But Brendan Ingle’s gym in Wincobank has always punched well above its weight on the international boxing stage, with the great man training a slew of British and world champions including the likes of ‘Prince’ Naseem Hamed and Kell Brook. The gym is still going strong despite the man who made it such a globally renowned cradle of the sport having sadly died in 2018.
Here are 13 photos of the famous gym and the people who have made it tick over the years.
9. Man's world
Making her mark in a man's world of the boxing gym is Val Baguley who is now a boxing coach and judge at Brendan Ingle's and has a great rapport with the lads such as Barry, 2005 Photo: Glenn Ashley
10. Naseem Hamed
A young Naseem Hamed training at Brendan Ingle's gym in 1992 Photo: Staff
11. St Thomas Gym
Brendan Ingle outside the St Thomas Gym, Newman Road, Wincobank, with Scott Booth, President (left) and Carl Luckock, Chairman, (centre), February 2006 Photo: Steve Ellis
12. Unveiling the plaque
Unveiling of a plaque to Brendan Ingle outside the Ingle Gym in Wincobank in 2019 Photo: Scott Merrylees