Boxing coach Mickel Nelson with Abdul Baset Ahmedi (right)

A TEENAGE boxer has told how joining a police-run boxing club changed his life after he arrived here from Afghanistan 15 months ago.

Abdul Baset Ahmedi, 15, joined Metrobox – which is based at the Sobell Sports Centre in Holloway – when their coaches visited his school in Camden. He has since won his first fight in October and is due to have his second bout later this month.

Mr Ahmedi, who is living in a hotel with his older brother while they wait for a permanent home, said his mother and other siblings are still living in Afghanistan but his father recently travelled back there to try and bring the rest of them over.

He now trains three times a week and hopes to be a professional boxer when he is older.

He said: “Everything was strange when I first arrived. My English was so bad. I couldn’t speak. I started Haverstock School, then I found the boxing club and I’m so happy about the Metro boxing. Everything is so good, the people are so kind, the coach is so good. I found my purpose in life.”

He is worried that if the family are relocated he will have to move away from the area and will no longer be able to attend the club.

Tom Hanson-Kahn, a police officer for Camden and Islington, set up Metrobox boxing club in 2020 at the end of lockdown.

Handing out certificates to students at their end-of-year party, held at the Sobell Centre last month, he said boxing makes a big difference for his students: “We started the gym really because I’ve got a boxing background, so having spent a lot of time in gyms I recognised the huge effect it can have on people’s lives and I noticed in those settings you have a lot of natural positive role models – whether it’s older boxers or coaches.”

Working as a youth engagement officer, he launched the boxing club after he felt it would be a good way to connect with young people. He now runs two groups: primary school children and a separate group for secondary school ages. Unlike other boxing clubs, Metrobox is free and all training is provided by either police officers – all of whom have given up their time for free – or volunteers.