Boxing leaders hold events across South Yorkshire aimed at KO'ing racism

But while rules in the ring are sometimes bent, and liberties taken, one directive is outlawed...and that is any hint of racism.

In the last few days, boxing gyms across South Yorkshire have put their competitive rivalries aside to bond in a public display of support for community cohesion.

At Glyn Rhodes' Sheffield Boxing Centre in Hillsborough on Saturday, people from all walks of life were invited along to a day of fun and integration.

Former fighters like Andrew Facey, Atif Shafiq, Amer Khan, Sam Sheedy and Jon 'Buster' Keeton were there along with ex-football referee Uriah Rennie.

Glyn said: "It was amazing how many people turned up, many of them from different backgrounds and just wanting to get together and have a good time.

"We even had a cricket team here, which is a first.

"There were no speeches or deep conversations about the riots and problems, we just wanted to keep it positive.

"The kids loved it and so much food was on offer that people had to take it home with them.

"I really think we should do this sort of thing regularly and show everyone in the community that in boxing everyone is equal."

Earlier in the week, Atif Shafiq and Abdul Majid put on a like-minded get-together at their Unity gym in Aldwarke.

One of their guests was Rotherham trainer Jamie Kennedy, who is doing more than most to turn the lives around of youngsters who joined in scenes like those at a Manvers hotel housing immigrants, recently.

Kennedy works hand in glove with the council, inspiring children who may be attracted to the scenes of disorder that shook the country.

The boxing boss insists the kids involved at the Manvers disturbance are too young to have been politically motivated.

He said: "A lot of young lads who were in balaclavas and throwing bricks were not actually racist - that's what many of us at the meeting agreed on.

"They were tearaway kids wanting excitement. The wanted to be thugs, because as they see it, being a thug is cool.

"They will have gone there because it was exciting to them to be near trouble."

Jamie who was brought up in the racially-mixed gym run by the late Brendan Ingle in Wincobank, said: "If we could work with these kids then maybe, as they grow up, we'll get them to one day ask themselves: 'Why did I throw bricks at a hotel with immigrants inside it?'

"Those involved who are 25 years old and above, they know why they have gone, we could call them idiots or whatever, they are making choices to be there for a racist reason.

"But the youngsters can learn from boxing environments. They can walk the same path into the gym as people of different colour and beliefs, knowing it doesn't really matter what the other person is or believes in. It would be nice to think we could turn them around."

Jamie established his Millennium gym in 2000.

"Running alongside that, I am involved in helping a youth custody programme, they (the authorities) have already spoken to me and potentially I could be getting kids who were caught doing this."

He said his building was big enough to house two gyms, and "disengaged" children would be mentored in one specific area initially, he said, with the eventual aim of full integration.

The gym boss explained that he offers "alternative provision" for Rotherham Council, using "boxing as a tool."

"I work with kids who are in and out of trouble all the time. They are magnets to trouble; they are bored.

"Kids like that don't know the reason why they were there (in a riot situation.)

"But by being there will have made links, what is this EDL, they might say?

"They could go the wrong way but we want to get them early in an environment where they are working alongside Christians, Muslims, Africans, Serbs; there is every national in our gyms and across Rotherham itself.

"Next time somebody wants to set fire to a hotel because there are immigrants in it they are probably not going to do that because they have learned better."

Dinnington Community Boxing Club played a leading part at the Unity event and posted: "Huge thanks to all our colleagues from clubs across Rotherham and Sheffield for answering our call in showing solidarity in the wake of the recent unrest.

"I am a true believer that boxing can unite and take a lead in positive change in our communities, by educating our young people and setting an example."

They said the event: "Was a good first step in the process of closer working and potential new partnerships.

"DC Boxing was born out of the community, we are more than just a boxing club, and will ALWAYS stand up and lead so nobody is left behind."

Independent Councillor Councillor Jodi Ryalls was also at Aldwarke and thanked the gym leaders for hosting it.

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"No matter what is going off in the world today together at Unity we stand united.

"What you do for our children and adults within our communities is absolutely amazing and you have been inspirational men on many people’s lives with the positive impact you have made on many across the Rotherham area.

"Boxing gyms from across our borough joined forces as well as the police and other local councillors to come together and say we all stand as one regardless."