THE boy stands in a corner, face flushed, blinking away tears. He is all of eight years old and has been introduced to the hurt business. In a cramped, crowded hall, he has also been inducted into a family business.
Boxing causes pain, but, on a sunny afternoon in Dalmellington, it also produces joy, fulfilment and the feeling, at least in this observer, that one is witnessing something of substance, something even uplifting.
The boy is spoken to gently by his trainer, he decides almost instinctively to fight on. He has faced fear and pain. He has beaten both. It is the way of the boxer, the ethos of Doon Valley Boxing Club, where 26 boys under 10 took part in a junior skills exhibition. Nobody is adjudged a winner. But every boy has won. The competitors have come from Nith Valley, Irvine Vineburgh, Doonhamers, Greenock, Braveheart, and Millennium clubs to joust with their Ayrshire brethren.
This extended boxing family is acutely aware of the distress and suffering experienced by the Eubank family and that of Nick Blackwell, who was injured severely in a British middleweight title fight prior to waking from his induced coma on Saturday. There is no denial, no desperate defence of boxing. Instead, there is a considered, even dignified response as to why these families allow their sons to enter the ring.
The most telling comes from Alex Arthur, who, at 37, can look back on a career that brought British, Commonwealth and world titles at super-featherweight.
He has three sons: Alex 14, Liston, 11, Machlan, nine. It is the last who has immersed himself in his father’s art. He was to box on Sunday in Dalmellington, but a last-minute holiday break intervened. His father, though, knows his son will come back to Edinburgh and be eager to box again.
“On the way to the nursery as a youngster, he would do intervals, run and shadowbox. Machlan could differentiate combinations by the time he was seven years old,” said Arthur. “I walked into his bedroom the other day and he was watching Mayweather-Cotto.”
But how difficult was it for him and his wife, Debbie, to allow Machlan take up the sport?
“It is a dangerous sport. You cannot deny that your objective is to hit your opponent in the head as many times as is possible. That is the bottom line,” said Arthur.
But he added: “I am going to honest with you. I do not worry about Machlan in the ring at all. He has clearly an eye for boxing.”
He believes boxing instils values. “It will change your body, but it changes your mind. It teaches you discipline, self-respect, it improves your confidence,” he said. This is uttered with the power of experience. “I was a cocksure guy, confident and I believe it was because I started boxing at 10 years old.”
This bald statement is supported by Alex and Carlyn Paton, owners of We Hae Meat, the Ayrshire butchers, who sponsor Doon Valley Boxing Club. Their son Jake, eight, is a club member and Carolyn points out his latest report card has noted his improving confidence. “You cannot step into the club and not be inspired,” she said. “This is an area that has its share of social problems and it becomes immediately obvious that this club improves self-respect and social skills.”
Sonny Gow, the seven-year-old from Ayr who was to face Machlan Arthur, finds another sparring partner and after his three one-minute rounds confides to me: “I had to force myself to sleep last night. I was very excited about boxing today but sometimes I am just excited.” This innocence is combined with a technique that is already refined. Sonny, named after a certain Liston, was introduced to the club at four and his progress has been swift.
This has been largely due to Sam Mullen, who has been at the helm of the club since 2003. He oversees eight amateur boxers as well as the young boys who can go into formal competitions when they are 10. “It is fantastic to see the kids coming through as we already have had boys to have gone on to professional championships,” he said.
He knows boxing has its dangers but he points out that even a small club such as Doon Valley is tightly governed by the boxing authorities. But he believes in its inherent worth. “You give shots, you take shots. It is about discipline, respect, especially for your opponent. You saw today how the boys shook hands, how everyone from all the clubs treat each other well. This is about friendship too.”
He lives the sport. “I come from a boxing family. My dad boxed, I boxed, my son boxes.” His career was halted 40 years ago, at 19, by a mining accident that caused a brain injury. He has devoted his time and considerable energy in bringing the sport he loves to others. He believes he has benefited from that dedication.
Arthur agrees: “What boxing gives you is huge.” But he adds: “It can hurt you. But you may find it can hurt your family more. You need to sacrifice as a young boxer. Everything has to be secondary. You have to stand by that. This is not a sport you play.”
There is enjoyment even satisfaction among the 26 boys on that Dalmellington Sunday but they all know in punches thrown and accepted that this has been an education not merely a playtime.
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