5 Live Boxing with Steve Bunce - Inside Dale Youth Boxing Club

Episode Date: December 9, 2024

Buncey travels to West London to visit one of the city's oldest boxing clubs. He’s joined by three generations of the club's legacy: world champion George Groves, legendary trainer Mick Delaney, and Lucas Rohrig, who will be making his professional debut this weekend. Together, they discuss the gym's rich history, the challenge of relocating after the Grenfell Tower fire, and how some of the UK’s top boxing talent began their careers at the iconic club.

This is Five Live Boxing. So every now and again, we have to do a pod that's slightly different. And this is one of those slightly different pods. I'm going to start by giving you a bit of news some Saturday night at Wembley. Big Lawrence O'Cohle, the former cruiserweight and also bridgerweight world champion, gained, wait for it, 60 pounds. And fought as a heavyweight, 260 pounds he weighed. He needed about 134 seconds to take care of a guy from Germany called Hussein Mohammed.

He wasn't much. That's why Lawrence got rid of him very quickly. But that wasn't really the main event. The main event was Denzel Bentley winning the British middleweight title, not for the first time, not for the second time, but for the third time. O'Cole and Bentley will both be in, well, probably world title fights in 2025. And the real part of the part,

the part of the change in pace, and it's a lovely change in pace, is I went along to the Westway, near Notting Hill, to a place called Dow You, to a boxing club. And I sat down in a chair, I looked through a window, and there I could see Grenfell Tower. And in Grenfell Tower, that's where Dow Youth used to be based. They had to move out of Grenfell Tower when the fire took place. And I sat down with three generations of Dow Youth

Veterans. Mick Delaney, 50 years he's been involved with the club. George Groves, amateur champion, world champion, Dow Youth Boy. And a new kid who's about to make his professional debut called Lucas Rowrig. I sat down with them. to get a little insight and a change of pace, the type of thing that we like to deliver. I'm Steve Bunce, and this is a very special 5-life boxing. So I'm inside the gym now. It's a modern gym, it's a new gym,

but in some ways it's still an ancient gym. It still feels like an ancient gym, and that's got nothing to do with the company that's in front of me before anybody gets upset. I've got three, I'm going to call it three generations of Dow youth people in front of me. Different mothers all the way along the line. Well, I think they're all, maybe we'll find out a bit more.

You never know, do you? One never knows. I've got, on my left, Mick Delaney, who first walked through the doors at one of the Dow Youth Clubs before it was in this building. 50 years ago, I've got George Groves, who walked through the doors at Grenfell Tower, which is just out of that window. Lord knows how many years, I suppose, 20, something.

And then I've got Generation number three, Lucas Rorig, who walked through the doors about four or five years ago when you were 16, 17, 18, something like that. 20-odd now, 21 years of age. It's three generations. And the reason why we're here, well, simple reason really, is Lucas is turning pro,

George is working from in the gym, and Mick worked with George before George won British titles and world titles and loads of ABA titles. It's all connected. Mick, first of all, let me ask you this question. When you first walked through the door at Dalew all those years ago, where was it then? Was that when it was in the crematorium?

Yes, it was in the back of Avadale Park. and it was like an old walk after the war and during the war they used to put the bodies in the wall there and how long had you been in there Mick oh so before before you got there it was already in there oh yeah they were trending in there Dal youth was it then

Dal youth was old isn't it I mean it's not like it's like a hundred plus years old and it was if I'm not mistaken George was telling me earlier it covered all sports at once upon a time no it did they it was a club, table tennis, football, whatever. So the boxing was only small. But the boxing was in that, drained in that old mall, which, to be honest, you couldn't swing a cap around in there.

In all fairness, sometimes in the ground floor at Grenfell, where you were for whatever, 16, 17, 18 years, that was quite tight as well. That was quite compact, wasn't it? That was small. A tiny ring there. I never measured the ring there. George, let me ask you, how big was the ring in Grenfell?

It was intimate. It was a nice ring. It was exactly what you need. Lucas, let me take. It was about six foot by six foot. Trust me, mate. All right? Yeah, well, produce a lot of champions, Steve.

And I think that was, you know, that was of my first impression when I joined. And I joined pre-Gremfeld, believe it or not. I was in the morgue. Were you in the morgue as well? I was in the morgue. I didn't realize that. Was when I joined 10 years of age.

Mickey was in there, the head coach. We had Peter Carson and a few other coaches down there. And it was hustle bustle. You know, it was, you had to fight for every inch within the gym. And it bred for the right mindset of boxing, really. All the lads were in there working together, pushing each other along. So we're blessed to be in Notting Hill area.

So we're outside. We're running the hills every week. And when we're not in there, we're in the gym, slipping and sliding, trying to dodge the punches, dodge each other's punches, dodge swinging bags, pads and everything else. Lucas, once I remember about 15, 16 years ago, going to Dalew. And so George was still an amateur. And yeah, I think both you and James DeGal were still amateurs at the time.

And it was the session you were in. So it was the sort of senior session. And no word of a lie. And I mean this, Lucas, you couldn't move in there. There were like 7, 8, 9, 10, 15 kids gloved up all trying to get in the ring, all trying to get in the ring, all trying to do the sessions. Sweat was dropping off the ceiling. But you walked into this gym,

but you actually started boxing somewhere else, Lucas, didn't you, first of all? Yeah, I had my first amateur fire all-stars boxing gym. There's no distance, is it? Yeah, so about 15 minutes, 20 minutes away from here. And it was about five minutes away from where I live in Kilburn. But yeah, I was a lot luckier where when I first come to here, as you can see, it's a modern set-up. know, spacious, great ring.

So I was quite lucky to the fact where I've heard lots of stories about Grenfell. I was all cramped up. But, you know, he's done his job, but created champions. And I'm sure this modern setup will do the same. So, George, Lucas is fighting on Saturday. It'd be his first fight, and it's a hard fight on paper. Joel McIntyre's really seasoned, really experienced. but I know from talking to Mick a few years ago,

you've been sneaking down here on a Sunday just doing quiet sessions working with the kids, having you anyway, but you actually working directly with Lucas? Yeah, so, you know, I'm... Dowell you through and through, Steve. I love this club. I know, and Mickey is my idol, you know,

he's the man who led the ship. So I felt like I had to be part of the gym. I had to come down and visit him every week. It was a good excuse to come down and see him and working with the guys, so his seniors are in Sunday mornings now, Like when we were tiny, it was the junior Sunday mornings, but now it's the seniors Sunday mornings,

and yeah, I was putting them through their paces. Obviously, trying to give a bit back, really, trying to give a bit back. And then for selfish reasons, getting that buzz of being in the gym, working with exciting young prospects and just hungry, hungry people, always said to any of the champions of the gym,

anyone who wants to turn professional and wants a chat or a word or a bit of advice if you wanted to contact or something. If there's any way I can help, I would always do it. And with Lucas, I think he's just a bit too special. Steve, I couldn't let anyone else have him. So when he was ready to turn pro, I said, look, I spoke with Mickey. So what do you think?

You always got to check with Mickey if they're ready. He says he's more than ready. He's a superstar in the making. So, yep, me and Lucas set upon this journey now, and he makes his debut this weekend, which we're really excited about. And we're building from the ground up, Steve. So like we're still in the gym. Sunday mornings, he's still down here.

You know, he's still mixing with the lads. And we still base ourselves out of this gym. We're in here almost every day. So you go somewhere else we have for sparring, but it's just still your base. I mean, obviously if sparring can come in, but we've traveled for sparring, we've immersed ourselves in other pro gyms and which is what is his job right now. But so many of the boys from here at Dauu for coming to the debut, they're super excited. They're more excited than me and he is

because, you know, this is how you build club and this is what it's all about. I remember at the Haringay Box Cup, 2020. I was talking to Lucas about it. It was definitely 2022. Mickey coming over and says, Steve, Steve, Steve, stick him in. Watch this kid, watch this kid, whatever. You're 81 key, key, were you 81 key?

86. 86. 86, ring free, bout number like 9558, because there's like 100 bouts that day. So I did watch him, and he was a bit special. Can you remember George walking in to the morgue? Can you remember? Yeah, I can.

What was he like that? He'd been a kickbox or a karate kung fu boy or something, hadn't he first? Yeah, he come in with his father. And, uh, old Erie Harris, he used to do our matchmaking. You remember Ernie, yeah. George's dad said, well, yeah, we'd just come to have a look. He said, oh, right. Do you like what you see or what?

Because he was a bit temperamental, only right? So George's dad said, yeah, yeah, quite. small but we're quite impressed a bit sparring going on you know so they had a look I was what George's dad said about the gym so it's small but we're quite impressed small but we're impressed yeah

he goes yeah they seem to be all working for but Steve we had three bags in there small little ring and touchwood for me Peter Carson training the boys

we got champions out of it, but you would never think, looking at the gym, you'd produce anything. But lucky enough, George joined us, which was as a lad, and he came in, and the pewter boy said, well, what are you done, mate? He said, I've done a bit of kickboxing. So he come up, me, he said, hey, he's saying he's done a bit of kickboxing. I said, well, if the boy says he's done it, he's done it. So we're in the ring, part of the week, George was. I'm doing a bit of pads with George and the other coach, Peter Carson, said, what do you think of him? I said, yeah,

very forward for the little time he's been out. No. I said, what do you mean? Nah. He better stick to his kickboxing. Didn't fancy him. Because he'll never make a boxer as long as he's got all up his ass. Do you or not, George? Yeah, that's Carson. He's still paying for that comment now. He gets a show all the time.

We get them wrong, so. Yeah, yeah. I mean, hopefully that bit don't get bleeped out. But he says it was his tactic all along to wind you up. To motivate you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, he swung it safe. That's what he done.

He said, when he started winning things, then winning titles, I said, George, Peter, that's a little frequent word you looked down on in the ring. He didn't have a chance. Yeah, but I don't it, wind him up. Yeah. I'm calling that as BS because he, without a doubt, got it wrong. It's as simple as that. It's motivation.

That's one thing. But I ain't having that. Now one thing, there was a great line. Well, I'll say great line. It makes it seem like I'm bigging myself up. The line was from you in the book I use. And you said, men like Mick Delaney, they don't need a fancy gym.

They don't need anything fancy. All they need is a bit of earth and a boxer and they can work with them. And that's what you are, really. I don't want to embarrass you in front of you. That's what you are. As good as this gym is, you could train people on a bit of rubble

or you could train people in basically a Doss House, which you did when the Grenfell was being refurbished, we'll talk about that in a minute, and you ended up in the car park down the road, a converted car park, where we were going to get to go to Guinness, I think, had to throw all the drunks and Dosses and druggies out, is that correct?

That's true. That was all sleeping in there, yeah. We put them in the back room, there was a back room there. I said, right, if you've got asleep, you're all going there. But still got on with our training, pushed them out of the way, and away we went, you know, Steve. In all fairness

This area This whole Dow youth Not in Dow and not in Hill It's a strange old area It's a mixed area It's fair to say It's a real It's an up and down area

A million dollar flats over here And then a council estate over there There was a council state Between the gym And where you lived You wouldn't even You wouldn't even cut through When you were young

You had to go to a long way round Because it was a little bit tricky A bit diced at a state You know what I mean down by Yeah I don't think it's there anymore But you had to run quick It's fair, it's where the Westfields is now. You got where around you.

Oh, yeah, it kept you fit, kept you on your toes. And that looks, I heard something about you, that you're local, yeah? You know, so you're local. You're not far ago. But then suddenly, just after you've had a few fights, you end up living out in Walthamstow or Leyton Stone, like an hour and a bit away. So you're commuting in when you're 16, 17, like about two and a half three hours a day.

That's going some. Yeah, it was a sacrifice at the time, you know, underground about two hours to get here. But I saw my future with Dell. I didn't want to move to no other gym. You know, I saw my future here. I had the best coach I had Mick. I had George coming on a Sunday.

So for me, it was worth a sacrifice. I said, you know, it's two-hour journey. It's long now, especially as 17-18 year old. You're thinking, oh, you know, and it's expensive. Don't be on a chew, in it. No car, no chance of a car. Yeah. But I didn't want to move to any other gym.

I said, this is a place for me. This is where I see my future as a boxer, as an athlete. And, yeah, it was worth all the journey. Had to bump a couple trains, you know, because it was expensive at the time. But that two-hour journey, it was worth it, and it's paying off now. That's commitment. Paying off now. And George, you've been taking Lucas around, different gyms, getting from Sparway.

Now, there's a decent list of fighters you're working with. And have you noticed over the last, say, six months an improvement in his head and an improvement in physically? No, absolutely. There's Yusuf from next door. He's a star in the making, so he's just knocking, I think. So there's someone at the door from the community

getting the next door called Yusuf. He's outside shadow boxing. Go on, Sam. Oh, yeah. Go on, Yusuf. I tell you, the only problem is he might be older than Mike Tyson. Yeah. He's definitely older than Mike Tyson.

I mean, he's desperate to get in. He can't, oh, any minute now, but we're going to have Yusuf in here, shadow. boxing. He hasn't been sparring with Lucas. He hasn't. He's one of the ones who hasn't. We've been a much better sparring for him. But I mean, it's

you can say it's a blessing of Lucas to have these experiences, but it's by right because he's that good. He's already moved around with two world champions in his current division. Chris Billum Smith, obviously he's been, you know, he's sadly lost last week, but prior to that,

he's been in the ring with him. He's been in the ring with Jai Hopataya. You know, so we had a call last, literally for a day to go, it was his last spa before his last fight in Saudi. He was in London for a week. Do you want to come get some rounds with arguably the number one in the division? Before I'd even got off the phone, before I even had a chance to decide whether that was a good idea or not, Steve.

Lucas is looking at me. I know what he's thinking. I know what he's saying. So I went, yeah, that's the upper tire team. They want sparring tomorrow. He's like, yep, let's do it. What time? I'm ready.

Because that was that, George, because the rules are that Jai's a hard spa. Jai is a hard spa. You know, Jai takes no prisons, but neither does Lucas. And then afterwards, I'm sure he wrote my saying, and he said it since in interviews and whatnot. But he said, that's the best bit of sparring. I've had the entire camp. And they were desperate to keep us on the side.

They want more action. So, you know, Lucas isn't just an aggressive fight. He's not just, you know, a stubborn fight. He's working on becoming the complete fighter. And I think, you know, already in the past six months of him, now training and thinking and fighting like a professional he's come on so much

we're getting feedback every time and he's done rounds with Shev Clark now who's arguably not far off world level he's been there with Ben Whittaker Craig Richards plenty of big names vastly more experience than he is

and he more than holds his own and he's just making the improvements that I would love to see him but he hasn't even know his pro debut and he's sparred two world champions and held his own and he'd been invited back. He was at a sparring Joshua Bawazzi last week.

Bwazzi wasn't even supposed to be sparring. He looked and he went, that looks like a good bit of sparring for Callum Smith. He's got his big fight. So he thought, let me get in the ring and have a few rounds. The dimensions are really similar, aren't they? Yeah, that's it. So he had a few rounds.

He's like, right, well, I need to bring you to the States. So I think, you know, we'll be expecting the phone to ring for that sort of sparring. So that's nice. Really excited. He's a top prospect, Steve. You know, you know me. I don't chase lost causes, and I only gravitate towards quality.

Mick's to say, Mick produces him. I'm Nicking his fighters now. I've got to try and keep him on side. And it's a really exciting time. Really, really exciting time. Mick, I want to ask you a little bit about, not what happened at Grenfell, but I want to ask you about that period

when the two boys in the gym, two top boys, men that were in England squads, G.B squads, would go on both to win world titles and there they were in your gym under the same roof, waiting to get in the same ring, both at the same weight in the same club. So if one club

has two world champions during a 30 year period, it's not bad going. You had two world champions during a five or six year period where they were together at shows together in cars and boxed each other I think at Brent Town Hall. What was it about that James de Gao and

George Groves? What was that like? Because I was around a little bit and I kept being told, you know, don't mention this, don't ask this, don't ask that. That was quite incredible to have two kids at the same way. We'd both go on to do so much in the same club at the same time. Yeah, well, what it was, Jamesie Goal was 20 years of age, and he'd already won two elite, AJ titles. George was only 18.

You can imagine how many rounds they spar together. but as the sparring was going Chunky, I used to call him, James Gill. He was in front of George, obviously, at the time but as they sparring, worked together in the gym, pads, whatever, this was closing. And when it comes to this particular ABA, I said to George, leave it this year, you're only 18.

Hopefully Chunky can go on and win three elite ABA tails. but they went in a little shower room we had one at a time, you could have a shower and there was a few words said and George came out and he said Mick put me in and apparently a boy used to box for me, Lee Beavers said no Chungie's been giving it big what he's going to do shouldn't be in the same ring as him

do you want to come in the ring and it got a bit silly so George said now put me in Mick and that's where we went and that's a train at different times they split their training around so that they didn't bump into each other all the time when I knew they were going to box each other obviously Steve

we had another two good middle weights Simon O'Donnell and Louis Reed they were two top so we had four good middleweights so it was easy for sparring so what we'd done

kept George and him away for a while until they boxed and you know what happened then he'd give it large chunky and he got beat And then as pros they fought again and there's that famous picture

outside Grenfell between the two of them George's got a suit on and in the background there's the tower without the cladding and that's that picture really Yeah it really catches you when you watch that picture

and I know that there's some choice words we've said some choice words in the past about it but then let's we'll go back to that but so when when you box there's pros George at that point I think you both said, look, I've got nothing really against him, but just don't like him and he doesn't like me. Now, then your boxers pros, ridiculous fight.

You're having, I think, your 10, 4, you're 12, and he's having his 10th or 12, and he's having his 10th or 12. It's just ridiculous. O2 sold out. It's like nothing. We haven't seen anything like it since, and it was just ridiculous. It was just lunatic. And you win that one. It's tight and close, but, you know, I thought you said it on the night.

The Chunky's never really forgiven me for thinking he didn't win that fight. I just thought you won it. Now, you bumped into him recently. didn't you? There's a picture of your two of you, like, in Westfield, and it's really weird, because it's like 20 or years. What was that like? Because it's genuinely, him and junkie is genuine. It's not like, it's not he said, she said, throwing toys out of the pram. It was, you know, it was, it wasn't hate. It was just, they just couldn't be together. Yeah, I mean, when you're fighting, it is intense. The rivalries are real.

You've got to, and you've got to live and breathe it. Like, I, I quite enjoy that, Steve. I know lots of fans like to see fighters fight and then shake hands after. But I quite like that it means so much to someone that sometimes it's hard to move on. It's hard to forgive. But years later, we've both retired. We've both settled down. Both working with fighters. Chunky's working with fighters as well.

Right, there you go. Yeah. So both working, both in the gym maybe in that regard. And yeah, I saw him. I knew I was going to see him sooner or later. So I was half happy that I saw him and it wasn't for a work engagement where we sort of had to break the...

Which would be really tough. Glaring at each other for four hours in the studio. No, thanks. We just had a little chat, a little catch-up and he asked, I said, I'm in the gym, he asked how Mickey was and sort of things that you'd hoped with a bit of a more mature head you would hope for.

So it was cool, yeah, and I think he's doing his thing now. He's in the gym, he's punching, so I don't know if he's thinking about, fighting soon or whatnot but uh no one can rule it out unless you're about 85 at the moment who knows what officers are coming in never rule it out george never rule it exactly exactly but um but the that's what happens when you you come to a boxing gym you are part of a community you do fall out but it's 50 years micky's been the head coach down here at dale so you've seen enough of that we threw him a big party last week and then the amount of ex-fighters who moved heaven and earth

to make sure they could be there for meek to celebrate him so he had guys like like Lucas who have only known him for maybe a few years, but already think the world of him. And then old faces you haven't seen for 15, 20 years. You know, some fighters were flying him from New York. Yeah, Matti Tinker, yeah. Mattyinker flew in

from New York, you know. Steve O'Meara come back from Steve O'Meara. From Spain. Steve O'Meer flew in from Spain. So, you know, respect was really nice. So it was, and that's what it's about.

That is what it's about. And obviously, led by this man. It's nice, Steve. It's like family. It is like family. And some people, a lot of of the boys come down, they don't really have family. Or they haven't got a lot of family or they've lost their family. So it's great to create

that here. And look, did you get that sense of history when you walk through the door? I say, even though it's a modern gym and the floors are nice and there's nice new bags, even though it's a modern gym, it has got an old feel to it. Do you know what I mean by that? So did you get that sense of history when you

walk through the doors? Definitely. I remember, I think the first time I walked in, the first thing that really drew me was the board that I had the long list of champions. That's it. You know, Lee Beavis, James DeGal, George Gros and this, you know, some that you'd recognize, even had Daniel DeBois on there. He won his last youth national title. Yeah, forgotten Daniel. Yeah. Dionne Juman. Dion Juma. So names are names. Just so many names, history, history, history. John O'Donnell. Donald, yeah. And that's what really dreaming, I said, you know, I want my name to be on this board. You know, I want to be part of this history. Yeah. It hasn't been, it should be on it. But unfortunately, our committee man was supposed

to be putting them on, he's got all the badges to go on there. So I'll run him up. Just said, I said, you better get down. Otherwise we'd do it ourselves. Yeah. We're put out. Was that the board that you rescued from Grenfell after the fire? The one with all the night, yeah, yeah. Because you, on the night of the fire, you'd moved upstairs. A few months earlier, you'd moved upstairs to the first floor, the ground floor. You got it, on the first floor, yeah. To the first floor.

And you were in there that night doing stuff, weren't you, on the night of the fire, actually, like looking at the playing around with the boards or whatever. When did you get a call to tell you there'd been a fire? Can you remember? I've got a call, 5 o'clock. The next morning, we left that gym at half nine, 10 o'clock the night before the fire. I got to call at 5 o'clock in the morning. A kid used to box for me, Jamie Biggestaff, he was now helped me do a bit of coaching in the gym.

He was going to work early. He rung me up to fire, what's going up? He said, I can't believe it. There's all smoke coming out at the Renville Tower. So I knew it early in the morning, Steve, you know. Then you turn the television on and you're watching all of us. Oh, terrible, yeah, terrible. So how long was it before you could get back into the gym then?

Because it was water damaged, I'm assuming, before you could get whatever you could get. How long was it? Yeah, it was a couple of months, really, Steve, six to eight weeks. They wouldn't let us go back in. But what I could make out, one of the firemen, his son used to box for me. And he said it was only one of the rings, we had two rings in there, that was water damaged. he said the bags and all that

the photos of George James de Gaulle big massive photos we had round of walls you could have all them back and we asked for them but they said no you can't have none of the equipment nothing so I wonder if some of that stuff

still in there then because it's because it seems to me like it's I don't know if the word crime scenes the right word but it's over there I think they might just have to all in there's there I don't know I'm wondering if they're looking at it and looking at smoke damage and trying to work out of the flames.

Because I was saying when we, George and I did something behind it about five years ago, six years ago, I suppose. And a couple years after the fire. And it was before they put the cladding up. And it was, sorry, before they put that sheaf around it. And what was amazing was that a window here could be completely gutted. It would just be a black hole because it had blown out. And the window right next door, four feet away,

you could see the mugs on a cup stand. You could see a kitchen roll, just untouched. So it was a really odd thing. So maybe all your stuff is still in there in a room, in the gym. Well, I asked the question, and they said, no, no. The local council, through the government, whatever, they said you cannot use none of that equipment. We're getting rid of the lot, all of it.

So all the photos of all the boys, everything gone. But you did not, I mean, sorry to lower the time, you did know people that died in it, didn't you, the 70-odd or whatever? You knew some of them. Yeah, one of them, Tony Disson. His three sons books with our juniors with Gary McGuinness. Yeah, all three of them. All three of them did.

Yeah. And there was another lad, Smudget Smith. He died in it. He was a nice fellow. And then after that, you had to move back into the garages again? In elaborate grove in the carriages. It was rats, everything in there. Then you had the drunkards, the win-nows.

They was all in there. So what happened here, George? Because this gym was put together by the BBC on one of their, SOS shows or whatever. So did you find out about it? Or was it a big secret? Because even though this is a BBC pod, I'll let you in secret and I work for the BBC,

I couldn't get to the opening. I came and my name wasn't on the list and a woman from the BBC, who was very officious, wouldn't let me through the gate. So I was trying to wave to people. So I never really found out. How did it come about?

Do you know, how did it come about that we got this gym suddenly underneath the Westway here? I think it's just because the gym was such a influential part of the community as such and it was as affluent

as the area is there's still lots of working class families and the boxing was one of the things for the kids it's just for the kids exactly and so many kids would come in and it would take him in a positive direction as opposed to

maybe join the gang or doing something something bad so they knew they had to get him a gym they had to get him something that they could call home so yeah the Nick Noles and the deal IOS team came to the rescue and they produced a lovely gym. I mean, I was slightly concerned at the time

when they said they were going to build us a boxing gym and I was like, okay, well, let's consult some boxes, yeah, tell us to find out exactly what we need, but they haven't. I was too, why they were going to be too obsessed with lighting and mirrors. We love mirrors in the boxing world

but it can't just look pretty, it's got to be functional. But no, they were with some great space in a great location and they've got the community centre next door as I say so that's part of the community as well it helps out you know people who are struggling maybe some people who are recovering from injury or drug addiction or stuff like that so they they have their mornings here in the gym as well and Brian comes in and takes them through through the pads and smashes them up and gets them back on the

straight and narrow so it was great when they came in it seemed like they built this thing in seconds considering we were waiting so long for a gym before You've got this one, yeah. And it works, and it's great. And now, yeah, you haven't got to say, when you're inviting someone to the gym, it's not like, go down this alleyway and then trying to look for an abandoned door.

Just by the line the road, there's a little door on the left, just go down there, trust me, you'll be all right, carry on walking. Yeah, yeah. No, no, you're in safe hands here. And the gym has always flourishes, you know. The gym's got a name for itself now.

People travel in, people join the gym because of its history and the fighters like Lucas who are recently left but have recently been here produced at the highest level boxing for their country winning national titles

so you want to be part of it and you feel like you're part of it Lucas you feel like you're part even though you're going to be a pro now you're a Dow youth boxer and that's something that I don't think leaves any kid that's boxed as an amateur in a gym for one gym

and then turns pro it's always part of It's always part of their DNA. It's always in your DNA. You've got that Dow Youth stamp somewhere on your back. Yeah, 100% that will always stay with me. You know, always represent Dell Youth. You know, like George said, we're still here every morning, here on the Sundays.

And, yeah, the young people, the young fighters, they're so excited that I'm making my debut. They want to come out, come out and watch, show support. So, yeah, just once Del Youth, always Del Youth, you know. know, once you're part of the family, wants you part of the community, never leaves you. And yeah, it's amazing.

Steve, he's got the target on his back now. So if I bring him down on a Sunday morning for a run, they want to smash him up. They would have to get in front of him. He can't have a bad Sunday. No, exactly, yeah. Because everyone wants to be in front of you on every race and on any endurance test in here.

That's it. So, now let's come to, before we finish, just get on with a serious business, Mick. It's the only thing we can finish on. The broom. Now, George did buy you a fancy broom a few years ago.

Do you still have the broom? Do you still sweep up or does George need to get you a new broom? Because it's broomgate and I want to get to the bottom of it. How are we? No, George did buy me a new broom, you know, a thing to put,

like a shovel thing. Tied it up. Tied it all up. And, yeah, I had it for ages. He made sure it's red and white. Yeah. The value of colours. But now, most probably, Steve,

I would still do it now, but one of the coaches, the club, he does it. Gives him a few quick and he cleans the gym. Because you would, because it's a traditional thing that the gym,

the men that run the gym sweep up in the gym. It's like a bizarre boxing tradition. I just don't know. The guy that runs it. You say, give me another 10 minutes, I'll have dropped me at home because he lived at Amazon with George.

Yeah. What you don't? I said, no. Sweeping up? Let's have a tidy up. So when we come in on Thursday, The gym's tidy. Let's have a tidy up.

Because you know what some kids are like, don't they throw things anywhere. 50 years, Mick, 50 years, as I say, 50 years of saving souls, 50 years of saving boys and girls, we should remember that. How many more can you do? You're just going to keep on going?

Yeah. You haven't put a timer on it, have you? No. I'll get this left knee of mine, saw it out, and I'll back to square one, A1. Once you get that fixed? Yes. Yep, no problem, Steve.

So can you, can you, you still take kids on the pads with that knee? I could on it. My shoulders playing up. Believe it or not. Don't whip the proverbial out of it, Mick, for God's sake, me. My left shoulders come right. So if this one comes right, I will be out of it.

All right, I'd have to be a bit of obby with a left knee. So you've got one dodgy knee and a dodgy shoulder, but you can still do a pad. I would do, yeah, definitely. I used to enjoy, I enjoy paddy boys. It's what you do. Always have to. The values, the values.

upstairs, Mick. It's in the brain. And that's where it is. And you can sit in a chair. I know it, I know, I know it bothers him because he's always been, it's always been a gym that does pads. Like, and I think that's why they produce so many challenges. You get that one-on-one time, even if it's only for three, four rounds, that one-on-one time with Mick or whoever the other coaches are in the gym. But Mick's, Mick's value now is, when he's not holding you on pads, he's coaching you through the spas, he's coaching you through, you know, even through your shadow and stuff like that. So you can't fault it. And it's, it's a unique talent that, you know, lots of the amateur

coaches have where they take all different sorts of individuals. They come in, all shapes and sizes. And it's not one size fits all. No, you have to change and adapt and create champions. And it first starts with creating that winning mindset, which Mick installs in every one of his fights when they come in. You believe you're going to go to the top. You feed off that. You feel that aura. And then from there, obviously he's technically coaching you out to be a fighter, Steve. And, yeah, sometimes he gives me stick with my left hand's floating low. You know, he makes old scores, hands up, left hand up, protect that chin. But you can't argue with him because he's had champion after champion year after year.

I just think, Steve, over the years, pad work is better than it. Obviously, he's sparring. Yeah, you know, good sparring. But a pad's special. But, you know, he learned more if you want to one on page. and shard things, get their feet right. That is definitely a success with me. Pads, pads, pads, all this right.

Pads, pads, pads and feet right. I remember all Paddyogan, who used to be at St Patrick's. Yep. He'd come with his whole, came training with us for a year or so. He said, Mick, you're in that ring from the time we get there, to the time we go and padding them.

How's your shoulders? And up until a couple of year ago... Yeah, they were okay? Yeah, they were good So if I can get this shoulder right I do, I think I remember Bobby Beck Yeah

Suddenly one day we had Six scoreboy champions It's over six out of seven Or seven out of eight And more than he had Up at Derby Yeah, yeah yeah Assembly rooms

What training He's thinking They've had six National Schoolboy Champions Out of seven And funny enough The one who got beat Was my brother's boy

But I said We don't do no different to you We take him for runs Do a lot of pad work He said Do you think pet I said You'll learn a boy

A lot more on pads You can spend the time with him And do them Teach him a lot You know And Mick That's a sort of technical question Do you still use the old pads

Like the pad You're not using paddles You're using pads that go on your hand No just use the pads Yeah none of that Yeah none of that None of the pad is No, no, no, no.

What about you, George, when you take Lucas, what are you using? The paddles or the paddles or pads or like, what are you using? Yeah, no, I've got a plethora of pads for it. So I've got these big air mitts for my hands are sore and my shoulders are killing me, so it takes a bit of stinger out. And you've got a lot of years to go? Yeah, we've got the little focus mitts when he's punching the odds and spider full.

I've even got these big, this reminds me of Mick. The first time I saw him was Mick. It's like a giant glove with a pad in it. So when I'm trying to fire shots at him. You can get whacked as well. Yeah, I don't, I don't poke him in the eye. but I'll keep him slipping and sliding but I'm still learning

as you can imagine and Luke's got to give me the feedback to tell me whether the pads are any good or not In our business you're still learning after 50 years you never stop learning you can't stop learning No exactly I'm fortunate enough to have been involved

in boxing at a really good level for a long long time and worked with a lot of different people and you try and absorb a little bit from everyone and then find your own path and then, you know, I'm blessed to be with what I believe a very, very talented fire, a special fighter, a teachable fire. So when I'm asking to do something, he does it.

And therefore, the proofs in the pudding straight away, which, you know, is paramount for a coach like me, to be honest. You know, I'd have to be working with someone like Lucas who is an exciting fire with an exciting style. And then when I show him something new, he's intelligent. enough to say, yeah, that's a good idea. Or, no, I'm not feeling that. So it's got to be give and take.

Loads of feedback. But we're stepping in the right direction. We're so excited for this weekend's actions. Like, I can't wait for people to see him. You know, the division's exciting. You know, you've got Pat Brown now just turned over. He's going to be trying to make a splash. Well, he's going to make a splash.

I mean, he's going to, you know. Absolutely. Eddie, Eddie Hurons behind him. Terrific. Great for everybody. Heads behind him, you know, an Olympian. You've got. Elliot Elmassy who's just turned over

and Warren are very excited only had one loss on his amateur record and it was a man next to me who beat him I believe I've got the very best fighter in British boxing maybe even in world boxing certainly in the cruiseway division and we're going to go about it our way and we're going to build from

literally like this club built from the ground up so jump on board this journey straight away now jump on now because he's a star of the future you will Steve He'd be another, Luke, he'd be another George, right.

When you were talking, when you pulled me over at Ali Pally a couple of years ago and you said, just what, just what, and you said something then he said he's a good learner,

he's a good learner, and I like good learner. Good bangers nice, he's got good feet's nice, he's a good, but good learner, that carries a bit of weight with me. So listen,

let's wind this up, let's been a lovely, lovely informal chat as it's slowly getting darker outside. So George, you're in the business, you've been in the business a long time,

we've talked about when you first walked through the door. I didn't realize, but this is going to be your first time in the corner when it's ding ding, on Saturday with Lucas. How are you going to be? I mean, I'll be the one who's nervous, I think.

Lucas has been through the rope plenty of times. He knows exactly what he's doing. Me, I'll be looking over my shoulder at Mick and am I doing it right? Am I doing it well? So, Mick, what tips? You're going to go in the dressing room before, and you're going to obviously,

you're going to pat Lucas on the shoulder and say, good luck to you at the night, Luke. Well done. Then you're going to have to take George over in the corner and give him a little bit pep talk to make sure he's calm enough. I want to be in the front row. So if it's not going away, it should be going,

I can shout, give you a few years, right? You can do it for one and go over and tell him. Every tricky fight, Frank Warren, goes straight over to the corner and gives the corner man a rollicking. And when he says he's not going the way he's supposed to be going, he's not talking about Lucas fight. It's about me holding the water bottle in the wrong hand or something. I forgot to take the gumshould out.

It's only me who's under pressure that night. There's a very famous man who used to run the Thomas of Beckett in South London who fought for the British everywhere. title called Billy Ed from the 70s and 80s. He's a lovely guy Bill and he's sunboxed the fisher. And when Billy was, at very early days of being in a corner, he's in a really excitable fire

at Manor Place, a site non-Manor's past, Louisham Townall. And the guy comes back to the corner. The guy takes the gum shield out, gets the gum shield wash. They give the gum shield back to Billy Ed, and Billy has really, I'm standing up to give a bit of emphasis. He's really giving it to the kid in the corner, really giving it to him.

Then he is the referee, say 10 seconds, he's really giving it to him. Then he says, like, push the gum shield in his mouth, gets out the ring. Billyair puts the gum shield in his own mouth, leaves the kid in the corner without a gum shield. That's excitable. And George, I don't do a, don't do a billiard gum shield trick. Lucas, make sure that don't happen. We've got to spin. We've done our trainers' course. Just in case, yeah. Lucas will be saying, get that second. I'm not having that one to spin in your mouth. Listen, Mick, it's been a delight and a pleasure of spending some time with you today. And I really mean that George, it's always a pleasure. Lucas, it's pleasure. I don't say good luck. I say go and and enjoy yourself on Saturday.

Fellas, thanks to all three of you. Thanks to all three of you. Thanks very much. Thank you.