Among the great unacknowledged engines of English amateur boxing, the Romany Gypsy community stands tall  often seen, rarely heard, frequently applauded, and almost never represented. They have been there all along, loading the vans, buying the tickets, coaching in the shadows, and sending their sons  and increasingly, their daughters into the ring with a composure earned not in leisure but in struggle.

The prejudice they have endured, and still endure, is one of the last forms of bigotry that is tolerated with a wink and a shrug. It passes in the margins of conversations, festers in media digital or print, and surfaces in soft exclusion. While other communities have rightly gained protection and voice, the Romany are left to fend for themselves in a society that too often confuses ignorance for tradition. And yet, fend for themselves they do  with a poise and dignity bred not of luxury or comfort, but of generations made fluent in the language of exclusion. They carry the composure of a people who have long ceased to expect fairness, and long learned how to rise without it. They do not waste breath conducting seminars for the ignorant. They do not march into battle against every sneer and slur. Instead, they lace up the gloves and speak, as it were, in punches making their argument in three-rounds and letting history take the notes.

They come to the sports halls, to the working men’s clubs, to the leisure centres with ceilings that sweat condensation onto the canvas. They come with families in tow fathers taping hands, mothers folding kit, cousins cheering from the back rows with plastic cups of tea. Their presence is never halfway. Boxing is not an extracurricular for the Romany; it is a way of life a proving ground, a discipline, a shared ritual that binds generations.

Many grassroots shows, the very backbone of the amateur scene, survive because of this turnout. The numbers are not incidental. Without the Romany presence in the crowd, in the ring, behind the scenes a vast number of shows simply wouldn’t be financially viable. Rings wouldn’t be hired. Halls wouldn’t be booked. The spectacle, in many cases, would not go ahead.

Their contribution in the ring is undisputed. They produce boxers of grit and grace, of extraordinary heart. They’ve done it year after year, club after club. They coach too with discipline, with a quiet intensity, with no hunger for titles or headlines. Yet when it comes to governance, when decisions are made, when appointments are handed out or panels convened, the Romany voice is almost always absent. This absence must be redressed.

There is something deeply English or rather, deeply noble in their values: religious, yes; family-oriented beyond question; fiercely principled. Their instinct is to support those nearby. The circle extends not just to kin, but to neighbours, club-mates, strangers in need. I’ve seen it too many times to mistake it for performance.

It’s a privilege to call many from this remarkable community my friends. That isn’t flattery; it’s the honest sentiment of a man who has broken bread, swapped stories, and stood ringside with people who know precisely who they are and make no apology for it. I admire them for their sense of honour, for their hard-earned civility, for their unwillingness to bend to a world that often tries to push them sideways.

And yes, I have a soft spot. I know something of what it is to be looked at twice, dismissed without cause, judged before you’ve spoken. I know how that kind of treatment can bury itself in the bones. Thankfully, the worst of that is behind me. But I haven’t forgotten.
credit to England Boxing as one of the most engaged national governing bodies with the Romany community. 

Romany Gypsies have been giving to English boxing for generations in numbers, in culture, in heart, in endurance. It is time the sport acknowledged the full weight of that contribution  with inclusion, voice, and the same respect they have so consistently given the sport in return.

To our brothers and sisters of the Romany Gypsy community,  we stand with you,  we see you as our comrades and our peers  you are an  integral and important part of our amateur boxing community without you boxing would not be the same and it might not be at all.

Special Thanks to jimmy Burnside and Ruben Taylor Snr for helping me fill in the gaps about some of this article