LOCAL amateur boxing officials have hit back at plans to ban boxing in Bolton. Fight nights will no longer be allowed to take place on local authority property if councillors follow the lead of neighbouring towns Bury and Oldham.

Bolton Council's Leisure Services Committee is set to debate the emotive issue shortly and the outcome could have a major bearing on the future of the sport in the town.

Boxing is increasingly popular in Bolton and a recent show staged at Bolton Town Hall was watched by a full house of more than 500 spectators and raised £50,000 for Bolton Lads and Girls Club. The ban boxing issue has been raised by the British Medical Association which wrote to local authorities nationwide calling on them to stop staging events.

Nick Boyd, who rose through the amateur scene in Bolton to become a professional at lightweight, argued: "Boxing should definitely not be banned. It keeps young people off the streets and out of trouble.

"When I was growing up a lot of my mates were out stealing cars and I was in the gym training.

"It helped me gain self respect and the respect of other people. The British Medical Association don't appreciate the positive things about boxing."

His arguments were echoed by Bolton Lads and Castle Hill boxing clubs.

Castle Hill secretary Peter Swain said: "We are running a very successful club and it seems that young people are voting with their feet that they want it. We listen to the voices of young people.

"We have two ABA qualified coaches and safety is of paramount importance to us.

"It is a wonderful way of keeping fit and developing a healthy lifestyle."

A spokesman for Bolton Lads Amateur Boxing Club added: "We would invite any of the councillors down to the training sessions and they can see for themselves.

"There are many more sports which are more dangerous than boxing. More people die or get injured from angling than from boxing.

"You can get figures and statistics to back up the safety of boxing but you cannot get any figures out of the British Medical Association. What they are saying is unproven.

"What we are doing at our club is taking youngsters off the street, teaching them a sport and a bit of fitness which they don't get anywhere else. "As that fitness comes their confidence grows and so does their self descipline, self motivation, self respect and the respect of others - and most important of all they respect other people."

Leisure Services Committee chairman Cllr Gerry Riley said: "You have to be careful to isolate the two sides of boxing - amateur and professional.

"In my opinion professional boxing is barbaric but I can see a certain amount of merit in amateur boxing where the boxers are really looked after by the officials.

"There are instances of youngsters getting involved in boxing and it keeping them off the streets and doing other things."

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