BOXING CLEVER FOR EAST LONDON YOUNGSTERS

LOCSP Press Release: Monday 5 October 2009

BOXING CLEVER FOR EAST LONDON YOUNGSTERS

ExCel Arena, London Docklands – Youngsters from across Waltham Forest attended the ExCel Arena in Custom House last Friday night for the innovative and popular ‘Prizefighter’ boxing event.

Korey Dyer-Stewart and Charlie Saywood from Walthamstow alongside Jack Matthews from Chingford took the opportunity to interview the personalities involved in the event for their work towards their Contemporary Pathways BTEC Level 2 – Sports Industry course which they are currently studying at Leyton Orient Community Sports Programme (LOCSP).

Prizefighter, promoted and managed by Matchroom Sport whose Chairman Barry Hearn is also Chairman of Leyton Orient Football Club, have linked up with LOCSP to offer youngsters on the course the opportunity to study their work in the world of sport at close quarters.

Back in May, youngsters from LOCSP visited Earls Court for the Cruiserweight contest of Prizefighter, but last Friday saw the turn of the Heavyweights, the third time such a contest had been held at that weight division.

The youngsters spent the evening picking the brains of both the paying public, members of the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) and the boxers themselves to hear their thoughts on the boxing industry – they even managed time to meet Amir Khan, Barry Hearn and David Haye, who was there commentating for Sky TV.

In what was the most high-profile contest so far in the series, the tournament featured Heavyweight Gold Medallist for GB at the Sydney Olympics, Audley Harrison, alongside the current British Champion Danny Williams and six other fighters desperate to get their hands on the £32,000 winning prize.

With Danny Williams being eliminated at the first hurdle the path was open for Harrison and with three TKOs in all three of his fights he grabbed the opportunity with both hands to take the honours in front of a sell-out 5,000 fans in east London.

Korey Dyer-Stewart, 15, Walthamstow said:
“It was a great experience to go to Prizefighter. It took a lot confidence to go up and interview the public and boxers. We are just ordinary guys and they could have said they weren’t interested but they were all very cooperative.

“Audley Harrison was very scary; his appearance – he is physically big. I was intimated just by looking at him, let alone getting into the ring with him!

“This event has made me more interested in boxing. Watching it live you really get a lot of access to the personalities and behind-the-scenes - something you don’t really get when you go to football.”

Charlie Saywood, 15, Walthamstow said:
“I’ve not been to see live boxing before and it was a great atmosphere. Afterwards we got to mix and talk with the boxers themselves – I didn’t realise there were so many people involved with putting on a show like this.

“I wasn’t very good at the interviewing at first, but when I got used to it I was ok at it – I even managed to interview the ring girls!”

Jack Matthews, 16, Chingford said:
“I’ve been to see live boxing before when I saw Ricky Hatton fight and the atmosphere here was exactly the same. The seats we had at the Hatton fight weren’t close to the ring but the seats we had tonight were so close it really added to the whole experience.

“It came quite naturally to me to interview the public – I just asked them who they thought would win and what they thought of the event. I managed to interview the ring girls and a group of boxing fans from Swansea who were really funny.

“I wasn’t expecting the Sky TV commentary box to be so close - we saw David Haye in there and we had a chat and he waved at us – it was a fantastic experience.”

Tony Murphy, LOCSP Education Officer said:
“I would like to thank Barry Hearn and John Wischusen from Matchroom Sport on behalf of LOCSP for giving the boys such great tickets to allow them the opportunity to experience a really well-run and exciting sporting event.

“The event was really useful as they were able to develop their skills through media interviews. I thought they were very mature, respectful and well-behaved for their age.

“It would have been easy for them to just watch the event, lose focus and not conduct any work through the night. However, the lads produced a lot of high-quality work and didn’t want to stop all night.

“It’s good to have a positive story to tell about young people on a Friday night in east London rather than all the negative stories you sometimes hear.

“The work they have produced is extremely useful for their BTEC course and will help them towards gaining their grades.”

For more information and pictures please contact Andrew McSteen, LOCSP Communications Officer on 020 8556 5973, email andrew.mcsteen@locsp.org or visit the website at www.locsp.org.