From the outside, you might miss St Pancras Boxing Club. Once you walk inside, you are greeted by a safe space that has been a part of the community for decades
One of the UK’s oldest amateur boxing clubs has been described as a ‘safe haven’ for the community, and walking in Kentish Town, it’s easy to miss as you walk down Talacre Road. From the outside, the boxing gym is beneath flats and a balcony and looks like just another unit, not a boxing club.
Yet inside, St Pancras Boxing Club in Kentish Town has been a fixture in the community for over 100 years. The gym is iconic, from professional boxers such as Derek Chisora regularly training there to scenes being filmed for legendary British movies such as Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Yet, the most important part of the gym may be ‘Coach CJ’. A lynchpin of the club, he has been helping the community for decades.
Even though the gym has a rich history, for CJ, helping give the community and the young kids an opportunity to learn important life skills is vital. CJ believes giving young children in the area a place where they can learn discipline, time-keeping, and follow-through will be beneficial as they become adults.
61-year-old CJ came to London from Nairobi in the 1970s and got into boxing. He joined St Pancras Boxing Club in the late 80s and as other coaches left and found their own clubs, CJ ended up staying put. Now 40 years on, even as the gym was redeveloped into the space it is now in 2011, he has remained a constant.
Not many people can tell a heavyweight boxer like Derek Chisora, ‘you can’t train today’ because Dillian Whyte was already there; or refuse Brad Pitt entry to the gym because he ‘didn’t know he was’ and took the ‘don’t let anybody into the gym’ too literally.
He told MyLondon: “The owner of the building, Geoff Springer, back in the 2010s, decided this building needed a revamp. His son, Alex, had been coming here and training with me at the old gym, and his dad could see how his demeanour changed, and he became more confident.
“[Geoff] spoke to me and said he wants me to run the club. We both had a view for the future of the gym. We wanted to help young kids coming off the street who couldn’t be professional by giving them a safe space. We ended up being able to give kids apprenticeships, put them through college, and then have them earn qualifications they now use.
“Certain kids here have had ups and downs in their lives, and seeing them go into work, it’s amazing. The companies know the boxers coming are very disciplined, coachable, and the people they want to employ. Having a champion is great, but all these kids are champions if they end up getting a full-time job, and that is more important.”
The gym charges only £3 for a session for five-year-olds and up to £6 for adults, showing that keeping the gym affordable and accessible for the community remains at its heart. They host events from run clubs to galas, bringing the community together.
“The area has a lot of knife crime and this place is a safe haven for them. We take the kids away on trips abroad to give them a different experience. I’ve had young boys who have been to prison, and when they come back here, they say, ‘What kept them going inside was coming back to the gym’.
“When I hear things like that, it makes you know places like this are important. I want to help these kids. You see how things are in the UK [with knife crime], we need places where they can be coached and taught. We don’t want anything from anyone; we want them to feel safe.”
“As long as I can keep going, I will. It’s more than a boxing club. This is a place where everybody can feel safe, regardless of background. You can be anybody, and you can train here. Training the kids is the fun part, they’ve got so much energy!”
St Pancras Boxing Club is located at 25 Talacre Rd, London NW5 3PH.
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