Michael Debnath has been boxing in Teesside for 38 years and is getting ready to open a new amateur club

A lifelong boxer is opening a new club in Stokesley to give back to the sport which saved him from potentially going down the wrong path. Michael Debnath, 44, is set to open Steel River Amateur Boxing Club (ABC) after boxing in Teesside for 38 years.

Having already amassed hundreds of followers on social media, Michael is expecting a busy start and is preparing to hit the ground running. Michael said: “I’m hoping that people from the surrounding areas and boxers will come - people from far and wide hopefully!

“The boxing community is great. I’ve had so many coaches ring me and wish me well. We work together daily, matchmaking at shows. It’s a great sport. In the ring you’re punching each other in the face, but outside you’re friends for life. There’s no other sport like it.”

The licensed coach has big plans for the club and its future, including plans to launch classes to support people with disabilities or who are struggling with their mental health. Michael is also licensed to coach professional boxers and says he is proud to support boxers at every level, adding: "If you give me 100%, I’ll give you 200!”

He added: “I believe that if boxers are ready and putting the work in, then they need to be out boxing. This spring, I took a team of amateurs to Florida where we boxed against various clubs. We fundraised for this, and I'd like to carry on taking teams to different countries in the future if possible. It’s great to experience different boxing cultures.”

'I've boxed since I was six'

Having grown up in Park End in Middlesbrough, Michael is concerned that there are few provisions for young people to get into boxing outside of the town centre: “I live in Great Ayton now, and there’s nothing here, in Stokesley, or in the surrounding villages. The kids that box have to drive into Middlesbrough, it’s hard.

“Boxing means kids come off the streets and learn dedication, discipline. It’s a great sport, it helps so much in the community," said Michael. "It’s my passion, I’ve boxed since I was six years old and I walked into the Wellington. My whole family has boxed, going back to my great-grandad.”

Wellington ABC, which opened in the 1980s, has been a huge part of Michael’s life and his family. Michael’s dad boxed for Wellington ABC under founder and coach John Dryden, taking Michael along for the first time when he was six.

During his career, Michael befriended John Pearce, who represented England in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, and the pair have now coached together for six years at Wellington ABC. “The club’s still close to my heart,” explained Michael, “but I leave the house at 6am every morning and don’t get in until 9pm or 10pm. I’m going to Middlesbrough after work to open Wellington ABC and coach.

“John and I have run the club together until now and got the club back on the right path. We’ve started to see some success again with regional and national champions, including John’s daughter, Commonwealth professional champion Jade Pearce.

"But it came to a point where I either packed in all together, or I opened my own club. I couldn’t have gone and poached, I couldn’t have worked anywhere except Wellington that wasn’t my own. I’d have walked away.”

'I've moved my business'

Steel River ABC is set to open on November 2, located in Stokesley Business Park, after six weeks of work on the unit. Michael, owner of MD Joiners & Builders, has largely completed the work himself. He said: “It was just a shell, so it’s been from scratch. I think before it was a mechanic's, so I’ve been going in before work on a morning, doing what I can, and going back to do other bits after coaching at the Wellington.

“To make this happen, I moved my business from Stockton into the unit in Stokesley, so I could afford to have both the business and the gym - they’re in the same building. It cost a fortune to move my work. Boxing doesn’t bring money in, so I’ll have to run my business as well.”

The club will operate as not-for-profit, meaning any money made goes back into the club, and that coaches will all be volunteers. Someone who is set to volunteer time for the club is two-time world champion Josh Warrington, who will travel to Stokesley from Leeds for the opening in November.

“Josh is a great lad, still giving back to the game," said Michael. "That’s what’s so great about boxing, it creates great people. Boxing saved me when I was younger - I could so easily have ended up down the wrong path. It gives discipline, dedication, direction. I’ll help any of the boxers if I can, kids who are doing wrong at school... we will give them the chance to change.

Michael has invested heavily in Steel River ABC, pouring his love for the sport into the new gym. He said: "I have a couple of sponsors - my friend Dennis from Horizon Sales and Lettings, my friend Lee Carr, and recently JT Atkinson have got involved with some materials.”