Official Kit Sponsor
We are proud to announce Culture Couture as the official kit sponsor for Truth Boxing Club.
We believe supporting local grassroots boxing is important and Culture Couture look forward to working together helping develop future boxing champions and local community projects.
Truth Boxing Club
Truth Boxing Club is home to MTK Gloucestershire in partnership with MTK Global, an Amateur, Professional & Recreational Boxing Club.
Boxing club comes out fighting for knife amnesty
The Truth Boxing Club in Gloucester pitching a ‘gloves up, knives down’ message
A Gloucester boxing club is coming out of its corner over knife crime – ready to fight for what’s right.
The Truth Boxing Club in Westgate Street pitches an amnesty of its own to get knives off the street
Club Boss Amin Khan wants a ‘gloves up, knives down’ message going out alongside the amnesty announced by Gloucestershire Constabulary.
Amin said hundreds of youngsters had used the club since it began four years ago and he hoped they had gained a great deal from their experience.
But he said there had been times when the club did not know of involvement by its members in criminal activities until it was too late.
Keen to to stop knife carrying, Amin said he planned to talk to the police to see if the gym could hold its own weapons amnesty, with members, new or old, encouraged to put the knife they carried when out on the street into a secure container.
Amin said that getting such weapons off the city’s streets would make them safer for everyone.
“They could confidentially put it in that container and potentially save somebody’s life and their lives as well,” he said.
His knife amnesty hope follows similar projects and activities being staged in boxing clubs in bigger cities such as London and Manchester.
The Truth Boxing Club in Gloucester pitching a ‘gloves up, knives down’ message
While aware that knife crime has become a problem in Gloucestershire as well as big cities, Amin said boxing clubs like his provided a positive environment for children as young as five through to adults in their 50s.
The 35-year-old said he would love to coach someone to championship-winning levels but he also took great pride in having an important role to play in helping to keep youngsters on the straight and narrow and away from a life of crime.
“Ultimately, I’m touching many young people’s lives, in terms of being like a father figure, or maybe like an older brother and they can confidentially talk to me about issues,” he said.
Most of the young boxers at the club have not gone on to compete at high levels but they have enjoyed being part of something and gained confidence to deal with things like bullying at school and problems at home.
Amin said: “The gym is like a safe haven. If you’re able to guide the youth of today, you can have such an impact on the future going forward.”
He wholeheartedly backed the bid to reduce knife crime, saying he wanted society to change so that people felt safe to walk on the streets without feeling the need to carry a weapon.
Resources needed to be provided to get youngsters off the streets and into boxing and youth clubs where they could learn the value of discipline, respect for others and improve their mental health through exercise.
He added that it was key to try to understand why someone carried a knife. They might, for instance, have confidence issues.
Finding the root cause and dealing with it through activities such as boxing was a positive way forward.
The club has members from all kinds of different backgrounds and ethnic groups and Amin said that helped encourage integration in the community.
Importance of Grassroots Boxing, Eddie Hearn – British Sports Promoter
Hearn has joined the calls for the government to provide direct funding support for grassroots boxing during the Coronavirus Pandemic. He hopes to get two of the amateur game’s famous graduates, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, to do the same.
There was no place for grassroots sport in the Government’s £300 million Winter Survival Package for sport. But which backed only those losing income through ticket sales.
It’s why England Boxing and other national governing bodies of sport have been calling in a petition. It has almost 45,000 signatures (sign it here), for a Sports Recovery Fund for community sport.
Sport England has provided funding support through grants offered through both lockdowns, as have local authorities through rate relief.
But not all clubs have been able to access the funding, leaving a number of them under threat. Particularly as money received from initial grants is, in some cases, now beginning to run out.
It is cause for concern for Hearn, who has also written an open letter to the government on the matter. He told inews.co.uk at the launch of the National Lottery and ITV’s Miss Out to Help Out project that: “The government’s lack of understanding of reality is so frustrating and boxing always seems to suffer.
“They don’t know anything about boxing clubs or these kids – they are full of tearaways, full of them.
“Every kid that’s in there, if they weren’t in there would be on the street. Would be getting arrested, would be involved in violence, involved in drugs or going the wrong way.
Local Councils and the Community
“I’m worried about us losing these clubs. They’re the beating heart of the sport. People say ‘you should help’ – and we are, but there’s only so much we can give. I’m sure the government don’t want these clubs to go under, but it’s frustrating.
“It seems like a lot of local councillors understand the role they play, but at government level it seems to get kicked back.
“Will the people support a campaign to make sure local boxing clubs in the community can survive?
“They will if I can get myself, AJ (Anthony Joshua), Tyson Fury, all these different people, to support and put pressure on.”
40% of England Boxing-affiliated clubs are in the 20% most deprived areas of the country and Hearn knows the vital roles they play as community clubs.
He added: “I came from a very privileged background and going to a boxing club was the best thing I ever did,” said Hearn.
“I’ve got two daughters and I’d have no problem sending them to an amateur boxing club”. “if I had a son, I would make him go. You talk about government trying to address obesity in kids and mental health, this is another solution for that.”
“Do I go for the (Marcus) Rashford approach, and put the pressure on? I think the answer is yes. Marcus has done an unbelievable job – first and foremost, you have to get the support of the people and he got that.
“It’s not about the future generation of stars and champions, it’s for the people who can say that ‘boxing gave me discipline, structure and respect in my life’.”
Address:Amin Khan Truth Boxing Club38 Westgate StreetGloucesterGL1 2NG
