A Cwmbran boxing club that started 32 years ago has moved to a new gym described by the head coach as being “like a Rolls Royce”.
Torfaen Warriors ABC’s first gym was in the masonic hall on Wesley Street and over the years they’ve had to set up in various locations.
Their new home from February is the former sports hall at Cheeky Monkeys soft play centre in Fairwater.
Simon Weaver, head coach, along with his coaches and friends are working hard to get the gym ready to hold an open day on Saturday 1 February from 12pm to 3pm. Anyone is welcome to pop along to find out more and watch the club’s boxers train.
Simon said: “It’s been a long time coming. This is like coming from a Mini to a Rolls Royce to be quite honest with you.
“It’s perfect. They’ve [the owners of Cheeky Monkeys] been very accommodating. All the people here are really excited about us coming over here.
“We’ve asked quite a few people to come [to next Saturday’s open day]. I know Lauren Price is going to try and come but she’s in camp at the moment so if she can’t come, she’s given her apologies. Robbie Regan is coming to open it. I think we’ve got Gavin Gwynne, quite a few different champions are going to pop in. Hopefully, Gary Lockett is coming down as well, so yes it should be a good day.
“And we’re doing some sparring so the public can see what sort of thing we do here. I think it’s going to get really busy once we open up over here.
“It’s about three times the size of our last gym and we had about 28-30 training so they’re going to be in luxury over here with all the space and the bags.
“I think we had eight punch bags in the other place and we’ve got nearly 20 punching stations all around the inside of the room here so it’s absolutely amazing.
“When we said we were looking for somewhere, a member of staff [at Cheeky Monkeys] got hold of us and told us about it and I came up and had a look and said it was absolutely perfect for a gym for us.”
Simon gave a “massive shout-out” and thanked the businesses who have helped transform the hall into a boxing gym. These include Howdens of Cwmbran donating a kitchen worth “a couple of thousand pounds”, Dave Vaughan and Cwmbran Electrics for donating all the new lights and cables as well as fitting them all, along with cabling to the showers, Leyland Paints for paints, Cwmbran Timber for wood, and PD Powell & Sons for giving the gym a defibrillator.
🐵 Cheeky Monkeys address is 105 Fairwater Way, Cwmbran NP44 4PS