LEGENDARY trainer Mick Jelley has appealed for help to secure the future of Bury Amateur Boxing Club.

The 73-year-old, who guided the young careers of Amir Khan and Scott Quigg, fears he may have to close the club if a new home cannot be found.

Their current base, at Seedfield Community Centre, is being shut down by Bury Council (see story on the Bury Times news page).

The council is in talks with Bury ABC as they search for alternative premises, but Jelley does not hold out much hope and he is looking for help from the local community.

“I am willing to keep this club running until I die,” he said. “But I am too old to start from scratch.

“The council is saying it would cost £300,000 to build a new facility, which is nonsense.

“I have a friend who recently converted a property into a new gym for £10,000. There are ways and means of doing these things.

“If you gave me £100,000 I could build the best gym in the world, but I can’t do this alone, not at my age.”

Bury ABC was set up in 1936 by Mick’s father, Pop Jelley, who handed him the reins 55 years ago.

Moving is nothing new to Jelley. The club has had 15 different homes. But since moving to its current base in 2002, Bury ABC has enjoyed a golden era, producing two Olympians in Khan (Athens 2004) and Muhammad Ali (Rio 2016), as well as countless national junior champions, while also playing a key role in the early career of former world super-bantamweight champion Quigg.

Jelley has been key to that success, fighting hard to get the best for his young boxers, but he fears this is one battle he cannot win alone.

“I have dedicated my life to this club, but I am prepared to walk away and I am afraid it will not continue without me,” he said.

“I am hoping some local benefactor will come forward because at this moment in time, once the centre closes, I think that will be it for me.”

Bury ABC hosts training sessions twice a week at Seedfield, on Monday and Thursday evenings, with up to 30 young fighters taking part at any one time.

Sessions start with skipping and shadow-boxing, before the boxers split into smaller groups for circuit training, bag and ball work, technical lessons and sparring.

Jelley and fellow coach Colin Carr put the fighters through their paces, as well as ferrying them around the country for fights.

“It is a big commitment, but one I am happy to make,” he said.

“The satisfaction does not just come from watching the boys win, it is about helping them to grow as people. I have seen lads become men, grow in confidence and find their place in the world. I have gone to countless weddings, christenings and funerals.

“Most lads haven’t gone on to have important boxing careers.

“Some have come to me as school drop-outs and gone on to become millionaire businessmen.

“Boxing has also given many the chance to see the world, visiting places they would never have dreamed they would do.”