“I used to think you couldn’t get any higher buzz than being a boxer and being in that ring and winning a fight – but when you see a kid who’s struggling and you help them understand something, and you see that light bulb go off, it is just an amazing feeling.”
These are the words of Karl Storey, a Coventry man who became disillusioned with boxing after his promising amateur career didn’t turn into a professional one.
Now 38, Karl, who is from Willenhall, admits he distanced himself from the sport he loved when he realised he wasn’t going to fulfil his dreams of going pro. At 21, he shunned the sport, tried finding a career and was treading water for a little while. He carried on like this until he caught a look of himself in the mirror years later and had a life defining realisation: this isn’t the person I am meant to be.
He started going to the gym, and after a while found the confidence to put the gloves back on. In his 30s, he considered giving the amateur circuit a try once more, but in getting back into the swing of things, discovered a new passion – coaching.
Karl told Coventry Live: “I was a boxer for 12 years at Willenhall Amateur Boxing Club – I loved it, it was all I wanted to do. It was my life. I didn’t care about school, I thought I was going to be a professional boxer.”
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Upon leaving Ernesford Grange Secondary, he set his sights on fulfilling his dream, continuing working with Willenhall legend, the boxing coach Ron Harkness.
“I did okay in the amateur ranks and fought some of the best kids in the country,” he said. “I got to the national semi-finals twice. I probably should have gone a bit further, but nerves got the best of me.
“Eventually I realised, ‘this ain’t happening’ and that hurt – I left boxing at 21. I wanted to run away from it and get away from it as far as I could because it hurt me that much. It was something I loved all throughout my childhood and teenage years – and it was just gone.”
Karl did some college courses and worked different jobs, but he admits he was lost for some time.
“I don’t know what to do with my life,” he said. “I went down a different path, completely opposite from boxing. I went through a lot of bad times, going out drinking too much and stuff like that. Just normal things for a young lad, but it sort of got carried away at times and I kind of lost myself.”
Around the age of 30, Karl, now a HGV driver, had a bit of an epiphany moment.
“I remember that day quite clearly,” he told us. “I remember looking at myself in the mirror one day and thinking ‘that’s not who I am’. I didn’t like what I saw and I said ‘I’m going to make a change’. So I started going back to the gym.”
The initial smaller changes happened right away, but Karl admits it took time to get to a place where he was happy.
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“I always remember coming out of the gym feeling more confident than when I walked in,” he said. “It took years and years and years to finally get to where I wanted to be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m nothing special to look at, but I just feel comfortable in my own skin.”
This helped Karl turn his attention back to his first love – boxing. He did some White Collar events, something he’d not been a fan of while an amateur, but it re-ignited his love of being in the ring and feeling his hands inside the gloves again.
So he started training in earnest and began working with a pal Trevor at Alan Higgs offering free boxing classes. Soon his old mentor Ron asked him to come and coach at Willenhall ABC where it all started.
By this point Karl was considering joining the amateur ranks once more, but he realised something else along the way. He loved coaching others just as much, if not more than he did boxing himself.
“It’s really weird being a boxer because you never lose that ‘when is my next match’. The thrill and the adrenaline of it, it never leaves you. It always sits with you. But when I started coaching it completely took over me – now it’s something I completely love doing.”
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As well as helping Ron and the other coaches at Willenhall ABC, he got his coaching licences and has started his own club, Karl’s Boxing Academy, where he coaches everyone from complete novices to higher level contenders. He works with schools, coaches kids who are struggling and has even shaped classes that help people with disabilities.
“My sister has Down’s Syndrome so that is something that is important to me – boxing is for everyone, that is my club’s motto, we’ve worked with kids with autism, one lad has cerebral palsy, people who use wheel chairs, literally everyone can benefit from it.”
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Karl is now philosophical about not achieving his dream as a young man and spending years in the boxing wilderness.
“I am a big believer in everything happens for a reason,” he said. “Now I believe my purpose is that I can give back to these kids with the knowledge I’ve got and the experiences I’ve been through. I can say, ‘listen, you don’t have to go down that path, or it’s okay to feel this kind of way’.
“But I had to go through that struggle first – I wasn’t ready to coach at 21, I needed time away to heal. I’m just so glad I did and got back into boxing and found myself again.”
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