LONDON, UK (ANS) -- The inclusion of boxing in the Olympic Games can be traced back to the ancient Greeks in 688 BC. The sport evolved from 16th and 18th century prize fights, largely in Great Britain, to the forerunner of modern boxing in the mid-19th century, again initially in Great Britain and later in the United States. In 2004, ESPN ranked boxing as the most difficult sport in the world.

Pedro Club sign (Photo credit Sam Peckham, One Sheep www.onesheep.org)

It wasn’t a surprise then that a community in the East of London decided to stage a boxing exhibition during the Games to run parallel to the Olympic boxing event. What was surprising though is that one of the community groups behind the Clapton Park Boxing exhibition was All Saints Church in Clapton Park alongside the Pedro Club, a local youth club with its own gymnasium.

The event on Friday evening 3rd August drew young people ages between 5 -14 years from the community. Parents, observers, the media and community leaders were all there to cheer and support the initiative.

Vicar of All Saints Church, Tom Haley, told 2K Plus International Sports Media: “All Saints Church runs a holiday club every year but we decided to do it different this year, to stage a boxing exhibition in the square for the community and make it to open to all the children”.

James Cook is a former British and European super middleweight champion. In 2007 he was awarded an MBE for his outstanding work with the young people of Hackney’s notorious ‘Murder Mile’. Cook is the head of Pedro Club and he explained why they planned the event.

Boxing ring at the Pedro Club (Photo credit Sam Peckham, One Sheep www.onesheep.org)

“We live a few minutes away from the venue of the Olympics but we felt left out of the biggest game in history. So we decided to put this together with the local church just so we can have future pretenders to the Olympics do their thing. If you are talking about grass root, this is grass root”.

The main area concentrated on by the trainers and coaches during the boxing exhibition was sparring. This is a free form fighting with enough rules and agreements to make injuries unlikely.

“I am very sporty and I love boxing, that’s why I came out to support the exhibition”, young girl boxer Rihana Bauxerham told 2K Plus International Sports Media.

The chance to build character, self-esteem and be ‘salt and light’ is an opportunity presented by the London 2012 Olympic Games which the local churches are embracing and “fighting the good fight of faith”.

Further information about Pedro Youth Club: http://www.pedroclub.com.

Solomon Izang Ashoms is editor of Parable Magazine in South Africa (www.parable.co.za). He is a media trainer and broadcast journalist who has covered major sporting events with 2K Plus International Sports Media since 2002.

2K Plus International Sports Media has reported from major sporting events with a Christian perspective since 1991. During the 2012 London Olympic Games 2K Plus is serving over 1500 radio stations in four languages as well as offering print, video, online and social media services. See www.2kplus.org.uk and www.planetsport.tv. Contact Adrian Barnard: abarnard@2kplus.org.uk, phone: +44-7986-362487.