Glad’s House Help with Boxing
On October 3, 2008 by Administrator
Hi Guys, I got this e-mail regarding possible donations for a street charity who also have a small boxing club. So if there’s anything you’d wish to donate then please read on.
Many young children, some as young as 3 or 4 years old, in Mombasa, Kenya, are so poor they live on the streets. Life for them is a bleak struggle for survival, where drugs, alcohol and crime are often the only means of escape. They desperately need help. Glad’s House is a young charity that aims to help these street children return to a ‘normal’ way of life.
We use sport as a way of helping these young people reintegrate back into society. We have been very successful using football through our partnership with Sky TV – go to the Soccer AM web site, under video’s look for Rocket in Africa parts 1, 2 & 3. This will show what can be done. Also please visit our web site – www.GladsHouse.com.
We also have a small boxing club, but with a big following, unfortunately we have little if any boxing equipment or kit. We are desperately looking for second-hand or redundant boxing kit and equipment – can you help? Please email Cliff Ferguson – cliff.ferguson@GladsHouse.com – any equipment and/or kit will be welcomed.
Using sport as a catalyst, our aim is to get as many children as possible back into full time education. For those who can perhaps even places in higher education. For the less academic children or those too old to return to school, we aim to get them into apprenticeship schemes where they can learn a trade. All the older children we will assist in finding gainful employment.
Jack Johnson to Receive Pardon
On October 1, 2008 by Administrator
The US House of Representatives has petitioned President George W. Bush to grant legendary boxer, Jack Johnson, a posthumous pardon for racially motivated convictions held against him for almost eighty years.
The “Galveston Giant” was born in Texas in 1878 and is widely regarded as one of the most influential black sportsmen on Earth. He became the first black heavyweight boxing champion in 1908, beating Canadian Tommy Burns over fourteen rounds in Sydney, Australia. The fight was eventually stopped by the police. Johnson went on to beat six more challengers in 1909 alone, proving himself worthy of the sport’s most coveted title. The white community was incensed and the search for a ‘Great White Hope’ who could defeat Johnson was stepped up.
In 1910, the Galveston Giant defeated James Jeffries in a tense battle at a specially constructed arena in Reno, Nevada. Johnson was eventually proclaimed the winner by default, despite overwhelming animosity from the all-white crowd. The victory was seen as an affront to the sensibilities of the white community and race-riots erupted all over the United States. Johnson became a cultural icon almost overnight. His relentless fight to be recognised as a free man characterised the struggle of repressed black people all over the country.
Unfortunately, Jack Johnson was prosecuted for the transport of white women across state lines in 1913. The offence was deemed to be in contravention of established slave trafficking regulations and rules put in place to combat prostitution and lewd behaviour (commonly known as the Mann Act of 1910). Johnson handed himself over to the authorities in 1920 after spending seven years in France. He received a sentence of a year and a day in prison. Seventy-five years later, the conviction still stands.
US Congress representative, Peter King, told the BBC that Johnson was convicted on flimsy, or absent, evidence to humiliate him for standing up to his oppressors and for cavorting with white women: “He was a victim of the times. We need to recognise him for his groundbreaking contribution to the sport of boxing.” Johnson was killed in a car crash in 1946 but his boxing career has inspired many a young pugilist to aim for the stars. Muhammad Ali named him as one of the greatest boxers that the world has ever seen.
The resolution must pass through the senate before it reaches George W. Bush. Presidential candidate and Senior Senator of Arizona, John McCain, has also recommended that Jack Johnson be pardoned and is expected to forward a companion resolution to the senate. Ken Burns, the creator of a recent documentary about the Galveston Giant, had this to say about the first black heavyweight champion of the world: “he was swimming upstream against the tide of the universe and getting away with it. I think that’s an incredibly admirable and incredibly American thing. To me, he’s an utterly American hero.”
Jack Johnson paved the way for today’s black sport stars by proving that perseverance in the face of adversity is the only way to silence the cynics and be recognised as a true champion of humanity.
Written by Chris Illingworth
De La Hoya eyes Hatton fight
On by Administrator
Ricky Hatton could be set for a dream showdown against Oscar De La Hoya at Wembley stadium next year. Golden Boy Promotions have revealed that should both fighters come through their next bouts unscathed, the fight they describe as the ‘dream of many boxing fans’ could go ahead.
Of course, the fact they will emerge victorious in their next fights is far from certain. Hatton travels to Las Vegas next month to face the ever confident Paulie Malignaggi at the scene of his only career defeat, while De La Hoya faces Manny Pacquiao some two weeks later.
Like I have mentioned victory for Hatton and De Lay Hoya isn’t guaranteed. Both fighters face tough opponents with decent records and although the boxing odds are favouring them to come through it, any talk of their future fights should probably be put on hold for now.
However the chief executive of Golden Boy Promotions, Richard Schaefer, has said that a fight at Wembley stadium between the two would be a ‘natural’ decision should everything go to plan. Such comments are bound to excite boxing fans around the world.
Schaefer went on to say that De La Hoya – 36 by the time any fight with Hatton comes about – will see how he feels after the Pacquiao contest. Should he feel ok, then the possibility of him having ’a couple of fights next year’ would be dramatically increased. Obviously, it now seems that one of his opponents next year will be The Hitman himself.
With both fighters coming to the end of their career, I can’t think of a better way for them to finish than a super-fight at Wembley stadium. These two legends of the sport would create a spectacle that every boxing fan in the world will be relishing.
Written by Thomas Rooney