British light-heavyweight champion Anthony Yarde is making positive moves outside of the ring as well as inside it.
Alongside Stephen Addison MBE and Redbridge Councillor Jas Athwal, Yarde helped launch the new ‘Box Up Crime’ initiative which intends to deter kids from the increased wave of knife crime circulating London and its surrounding neighbours, as the Ilford Recorder reports.
Aimed at 13 to 19-year-olds, the scheme provides not only boxing training, but education as well as mentoring. Box Up Crime offers not only an alternative to gangs and crime but also encourages character building. As Yarde comments, “boxing gives you discipline, it helps you physically and mentally”.
Set up by Stephen Addison, the initiative already saw success in Barking and Dagenham, reducing serious youth violence by 25%. Close to the heart, Ilford set the backdrop for Yarde’s inspiring story and his rise to international success.
Yarde will fight Sergey Kovalev for the WBO Light Heavyweight title on June 24th of this year.
