Jimmy Egans Boxing Academy

 

 

Since then it has turned into a hub for the community, despite near-constant adversity, including no fewer than six names and 13 premises, taking in Odsall, Sharston and Benchill along the way.

Sadly Egan didn’t live to witness this milestone, dying of cancer in 2004, but his passion for the sport and the people he served never waned – even turning up to training a week before he passed away.

Now Steve has carried on his father’s good work and is determined to see the club prosper for another 30 years and beyond. speaking recently to the Manchester Evening News Steve said:

“I promised my dad I’d look after the gym and since he died we’ve had 17 national champions,” said the 47-year-old. “He would be dancing on the clouds about that – and it could have been more.”

Steve has been as good as his word in dedicating his life to the gym – by day working as a builder and decorator, by night training his latest batch of hopefuls.

But his obsession is understandable, as it was his own interest in boxing that led his father to open a gym in the first place.

“A lot of people think it was him who got me into boxing, but it was the other way round,” he said. “It was me who rekindled his love for it.

“I was boxing in Cavendish and he wasn’t happy with what was going on with my training and thought he could do better. He wanted to open a gym and thought Wythenshawe was a big estate, full of good people and he’d be able to find a champion.

“I thought he should have got an OBE for what he did for the community.”

Steve refers to the countless young lives that he and his father before him have changed, wherever the gym has been situated, instilling discipline and self-respect to those who might so easily have gone off the rails or already had.

For all the amateur champions the Egans have produced – Tyson Fury the most celebrated – Steve insists it is not about titles, rather improving people.

“It’s about getting kids off the streets and teaching them discipline,” he said. “We don’t make money – we charge £2 subs – we’ve got no sponsors, we’re not in it to make money.

“I’m like my dad – I love the lads. I love turning kids into nice lads. And I love taking kids who are scared of their shadow and turning them into national champions.

“But for me there is more pleasure in taking a kid who might be a bit rough around the edges and teaching him respect and improving him as a person. Titles might get your club notoriety, but it’s much nicer to know you’ve put someone on the straight and narrow. You’re making the world a better place.

“I love it when someone comes up to me and says, `Your dad changed my life.’ I’d like them to say the same about me in 40 years’ time.

“I think the club is one of the most important things in Wythenshawe. It teaches people things that other activities just can’t.”

Right now Egan’s is fulfilling both of Steve’s dreams – winning titles and helping young people in the process.

He said: “We’ve been shut down so many times. Every couple of years we were forced to move on. It was a case of starting from scratch every time. How my dad managed to carry on, I don’t know. His determination was amazing.

“Even when he was ill, having chemotherapy, he’d come home and just lie on the floor because it would take everything out of him. But he’d still go down to the gym. He was down there the week before he died.”

Egan’s may have endured an uncertain past, but the future should be less turbulent.

Now based at Royalthorn Road in Wythenshawe, they have a 99-year lease and hope to expand the premises to include services for the wider community, including the elderly.

That might seem a world away from the blood and guts of boxing, but it fits in perfectly with Egan’s ethos. It’s not all about the sport – rather the community.