I came close to being victim of deadly knife crime – that’s why I’m spending £1m to stop it, Tyson Fury’s promoter says
TYSON Fury’s promoter Frank Warren says violent crime on UK streets could have changed his life – so he’s spending £1million to stop it.
Frank’s Queensberry outfit is donating the huge sum to BoxWise, a charity which gets youngsters in the ring to keep them out of trouble.
The donation will let the charity double the number of places on its ten-week programme from 1,500 to 3,000.
Legendary promoter Frank announced the donation at the Islington Boxing Club – a stone’s throw from the street where he grew up.
In an exclusive chat at the boxing club, Frank told The Sun: “I remember growing up here on the streets of north London.
“It was really tough and life could have easily been different for me.
“The background that I have, that a lot of these kids have, you get a lot of peer pressure to be the tough guy.
“You want to do this, you want to be that. That’s what you have to take away – that’s not what it’s about.
“I’ll tell you what it is about boxing. When I was a kid in Islington there were no golf clubs, no tennis clubs.
“All kids from working-class backgrounds could do was go and play football or box. Those were really the two sports.
“They weren’t expensive sports to play – football on the grass or on the street, boxing you’d go down to the local gym. It was easy to do.
“It’s not about being tough, it’s about respect. It’s not respecting someone if on the street they’re a tough guy.
“It’s about respecting each other. That’s what boxing does. We’ll have a fight this weekend.
“After that fight those guys will have knocked seven bells out of each other.
“But they’ll have their arms around each other – that’s respect. That’s come about from working in the gym.”
The son of a bookie, Frank grew up in Islington and started out as an unlicensed fixer promoting his second cousin Lenny McLean.
Since then, he has managed or promoted the likes of Prince Naseem, Frank Bruno, Tyson Fury, Chris Eubank, Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton.
He said: “Professional boxers are very important as role models. Kids look up to them and aspire to have their success.
“The thing is with boxers, most of them are approachable.
“Unfortunately in this day and age, you have to go through God knows how many people to speak with footballers.
“When I was a kid, you’d stand outside the Arsenal and get autographs. They don’t do that any more.
“But boxers are quite approachable. They come from the local area so they know people and people can see them and buy into them.”
WARREN P’s
Queensberry is donating £1million to BoxWise to boost its efforts to combat gang and knife crime in some of Britain’s poorest areas.
The charity puts disadvantaged youngsters through a 10-week boxing programme at gyms up and down the country.
Queensberry’s donation will let BoxWise double the spaces on the programme to 3,000.
Frank will also join the charity’s new development board as its chairman.
He said: “We have terrible knife crime and other problems due to the lack of respect that people have towards each other.
“We’re obviously in the boxing business and BoxWise do a lot of brilliant things for the community and for boxing.
“These kids been excluded or have been referred by the police or their teachers. If they weren’t here, they’d be out on the streets.
“They’ve brought them through a programme that has changed their lifestyles, how they behave and the way they interact.
“The way they interact with people, the way they work as a team, the attitude they have to their bodies with obesity and keeping fit.
“Working together from different ethnic backgrounds. All these things – they’re all massive big pluses. It’s all tick, tick, tick.
“Why would anybody not want to get involved? We’re blessed and privileged at Queensberry to be able to do this.”
The thing is with boxers, most of them are approachable
Frank Warren
Frank added: “The fact we’re launching it in Islington where I come from adds a bit of spice to it.
“But this is being rolled out all over the country. BoxWise can now double the spaces they have for kids in the future.
“People are giving their time up to do this. The adults, the coaches, it’s amazing what they do.
“The boxing clubs are part of the community, and they deserve the support of the community.
“If you want to talk about crime and doing things, start at the bottom.
“What BoxWise does is just a revelation – for these kids it’s a revelation.
“We’ll double the spaces to 3,000. We’ll make it happen, it’s a fact of life.
“And then we want to get it from 3,000 to 30,000. Seriously, that’s what it’s about.
“All over Britain. Kids should have opportunities – if you want better citizens, then raise them as better citizens.”
Frank joked that if any of the youngsters at the Islington Boxing Club fancy their chances as a pro, they now know where to come.
But he said: “The boxer of the future could be over there right now, and God bless them if they are.
“But it’s not for me about being a boxer, it’s about the training. It’s about learning about your body.
“Obesity is a big problem in this country – they’ll be learning about nutrition. The whole programme is great.”
LET ME BE FRANK
BoxWise’s Rick Ogden said Frank’s donation will make a “huge difference” to thousands of young people.
Rick told The Sun: “It’s amazing. We’ve actually secured £3million in funding
“Queensberry has pledged £1million, and its donation has been matched.
“With this additional funding, we’re going to be able to double that straight away to more than 3,000 young people.
“It’s not just about the money, it’s about the influence that Queensberry bring.
“Everything from the ambassadors to the annual fundraising event to draw in more money.
“For any charity to be able to tap into that huge level of expertise is really powerful.
“The thing with BoxWise is the opportunity we offer at the end of the ten-week programme.
“We pay for young people to take on further education or employment courses.
“For any young person you’ll have an outcome after ten weeks, but what’s the long term outcome?
“They will change so much, but they will still need that support after ten weeks.”
Rick added: “I really hope that one of the things Frank will bring is being to open some of those doors within the sport as a whole.
“Whether those young people want to carry on boxing, get into coaching or start volunteering in their local communities.
“If we’re bringing thousands of young people through the programme each year, there’s going to be some serious undiscovered talent.
“Could the boxer of the future be here? Never say never. It’s absolutely possible.”