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<\/p>\nThe amateur boxing club where world champion Ricky Hatton learned his trade could soon be left without a home after its site was sold by the local council.<\/p>\n
“It’s a disaster,” said Hyde & District Amateur Boxing Club’s head coach Steve Strong.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want this place to shut,” he added. “The boxers won’t hang about, they’ll go elsewhere and the youngsters won’t have anywhere to go.”<\/p>\n
A Tameside Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are working with the boxing club to support them to find suitable alternative accommodation.”<\/p>\n
‘For everyone’<\/p>\n
Officials at the Ward Street gym said they did not know either when they would have to close or where they could move to.<\/p>\n
Strong, whose links with the boxing club in Greater Manchester go back 50 years, said: “It’s for everybody – not just boxers on a Tuesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n
“It’s for keep-fit, boys, girls, ladies. It would be a massive, massive loss.”<\/p>\n
Hyde & District Amateur Boxing Club has been running since the 1970s and is used by hundreds of people, of all ages, every week.<\/p>\n
The club’s building is owned by Tameside Council.<\/p>\n
While the land has been deemed surplus to requirements by the local authority, there are no immediate redevelopment plans.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said the club’s current building was “not fit for purpose”.<\/p>\n
The BBC understands the council has not served notice on the building.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Coach Paul McIlvenny said the boxing club brought local families together [BBC]<\/p>\n
Paul McIlvenny, 44, trains young boxers, including his own children, at the club.<\/p>\n
He explained it brought families together in the area.<\/p>\n
“It’s a network in here – the mums and dads – we’re in a WhatsApp group. We share text messages if one of the kids isn’t turning up.<\/p>\n
“We’d be so sad to lose it.”<\/p>\n
McIlvenny grew up with Hatton and sometimes visited his home on the nearby Hattersley estate.<\/p>\n
He said they attended the gym in their pre-teenage years.<\/p>\n
Hatton, who died in September, remains an inspiration for many people in Hyde, said McIlvenny.<\/p>\n
“His roots are here – he was born and bred here and he started his amateur career here..<\/p>\n
“You ask the kids – that’s why they love coming to this gym.”<\/p>\n
One of them, 16-year-old Oscar, said going to the gym was his main hobby.<\/p>\n
“I spend all my time in the week here,” he told the BBC. “It keeps me out of trouble, as well as fit and happy.”<\/p>\n
Tyler Daulby, 23, added: “If you’re struggling with your mental health or struggling at home, you’ve got this place to come to. It helps massively.”<\/p>\n
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