A NEW PROPOSAL
Ringside Charitable Trust hoping to gain the Board’s support
IN a nice gesture of solidarity, the heading on the front of the latest Punch Lines – Essex EBA’S monthly newsletter – has been re-set in blue and yellow, the colours of the Ukraine flag. To quote the editorial: “This is just a small token to say that they are in our thoughts.”
The front page also features a picture of former British featherweight champion Bobby Neill, who died recently.
Like so many EBAS, Essex is a staunch supporter of the Ringside Rest and Care Home, and the newsletter reproduces Dave Harris’ latest letter to the Board of Control, regarding the possibility of a levy on boxers’ purses to go towards the project. Dave (the prime mover behind the scheme, as well as the Hastings EBA Chairman) puts forward an interesting idea, which could solve the problems raised by the Board – that all new boxers contract automatically to donate one per cent of their taxable earnings, tax deductible, with an Opt Out tick box, thus making it a voluntary contribution. This to be divided equally between the Board’s Benevolent Fund and the Ringside Charitable Trust.
To me, this sounds an excellent idea. The Board has always said that any such donations would have to be voluntary, and this way they would be. It would be interesting to see what percentage of boxers would be willing – the late Nosher Powell campaigned for years to have a percentage of boxers’ purses put into a pension fund, but in general the boxers weren’t interested.
Chairman Tommy Burling contributes a glowing report of London EBA’S recent 50th Anniversary Lunch, and says how honoured he was to receive an award for Outstanding Services to LEBA. It was well-deserved – Tommy has always been a great supporter of the EBA movement generally, and was one of the founders of the Essex Association. He and Secretary Raymond Lee have been putting together the excellent LEBA scrapbooks – one for each decade of its existence – and the third one will be available soon.
There’s a comprehensive piece on the recent Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall world super-lightweight title bout – and the performances of the referee and ringside judges. That’s all to the good – I’m continually stressing the need for EBAS to show they follow today’s boxers, and are not simply into reminiscing about the past.
Leicester EBA is another enthusiastic supporter of the Ringside Charitable Trust, and the headline of its current newsletter is “Skip for cash.” It goes on to publicise
the “Skip into Spring” initiative – amateur clubs and gyms are invited to take part in sponsored skipping throughout April, with half the money raised going to the Trust and half to the club or gym. Sounds a great idea – and each club or gym taking part will receive a certificate signed by Dave Harris and former three-weight beltholder Duke Mckenzie MBE.
Other initiatives include the gala charity night in Orlando, Florida, on May 7, organised by the Moth Foundation – proceeds to be split between Ringside and Kids Beating Cancer. Several former champions from Britain will be there, including Leicester’s Chris Pyatt and Tony Sibson, Duke Mckenzie and Eamonn Loughran.
And congratulations to former soldier and Scotland amateur international Jock Mcinnes, another keen supporter of the
Trust. Over the years Jock (now 66) has undertaken a number of sponsored walks and other events for charity, and last year he scaled Mount M’goun in Morocco to raise money for the Trust. Now he’s planning to tackle the 1,205m Puerto Blanquillo, in Spain – again in aid of the Trust. Tremendous.
And Ralph Oates, author and one-time regular contributor to BN’S letters page, is generously donating the royalties from his book, “A Question of Boxing” to the Trust. The book contains 1,500 questions on boxing and can be obtained from Amazon and good bookshops. Normal price is £12.95 – but if you enter the code OATE25 at checkout you’ll get 25 per cent off. Well done, Ralph.