ROCKY ROAD
Boxing club gives kids fighting chance
“It’s about providing an alternative and that’s why boxing should have a bigger place in communities.
“So many kids don’t have respect and discipline any more. They just do what they want and they don’t know how to be humble.
“They don’t appreciate that eightand-a-half-stone boy wearing glasses at the end of the boxing ring is capable of punching holes in you.
“Some kids don’t relate to that as they’ve never been in this kind of environment.
“We get a lot of them coming in with their chests puffed out and thinking they’re the ticket but within six weeks they become humble and respectful and know not to judge a book by its cover.
“Some youngsters don’t have any discipline and there are environmental factors for that.
“We are trying to guide them and put them on a path.”
Lyon’s club has built a reputation for breeding f ighters who are now coming to the fore both in this country and beyond and he believes it’s a by-product of a discipline system and getting kids off the streets.
He said: “I look at the likes of James Sweeney, Gerard McTaggart and Harry McGrenra.
“These three boys have been picked out of hundreds of kids to train as part of a development squad for the Commonwealth Youth Games which is taking place in 2021. They are now high- class international fighters for their age group.
“They are 15 and 16 years old and are multi-Scottish champions.
“Gerard is a British champion who is just back from competing in Russia at the European Games.
“All of these boys have had to start somewhere and that’s why our boxing club and others like it are so invaluable.
“We see so many kids like them who turn up on our doorstep and have lots of potential.
“Many of them arrive on the back of being bullied both at school and in the local area.
“It’s about them trying to turn that corner, regaining their confidence and having something to start feeling good about.”
The Rob Roy club is also about social inclusion and reaching out to a community which Lyon admits is almost unrecognisable from the one he was brought up in as a youth.
He said: “The diversity in our area in the last few decades since I was a boy has been incredible.
“We have Iranians, Palestinians, Pakistanis and a lot of Asian kids who all mix together and then spar with each other.
“That’s so great to see as when I was growing up I only knew one boy who was black. His name was big Stevie.
“The cultural changes and the immigration into Glasgow has made it the norm to have so much diversity and people of different colour arriving in the community.
“We also have some kids from the travelling community coming into the gym.
“We easily have a couple of hundred kids coming through our doors in the average week to do boxing training.
“It’s hard to believe how much it has grown since we formed the club back in 2011.
“The charge for entry is two pounds