Built with the sweat of a family, the Daud Boxing Club is a place for youths to practice boxing and fight for their future. The center wants to do more than producing world champion boxers. It wants to save the future of young people.
By
Emanuel Edi Saputra
·4 minutes read
Built with the sweat of a family, the Daud Boxing Club is a place for youths to practice boxing and fight for their future.
The center – established by boxer Daud Yordan from West Kalimantan and his brother Damianus Yordan, who is also one of Daud’s trainers – wants to do more than producing world champion boxers. It wants to save the future of young people.
Seven boxers, including Daud – a WBA International and WBO International champion – were training enthusiastically at the Daud Boxing Club in Sukadana, North Kayong regency, West Kalimantan, on Monday (18/6/2018) afternoon.
They are amateur boxers, except for Daud. In fact, several of them are still students.
Daud led the training session, beginning with the warm-up. Then they did some skipping, followed by the boxing practice. One by one practiced fighting Daud. While awaiting their turn, the others practiced using the facilities available at the training center.
Although they were still young, their fists were fast, and their moves resembled the agilely of professionals. The aspiring boxers were full of spirit, inspired by the achievements of Daud.
A few minutes later, the elder of the brothers, Damianus Yordan, arrived to train the youth. Patiently he trained the beginner boxers, one by one. Daud, too, is accompanied by his brother during every training season.
The Daud Boxing Club was established in 2015. The aspiring boxers are from low-income families. There are four professional and two amateur boxers at the training center. The training center is expected to open new horizons for young people in West Kalimantan to build a better future through boxing.
“The boxers are from low-income families. They have talent in boxing. Through this training center, my brother and I want to help young people in West Kalimantan get a better future through boxing,” Daud said.
There is no shortage of facilities at the training center, which even includes a boarding house for the boxers. Daud has allocated some of his prize money from competitions to fund the training center. With good facilities, they hope to give the young people good training for a future in sports. “My brother Damianus Yordan and I want to make them successful through boxing. They have high spirit. They come from the inner region [of Kalimantan] and are trying to improve their lives by training hard. I am motivated to make them better than myself. Besides, I want to improve the reputation of this region in the eyes of the world,” Daud said.
Roni, 15, is one of the aspiring boxers at the Daud Boxing Club. He is from a poor family. He has been training under the guidance of Daud and Damianus for seven years. Economic hardship is motivating Roni to make it in boxing. He wants to become a champion like Daud.
Simple
Before enjoying the well-equipped training center, the youngsters practiced boxing at a modest camp back in 2007. The training camp was named the North Kayong boxing camp, measuring 10 x 20 meters. It was a far cry from the new training center, but it was that camp that gave birth to the idea of helping young people from poor families through boxing.
Damianus built the old training camp in staged. At the time, Damianus and the aspiring boxers, with the help of their families, collected construction materials to gradually develop the North Kayong boxing camp. “I asked one of the families to cut trees in the forest for material to build the training house. Along with the aspiring boxers, I carried the logs from the forest to the location, where the training house would be built,” Damianus said.
Although the training house was modest, it had produced around 20 boxers. They finished formal education and won some championships in boxing. Some of them later joined the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police or became civil servants. Boxing opened a new horizon for the children of poor families.
As time passed, Daud Yordan managed to win championships and could allocate money for the construction of the new training center, the Daud Boxing Club. With the help of other facilities, the two brothers’ mission to help young people continued.
Damianus acknowledged that it was not easy to guide young people from poor families with their own problems. “They often show their true habits. Sometimes, they ignore discipline. However, with some advice, they could make it. I guide them with patience, as I am aware I have to love, train and teach them,” Damianus said.
They also need to be directed to lead a healthy lifestyle. They have to get enough rest and avoid drugs. Besides, the training center is a place to teach them to be humble.