Boxing’s ‘safe haven’
Combat sport fraternity completes phase two of Suga Knockout Gym renovation
Published:Sunday | May 8, 2022 | 12:10 AMRachid Parchment - Assistant Sports Editor
STAKEHOLDERS SAY they have created a safe haven for children in the community of Olympic Gardens in St Andrew at the Suga Knockout Boxing Gym.
Boxer Sakima Mullings and schoolmates from the Faculty of Sport at The University of the West Indies, with sponsorship from Anthony Samson and S&G Road Surfacing Materials, were responsible for the second phase of the gym’s renovation project, which saw them focus on the exterior of the Cling Cling Oval pavilion, and remove garbage from the premises yesterday. They were assisted by Felipe Sanchez of Rude Bwoy Boxing, and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Jamaica Sports Federation director Daniel Chacko-Wilmot, and other members of the MMA fraternity.
Mullings, who spends much of his time training the next generation of boxers in the Corporate Area, said it was important to create a welcoming space for children to have weekly sessions to learn the basics of the sport.
“Over the years, I’ve developed a relationship with Suga (Lindel Wallace, the gym’s founder), with him actually coming to the Kingsley Goodison Boxing Camp, where I was the lead instructor,” Mullings told The Sunday Gleaner.
“With that, I formed relationships with some of the kids within his gym, so whenever I had time over the years, I would stop by Suga’s gym, which has moved in and around different places in the community here. With them ending up here, I realised that the space that they got was in a deplorable condition. It wasn’t hygienic and it wasn’t safe to have them training in these conditions.”
DIGICEL FOUNDATION GRANT
That was where Sanchez and the Gloves And Glory Youth Foundation, with the help of the Digicel Foundation, stepped in to carry out phase one from June 2021 to February this year, focusing on the interior of the pavilion. With a grant from the Digicel Foundation, Sanchez said they were able to put in meshing, which he said cost about $200,000.
“The mesh was very important because there was a pest problem,” he said.
“There were pigeons living there and it was quite dirty, with their faeces, and now it’s clean. The children can now come and train and get away from the stresses of life and focus on the positivity that the sport can bring to their lives.”
They also painted the interior of the pavilion. Like Mullings, Sanchez felt moved to carry out the project because of his deep respect for Wallace.
“I said ‘No matter what, we have to give Suga some help’,” he said.
“Suga is 71 years old. Come on, when we’re older, I just hope some yute come round and say ‘Yow, let me help you with your dreams,’ because no matter how old you get, you never stop dreaming. No matter how old you get, you never stop boxing. Suga never stops boxing. He comes here day in, day out and trains the youth.”
Sanchez says around $500,000 has so far been spent to complete both phases.
Attention now turns to phase three where they hope to have electricity connected in the pavilion and set up Internet access to enable children to use the facility as a homework centre. They will also seek to have more coaches come on board to help with training.