09/06/2025
Clive Hammond
This is Kal Yafai, the former WBA super-flyweight title champion, who, alongside his brother Gamal - himself a huge presences in the boxing sphere - exclusively told Police Oracle why they have decided to return to the gym they made their names out of what influence this could have on the community, and how the sport is keeping youngsters out of trouble.
Hidden in the heart of Sparkhill, a tired inner-city area of Birmingham, as notorious in the region for car thefts and antisocial behaviour as it was for the plethora of sporting stars it has helped produce. Influential figures that once called Sparkhill their home have included, across the generations, the likes of former Coventry City captain Charlie Timmins and the iconic spin bowler Moeen Ali.
It also counts the Yafai brothers among its champions of the region. Kal, Gamal and Galal – a boxing dynasty that has captured world, European and Olympic titles. And now, after traversing the world to square up to whatever opponent stands in their way, Kal and Gamal now face arguably their biggest challenge in taking over a gym in the heart of Sparkhill.
For nearly seven decades, the community has rallied around the gym, which up until last year was run by the legendary boxing coach Frank O’Sullivan MBE. During an astonishing 69 years, Frank turned Birmingham City Boxing Club into a hub for bored locals and beyond, looking to channel their misspent energy out on the punchbags in front of them.
He was also responsible for training up the Yafai brothers, who repaid their former coach’s passion by taking over the gym that carved their names into the history books.
So, beyond the four roped walls of a boxing ring, how vital are spaces like the one on offer in Sparkhill to driving down antisocial behaviour within youngsters and helping criminals reintegrate into society?
“The good thing is we’re fit for purpose because we’re in a deprived area where we grew up,” Kal told Police Oracle.
“We lived behind the gym. I went to the school next door and we could have got into that same sort of trouble.
“But we ended up going to the boxing club – and look what it’s done for us. It just shows the youngsters that, ‘hold on, if these kinds of guys and what they have gone on to do in boxing, why can’t we?’
“The club has been going for a very long time, and it’s produced some really good fighters like ourselves and others… but the main thing for us is that the club is a safe haven for the young people to be able to come to. Perhaps something isn’t going well at home or school, but the boxing club, the gym is there.”
To support the purchase of new equipment, including gloves and bags for the gym’s users, and fixing the club’s floor, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Simon Foster, allocated £5,000 from his My Community fund.
The aim is that by continuing the club’s legacy within the heart of Sparkhill, it will only continue to help move those on the cusp of criminality and antisocial behaviour into channelling their efforts elsewhere.
After paying the club a visit last month, Mr Foster told Police Oracle that gyms like Birmingham City Boxing Club are not only “important to policing but in wider society, because investing in a project such as this is about investing in people”.
“Ultimately, we get the opportunity to safeguard and promote the welfare of young people,” Mr Foster continued.
“The best interests of young people have to be a top priority in all actions and decisions that affect them. But equally, we also have to believe that we have to engage with, listen to, work with and importantly invest in young people.
“Why do we want to do that yet? Because, of course, it will help to prevent tackle crime and social behaviour, but just as important as that, is it will also enable those young people to fulfil their potential. And that’s a win-win, isn’t it, because that young person benefits, and their family benefits, the local community benefits, society benefits.”
For Gamal, the return means he’s now a constant influence on the more than 100 people who regularly use the facilities – whether they are young or old, the space offers participants a chance to get their body and mind in shape.
He noted that many of the younger generation who are coming through the ranks at Birmingham City Boxing Club come from broken homes, but the gym “is like a family for them”.
The respect is instilled from the moment they set foot in the gym.
Whether it be ensuring the youngsters are cleaning the gym to keep it in order, or just taking them to one side to check in on how they are doing, respect for one another is at the heart of Birmingham City Boxing Club.
To underscore how much of a second home the club has become, Gamal noted during a chat with Police Oracle that the children would regularly finish school and head straight to the gym, despite sessions not beginning for a couple of hours.
It means, according to Gamal, that these youngsters are now in the gym four or five times a week “where they could be on the streets messing around”.
“Where the gym is, the area is really bad,” Gamal added. “There’s a lot of violence, a lot of things going on – criminal activity. And we’re trying to help as much as we can with boxing and the kids.
“There are kids in that gym that I’m guessing would otherwise be out annoying people on the streets. So we try and get them off the street and get them hitting boxing bags, and sparring to take that anger out on the bags.”
He added: “That’s how we treat them, so we want to bring the club into a new era and refurbish it. We will be spending more on the gym, but this first lump sum from the PCC is kickstarting the process.”
Birmingham City Boxing Club is just one of the community projects in the region to receive a share of £330,000 from the My Community Fund, which runs every year – awarding up to £5,000 for each project.
It’s designed to support those who want to invest in their neighbourhoods, making them a safer place to live, learn and work. The money is made up from proceeds of crime that police have seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Reflecting on going full circle and coming back, Kal recalled those first moments when he entered Birmingham City Boxing Club with his brothers and they “all fell in love” with the sport.
He said: “We just wanted to change our lives, and that was the thing for me personally – I saw boxing as a way out. It can give me a good life, and I was focused on trying to be a champion.”
And alongside helping tackle youth crime, Mr Foster noted how boxing was also vital in helping people tackle drug and alcohol addiction, ensuring the sport’s influence can transcend the world of boxing and act as a rehabilitative tool.
The PCC added: “It can play a role in terms of addressing mental health challenges, and I think the gym caters for all of those people here.”