Great Britain Disability Boxing

🥊🥽🇳🇱 FROM ROTTERDAM… TO WHAT COMES NEXT.

November last year was an experience I'll never forget.

During the NK Boxing Championships in Rotterdam, we held the first official NK eBoxing event using Golden Gloves Virtual Reality Boxing on the Meta Quest.

Created by Aaron Sloan, Golden Gloves VR provides an incredible boxing experience:

🥽 Immersive
🔥 Intense
💡 Innovative
🚀 Future-focused

I'm truly blessed to be part of the Golden Gloves Virtual Reality Boxing team as UK Lead Representative.

But what made Rotterdam particularly special wasn't only the technology.

It was the people and the connections. ❤️

I was made to feel incredibly welcome and had the opportunity to meet some amazing boxers, coaches and leaders.

We shared ideas.

We talked boxing.

We talked innovation.

We talked inclusion.

And we built relationships that have continued long after the event finished.

Because sometimes an event isn't the destination.

IT'S THE BEGINNING.

The relationships created in Rotterdam have continued to grow and create new conversations and opportunities.

That's the exciting thing about bringing boxing and technology together.

We're not trying to replace traditional boxing.

We're creating another pathway into it.

Another opportunity to participate.

Another opportunity to compete.

Another opportunity to belong. 🥊❤️

Thank you to Aaron, the Golden Gloves VR team and everyone who made me feel so welcome in Rotterdam.

The future of boxing doesn't have to be traditional OR technological.

🥊🥽 IT CAN BE BOTH.

🥊🌍 3 YEARS AGO TODAY — TANZANIA 🇹🇿

Three years ago today, BoxWise sent me to Tanzania.

Previously, they'd given me the opportunity to travel to Brazil 🇧🇷 to teach inclusion boxing.

But Tanzania brought another first.

🥊 Leading an amateur boxing session internationally at the award-winning FitPoa gym with Coach Ricky

❤️ Delivering inclusion boxing at Al-Muntazir School

🇬🇧 Meeting the then British High Commissioner to Tanzania, David Concar

I've been with Rick Ogden, founder of BoxWise, and Scott Lovelock, BoxWise COO, from the very start.

Today I'm proud to be BoxWise Lead Inclusion Officer.

Our commitments delivering programmes across the UK mean we don't currently run an international programme, but the lessons and relationships created through those experiences continue.

Through Great Britain Disability Boxing, we now deliver inclusion boxing across the UK, support our NGB and offer advice and support to boxers, coaches and clubs around the world. 🌍🥊

And when I look back at Tanzania, it reminds me what one person's idea can become.

An idea can become a programme.

A programme can become an opportunity.

And an opportunity can change somebody's life.

That's the power of BoxWise. ❤️

And boxing taught me something else…

BOXING DOESN'T HAVE A LANGUAGE BARRIER.

A jab is a jab anywhere in the world. 🥊

It doesn't matter where you're from, what language you speak, your background or your ability.

SPORT IS FOR ALL.

Thank you Rick, Scott and everyone at BoxWise for believing in me and Great Britain Disability Boxing.

Three years later, we're still pushing the same message:

🥊❤️ WE ADAPT TO INCLUDE.

🥊🌍 3 YEARS AGO TODAY — TANZANIA 🇹🇿

Three years ago today, BoxWise — the UK’s leading award-winning boxing charity — sent me to Tanzania.

It wasn’t my first international experience with BoxWise. Previously, they had given me the incredible opportunity to travel to Brazil 🇧🇷 to teach inclusion boxing.

But Tanzania was different.

For the first time internationally, I had the opportunity to lead an amateur boxing session at the award-winning FitPoa gym, alongside Coach Ricky.

Then we travelled to Al-Muntazir School, where I delivered inclusion boxing, demonstrating how boxing can be adapted so that more people have the opportunity to participate.

During the visit, we also had the privilege of meeting the then British High Commissioner to Tanzania, David Concar.

Looking back three years later, what stands out most isn't simply the places we visited.

It's what can happen when somebody has an idea — and other people believe in it.

I've been alongside Rick Ogden, founder of BoxWise, and Scott Lovelock, BoxWise Chief Operating Officer, from the very beginning.

Today, I'm incredibly proud to be Lead Inclusion Officer for BoxWise.

At present, our commitments delivering programmes across the UK mean we're not running an international programme.

But the impact of those experiences continues.

Through Great Britain Disability Boxing, we support our National Governing Body, deliver inclusion boxing across the UK and provide support and advice to boxers, coaches and clubs around the world.

And BoxWise continues to demonstrate something incredibly powerful.

One person's idea can grow into something capable of reaching, changing and improving people's lives.

That's the power of boxing.

That's the power of BoxWise.

And those international experiences taught me something else:

🌍 BOXING DOESN'T HAVE A LANGUAGE BARRIER.

Boxing doesn't ask where you're from.

Boxing doesn't care what language you speak.

Boxing shouldn't discriminate because of disability, background or circumstance.

You can walk into a gym thousands of miles from home, put your hands up, throw a jab — and suddenly you're speaking the same language.

THE LANGUAGE OF BOXING. 🥊❤️🌍

Three years later, I'm still incredibly grateful for the belief that Rick, Scott and BoxWise placed in me and in Great Britain Disability Boxing.

The countries may change.

The people may change.

But the message never does:

SPORT FOR ALL — WE ADAPT TO INCLUDE.

🏅❤️ GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE HEADING TO THE SPECIAL OLYMPICS IN BIRMINGHAM!

From everybody at Great Britain Disability Boxing, we want to wish every athlete, coach, volunteer, family member and supporter attending the Special Olympics Games in Birmingham the very best of luck.

Enjoy every moment. Represent your teams with pride. And most importantly — have an incredible time! ❤️

Here at Great Britain Disability Boxing, we're fortunate to have our very own piece of Special Olympics royalty — Richard Young. 👑🏅

Richard has an incredible sporting story.

🏅 More than 400 medals to his name

🌊 And if that wasn't impressive enough, Richard once swam from Tenby Beach to Caldey Island and back — approximately a four-mile open-water swim!

But what makes us particularly proud is what Richard is doing now.

Richard is part of our team when we travel across Wales delivering the insport Series with Disability Sport Wales, helping us promote and teach inclusion boxing.

He isn't simply someone with an incredible collection of medals.

He's using his experience, enthusiasm and love of sport to help open doors for the next generation.

That's what Special Olympics represents so brilliantly — ability, opportunity, friendship, achievement and belonging through sport.

To everybody travelling to Birmingham:

GOOD LUCK, ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE AND BE PROUD OF EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ACHIEVED TO GET THERE. 🏅❤️

And Richard…

400+ medals and still giving back to sport. What a legend. 👑🥊

🥊❤️ SPORT FOR ALL — WE ADAPT TO INCLUDE.

🥊♿ WHEELCHAIR BOXING — TECHNICAL PARTNER DRILLS

Attack. Defend. Think. React. Score.

This wheelchair boxing drill brings together technique, defence, reactions and decision-making — with a competitive element.

🥊 BOXER 1 — ATTACK

You can score using:

➡️ Jab
➡️ Rear hand
➡️ Body shots

🛡️ BOXER 2 — DEFEND

You must prevent the opponent scoring using:

➡️ Hand defences — blocks, catches and parries
➡️ Trunk defence — leaning back
➡️ Side-to-side trunk movement

⏱️ 2-minute round

Boxer 1 attacks for 1 minute.

Then swap roles and Boxer 2 gets 1 minute to try to beat their opponent's score.

🔥 3 x 2-minute rounds

The objective is simple:

OUTSCORE YOUR OPPONENT.

But to do that, you have to think.

The attacking boxer has to create openings, select the right punch and find the target.

The defending boxer has to read the attack, react and choose the appropriate defence.

This is why our wheelchair boxing sessions aren't simply about hitting pads.

We're developing boxing IQ, timing, reactions, accuracy, defence, decision-making and tactical awareness.

The chair may change some of the movement.

It doesn't change the need to think like a boxer. 🥊♿

🥊❤️ DIFFERENT NEEDS. SAME SESSION. SAME OPPORTUNITY.

Meet Jack and Aiden.

Jack has ADHD, while Aiden — easily spotted by the blue streaks in his hair! 💙 — has Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), a group of inherited neurological conditions affecting the peripheral nerves and which can cause muscle weakness, reduced sensation and mobility difficulties.

But this clip isn't about what they can't do.

It's about what they CAN do when we adapt to include.

Watch their session:

🔥 Starting together on the stepper
🦵 Moving onto step-overs
🏓 Then our floor Human Ping Pong drill
♿🥊 Finishing with wheelchair boxing

Different activities developing different skills — but they're doing it together.

For someone with ADHD, appropriately coached boxing can provide a structured and engaging way to work on:

🧠 Focus and concentration
⚡ Reactions and decision-making
🎯 Hand-eye coordination
🥊 Following instructions and sequences
💪 Physical activity and fitness
❤️ Confidence, discipline and social interaction

For someone with CMT, activities need to be adapted to the individual's mobility, strength and fatigue levels. Appropriate boxing-based activities can provide opportunities to work on:

💪 Upper-body strength
🎯 Hand-eye coordination
⚖️ Controlled movement and balance
🥊 Range of movement
🧠 Motor skills and reactions
❤️ Confidence, participation and enjoyment

And then there's wheelchair boxing.

Using the chair isn't pretending someone has a disability.

It gives both young people another way to experience boxing, understand adaptation and learn that sport doesn't have to look exactly the same for everybody.

We don't build our sessions around a diagnosis.

We build them around the PERSON.

Different conditions.
Different abilities.
Different adaptations.

SAME SPORT. SAME CLUB. SAME OPPORTUNITY.

🥊❤️ SPORT FOR EVERYBODY — WE ADAPT TO INCLUDE.

🥊❤️ THE WALKER DOESN’T STOP THE BOXING — IT HELPS MAKE BOXING POSSIBLE

This is Finnley. He’s 12 years old, has cerebral palsy, and uses both a wheelchair and a walker for mobility.

Here he is using his walker while working the pads. 🥊

We don't ask Finnley to fit around boxing.

We adapt boxing around Finnley.

For someone with cerebral palsy, appropriately adapted boxing activities can provide an enjoyable way to work on:

🥊 Hand-eye coordination
💪 Upper-body strength and controlled movement
🎯 Accuracy and motor skills
⚡ Reactions and timing
🧠 Concentration and decision-making
❤️ Confidence, independence and enjoyment
🤝 Social interaction and being part of a team

Every person with cerebral palsy is different, so the session should always be adapted to the individual, their mobility and their needs.

Finnley might use a wheelchair for some activities and his walker for others.

The goal isn't to make everybody box the same way.

The goal is to give everybody the opportunity to box in their way.

Because inclusion isn't lowering expectations.

It's removing barriers.

🥊❤️ DON’T DECIDE WHAT SOMEONE CAN DO — GIVE THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW YOU.

🥊❤️ WE ADAPT TO INCLUDE

Finnley has cerebral palsy and uses a walker.

Delton has spina bifida.

Here they are working together on boxing defence and counter-attack drills. 🥊

We mention their conditions not for sympathy. Not for clickbait.

We mention them to show what's possible when coaches look at ability before disability.

Adapted boxing can help develop:

🥊 Coordination & reactions
🛡️ Defence & timing
💪 Strength & controlled movement
🎯 Hand-eye coordination
🧠 Decision-making
❤️ Confidence & enjoyment

Different conditions. Different adaptations.

Same boxing fundamentals.

We don't exclude someone because they perform a movement differently.

We adapt the coaching so they can be included.

🥊❤️ SPORT FOR ALL.