when Parliament is in recess, but insists she never feels conflicted between the dangers of boxing and her medical background.
She added: “In fact, I feel the contrary.
“Because I sit ringside when there are shows, I know just how seriously they take safety.
“We sit ringside with oxygen, often with paramedics, and there’s always a doctor.
“Rules are followed and safety is put in place and, in all the years I have been working as a doctor in boxing, I haven’t seen very serious injuries that you wouldn’t see in any other contact sport.”
Allin-Khan, who started boxing while at Cambridge University, said: “Boxing clubs need to get the funding to continue this good work.
“There is a misunderstanding that boxing is only for young men, but anyone can get involved. It is about engaging with the community and all the good that can bring.”