When you enter Fitzroy Lodge boxing club you're coming face to face with the decades of sweat, blood and not a few tears that have set the scene for this secretive world. Once inside, you're immediately confronted with two boxing rings and a hive of frenetic physical activity stretching into the bowels of the gym, all conducted against the backdrop of loud music, shouted instructions and the regular thunder of trains overhead.
"No sitting down in the gym," barks Grant Andrews, who is supervising one of the twice-weekly junior nights that attract about two dozen 11 to 17-year-olds. The intensive 90-minute sessions start with circuit training, press-ups and skipping, before moving on to punching the bag, running and cycling and, finally - but only if the kid is ready - into the ring for some sparring.
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