#funnily enough i tried several box mixes and the best one so far has turned out to be walmart brand?

[aniseandspearmint]

noooo my brownies!

the container just got knocked off the bed and they all went in the floooooor.

FIVE OF THEM WERE LEFT. FIVE OUT OF THE NINE.

I hate wasted food.

[dulwichdiverter]

Fighting fit

Boxing legend Clinton McKenzie has enjoyed a phenomenal career in the ring. Now he shares his passion for pugilism with others at his East Dulwich gym  

Words by Luke G Williams; Photo by Lima Charlie

On the lower floor of Hamlets Health Club on Edgar Kail Way, you’ll find one of the legends of British boxing.

Jamaican-born and south-London raised, Clinton McKenzie is 62 but possesses the vim and vigour of a man less than half his age, as well as a trim waistline that is testament to years of physical exertion and steely self control.

After retiring from the ring in 1989, Clinton tried his hand at various business ventures before moving into boxing fitness training in 1994 and establishing a hugely successful gym in Herne Hill on the top floor of the Half Moon pub. A move to premises in Tulse Hill followed in 2008 before he arrived at his current site in East Dulwich three years ago.

McKenzie’s Boxing Fitness Gym – with its catchy tagline “Get fit without getting hit” – offers a wide range of classes, including specialised sessions for new mums, children aged five to 16 and the over-50s.

The business is fuelled by Clinton’s incredible passion for pugilism, as well as his established expertise as a boxing trainer and instructor, which he has forged at the sport’s very highest levels.

A former national amateur champion and 1976 Olympian, Clinton enjoyed three spells as British super lightweight champion during an accomplished professional career spanning nearly 13 years.

He also won the European championship and fought in venues all around the world, including headlining on several occasions at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as featuring in bouts in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Lagos among other locations.

Clinton first arrived in England at the age of seven and credits his love of boxing to his father, who first introduced him to the sport by showing him Muhammad Ali fights on the family’s black-and-white television.

The oldest of seven siblings, several of whom also boxed to a high level – including three-time world title winning brother Duke – Clinton was first taken to an amateur gym in Addiscombe by his father when he was 11 and has been involved in the sport ever since.

Fifty years on, he retains an enviable and school-boyish enthusiasm for the sport. “I enjoy what I do, I’ve got a passion for it, I love it,” he tells me with a warm smile.

“I’m 62 but I’m still healthy and still want to do things. I really want to encourage people of my age to come out and get themselves fit.

���Boxing’s a great way of keeping yourself in shape, it really is. I just hope I can continue to build up McKenzie’s Boxing and make it even bigger.”

As a way of encouraging people to give his classes a go, Clinton offers free taster sessions “to anyone who’s interested”.

“If you come down I’ll give you a little warm-up, which is basically stretches etcetera to warm the body up,” he explains. “Then I’ll take you on the bag for a couple of rounds, depending on the level of your fitness. Some people can’t punch the bag for three minutes so I might give you a minute and see how you progress from there.

“Then there’s some skipping – or if you can’t skip I can always introduce something else instead. Everyone loves the pad work, so then I get you in the ring and let you work on the pads. It’s about having fun and getting fit. But the fact that it’s based around boxing skills and equipment makes it original and interesting.

“You’ll have fun doing it. That’s what I want to get across – you don’t have to be fit or a sportsman – you could be anybody. It’s not about competition, it’s about fitness and getting in the best possible shape. Just come in and have a go!”

The eclectic mix of classes on offer at McKenzie’s has helped him to establish a loyal and varied clientele. “So far it’s been pretty successful,” he says. “This year has been the best year in terms of getting customers in to train and get fit.

“We’ve had a good influx from a range of age groups. Over 50s in particular is looking really good –I think the fact that I’m 62 encourages older people to come in.

“I’m here six days a week and once you’ve had a taster session you can book slots to suit you – either a class or personal one-on-one. You just book me, and I’ll make it as enjoyable as I can.”

Clinton emphasises that participants in his classes receive plenty of support and encouragement. “Boxing training is a very individual sort of workout,” he says. “But there’s always two trainers – everyone gets some attention so they feel special.”

As well as physical benefits, Clinton points out that boxing training also has a positive effect on mental well-being. “To do something physical and really put your mind to it gives you a great sense of achievement,” he says.

“It’s great for the mind; the sense of achievement that the individual gets and the sense of self-worth from boxing training is vital.

“I’ve got a couple of customers now who can go 15 rounds punching the bag. I organise their sessions like it’s a real bout – they sit down in the corner of the ring after each round and everything.

“Getting up round after round teaches you to be patient, to stick to your guns.  A few customers have told me, ‘Wow, boxing really teaches you how to survive when things get really rough.’”

Having participated in 50 professional bouts during his career as a pro, Clinton’s wealth of experience places him in an ideal position to judge just how hard to push his clients.

“You’ve got to know your customers,” he emphasises. “I take them to the limit where I know they aren’t struggling too much, but they are still capable of giving a little bit more.

“It’s very controlled what I do. Because I’ve been in at the deep end myself, I can feel what they’re going through, so I know just how much to push a customer and when not to push them.

“I don’t want to take them to a place where they say, ‘I’m not coming back here again.’ I want them to go away thinking, ‘Wow, that was great. I enjoyed that.’ Funnily enough, they normally end up wanting me to take them to that tough place in the end – so when they’re ready, they go there.”

Clinton’s animation when speaking about the gym is replicated when he moves on to discuss the highlights of his own incredible career as an amateur and a professional, including a memorable showdown against the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

“The Olympics was always a goal of mine,” he recalls. “It was like a fairytale. It was such a wonderful thing to do. I’ll always remember it. Sugar Ray Leonard was the complete boxer but I felt I put up a good performance against him. [At the end of the fight] I knew he’d beaten me… but what an experience!”

After turning professional in October 1976, Clinton first won the British title in 1978. He lost the championship for a brief period the following year but after regaining it he reigned supreme among UK super lightweights until 1984.

He racked up a series of successful defences that secured outright ownership of two prestigious Lonsdale belts, a feat only matched by five other British boxers and bettered by just one, the legendary Henry Cooper. A third spell as British champion in 1989 sealed Clinton’s place in the history books.

“They were great times,” he tells me, a broad grin lighting up his still youthful face. “Winning the Lonsdale belt was a big achievement for me. And having two of them for keeps? Fantastic.”

Besides boxing, the other abiding passion in Clinton’s life is his family; he has six children of his own, the youngest just five years old, as well as several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

After a successful spell as a professional footballer, Clinton’s son Leon became a boxer in 2013, and is still trained by his father. “He’s had success in two sports, which is quite remarkable,” Clinton says. “I’m very proud of him.

“My son Andrew, who’s five, is also a right athlete. He boxes too, so he could be the next generation, although his mum doesn’t want him to fight!”

As for the future, Clinton is planning on bringing an open-air boxing event to Dulwich for the first time. “As well as the boxing fitness, I train about eight amateur boxers, kids who take it really seriously,” he explains.

“I’m hoping to put an outdoor amateur show on next year on the Dulwich Hamlet pitch. It would be the first one ever in Dulwich, the first of its kind. That would be pretty special.”