Boxing Perspective: Alpha 1 Gym Leads The Way For West Ireland

Entering into the early 2000’s, boxing was in a state of desperation. Having fallen from the mind of the public, largely due to the lack of accessibility, it seemed that boxing was on the verge of returning underground. Pay Per View and high-ticket prices quenched any thirst the general public had for the Bloody Arts.

However, boxing has enjoyed a resurrection of sorts in the past couple of years. Despite the disapproval of some boxing purists, the reality television series “The Contender” allowed the sport some much-needed healthy publicity.

The subsequent release of films such as “Million Dollar Baby” and “Rocky Balboa” saw boxing come back into fashion, with celebrities adopting boxing in order to attain fitness. The promoters then capitalised on this sudden reinvigoration of the sport.

Perhaps spurned on by the newly present competition offered by Mixed Martial Arts, the world of boxing has enjoyed two years of fantastic matchmaking with the world’s best meeting and creating some classic battles which has translated into further positive exposure for the sport in the general media.

Boxing finally clawed its way back from obscurity as Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton did battle on front of a huge international audience. Finally, the world of boxing seems to be in recovery.

There is nowhere in the boxing world that has felt the effects of this invigoration more than the west of Ireland. A minority sport in the past, Olympic Boxing Club, which is now recognised as Galway’s premier boxing club, has, this year alone, produced over twenty County Champions, over a dozen Provincial Champions and guided Brian Brosnan, Brian Barrett, Christopher Sherlock, JJ Mongan and Alan Donnellan to National Titles and International honours in the amateur ranks.

Deep in Connemara, former Word Title Challenger Sean Mannion is developing a specialised boxing facility for the development of young amateurs. Alongside his ever-increasing stable of professional fighters, Mannion is a key player in the new breed of boxers fighting from Ireland’s west.

However, to locate the west’s premier boxing one has to return to the capital of the West; Galway City, the base of operations for heavyweight contender and boxing aficionado Declan Timlin.

Through his own incentive, Declan has constructed and set into motion the “Alpha 1” professional boxing gym. The facility was an idea born from necessity. Timlin, a former recruit of Gleason’s gym in Brooklyn, returned to Ireland and found that there was no boxing gym in the west that could serve as a viable support for his own blossoming boxing career.

Having competed in the United Sates on a number of DiBella cards, the Mayo native acted immediately and opened his own professional boxing gym. Any fans that know the story of Bobby Gleason will see the irony in Timlin’s story.

The location consists of a state of the art gym on the ground floor, dedicated to aerobic fitness, weights and various machines. The Timlin brothers are a pair that adopts a high regard for physical fitness and this reflects in the layout of the gym.

Declan’s brother John is the kingpin behind this magnificent facility. On the day of my arrival to the gym, Declan himself was a visible presence, however, unexpectedly he did not present himself as an owner or manager monitoring his premises, he was exerting himself on a sit-up bench utilising the medicine ball to harden his obliques.

Already impressed by the gym, Declan personally allowed time to show me around his pride and joy – the dedicated boxing gym, nested above the main facility. Only select people are allowed slip past Declan’s guard and into this area.

Similarly to Gleason’s in New York, one must climb a flight of stairs in order to enter the gym. The immaculately tiled stairs and hallway give way to cold concrete as one enters the boxing gym. Immediately, the ring impresses. The classic blue and red spring from the white walls, although quite a new ring the four headguards placed atop each ring post give the visitor a sense of the work that occurs in this cradle of fighters.

Overlooking the ring are a number of fight posters. Assorted from various shows around Ireland, they portray fighters such as Dunne, Duddy, Lee, Macklin and Timlin himself. Positioned over the ring, in their fight poses, it appears as if they sneer down into the canvas below.

Bags of varying weights and functions hang to three sides of the ring. The heavy bag has already had paint worn from its flesh, a testament to Timlin’s own tenacious efforts as he tirelessly trains there, remorselessly abusing the bag. A huge mirror adorns another wall, on front of which a plywood platform caters fo boxers wishing to skip and shadowbox, below which a carpeted area caters for floor exercises, pad work and calisthenics.

Accompanied with a huge floor space, decorated with several fight posters and boxing memorabilia, this gym appears to be an incredibly well thought out facility, already instilled with a fine work ethic.

To the general boxing community, the most interesting thing I can relay from Alpha 1 Boxing Gym was the notice board by the door, which listed the fighters who have already trained there and the fighters who will benefit from the gym’s use in the future.

Both Timlin brothers, cruiserweight and light heavyweight prospects Michael Sweeney and Keith Cresham have already used the facility. The aforementioned Sean Mannion utilises the gym in preparation of all of his protégés prior to their pro bouts and Kronk training camp regular Gerry Hussey commands a fleet of enthusiastic amateurs in the gym.

Future fighters to capitalise from the use of the facility will be Bernard Dunne, John Duddy, Andy Lee and Paul McCloskey. This influx of established and well reputed fighters will surely have an inspirational effect on the gym as a whole and nurture the club in it’s infancy, until it becomes an established boxing outfit.

Declan Timlin, an easily accessible source of boxing insight, has already had experience of the world of professional boxing, on either side of the Atlantic. Although in the prospect stages of his own career he has chosen to share his gym and offers whatever aid he can to other fighters. This attitude, combined with his own work ethic, will ensure that Alpha 1 becomes a success.

For the general boxing fan, it is a comfort to know that whilst boxing is enjoying a long overdue rejuvenation, there are people like Timlin striving to ensure the sports continuation and longevity.

Departing from my first visit to Alpha 1, I had not only developed a curiosity as to the future of the gym, but also into the future of Declan Timlin as he progresses further into the boxing world. It will be an interested spectator and supporter as Timlin attempts to implement Bobby Gleason’s ideals in the west of Ireland.