Owner boxes clever to get club ready to welcome all

A DERELICT building which has been abandoned for around 15 years has been transformed into Crediton’s first dedicated boxing gym and club.

Former soldier and amateur boxer Jamie Parker has taken on the lease of a former business in Mill Street to offer a venue for competitive boxing training and also boxing-based fitness training for all.

Bang Bang Boxing is located next door to furniture charity Refurnish. It is owned by Morrisons and has previously been a garage, launderette and furniture repair shop.

Its transformation into a boxing gym began just under two months ago and it opened last weekend.

Jamie, 39, has spent the past couple of years working as a carer for a young man in Sandford. It was only then that he discovered there was no boxing venue in the local area so he saved hard since to open one.

He said: “When I was able to start renovating the building I couldn’t even open the door because of how much that needed to be cleared out of there.

“It will be an England-registered boxing club, so people will be able to compete within the England amateur boxing ranking with local, regional and national competitions and potentially up to Olympic level.

“I will be running an amateur club which is the competitive side, but all sorts of people will be able to access the facilities. There will be over-50s boxercise, women’s only and menonly sessions and family classes which will be boxing exercise so non-contact boxing.”

Jamie also shares his skills in the wider community by visiting care homes and is hoping to soon teach sessions at a local school.

He said: “I have a 101-year-old client I do seated boxing exercises with, so boxing really is for all ages from five to 100 plus!

“Boxing gives lots of things to different people. Traditionally it’s a sport that is generally taken up by people who have lost their way a bit. What boxing offers is not just fitness but also focus, self-esteem and pathways into different things.”

Among those who helped Jamie is local mural painter Andrew Alleway. He has donated two large boxingthemed art panels that have been hung inside the entrance.