Community

Midlands mayhem in the heart of the second city!

August 19 2023

In the Community: Acocks Green Boxing Club, Birmingham

Hot on the heels of last week’s successful London visit, Matchroom Boxing were back out in the community, this time at Acocks Green Boxing Club in Birmingham – helping to inspire and motivate future generations through boxing… And what a turn out it was!

Matchroom Chairman, Eddie Hearn, joined three fighters involved in Saturday’s undercard – Solomon Dacres, Kane Baker and Ibraheem Suleiman – and around 100 young boxers, to celebrate grassroots boxing and the positive impact the sport is having within marginalised communities.

The fighters joined forces with club coaches to deliver a guest session, Q+A and show tickets to lucky youngsters as part of the build up to Yafai Frank Fight Night – with a press up and punch machine challenge deciding the backstage VIP winners!

It's these kind of things that can really make big differences in the kids' lives.

- Solomon Dacres

In addition to the Matchroom Boxing cameras, ITV Central were present to film a special grassroots feature – as well as a host of other media, including iFL TV, Boxing Social, October Red Media, Seconds Out and iD Sports Media.

The importance of visits like this must not be underestimated, with feedback from the club and youngsters themselves being overwhelmingly positive.

Thanks for all that Matchroom did for the community this week. We appreciate it massively!

- Craig Storer

A post-event survey revealed that 100% of the young attendees “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that our visit had made them feel more confident, motivated, empowered and optimistic. While this is a fantastic result, our goal extends beyond delivering a moment of inspiration – we aim to create a lasting impact in the communities we visit.

A special thank you goes to Craig Storer and Hayley Recci from Acocks Green Boxing Club, as well as Abz Crooks of October Red Media, for being the driving force and initial inspiration behind the event. Your unwavering commitment to improving the lives of young people in Birmingham is truly remarkable, and it was an honor to spotlight your work through the Matchroom platform.