The SW Londoner travelled to Manchester to meet Divine Aigbekaen and his coach, Greg Kubiak to find out how Thai boxing has made a positive impact on the teenager’s life.
Recent reports show that knife crime levels in London are higher than pre-pandemic levels, making Manchester’s 13% reduction in knife crime last year look even more impressive.
Former would-be wayward youth Divine Aigbekaen attributes his success to a crime reduction scheme that introduced him to the world of Muay Thai boxing.
“It makes me feel good, when I train I have a reason to be somewhere, I’m not just coasting through life, I actually have something to do,” Aigbekaen said.
At 15, Aigbekaen was identified as heading for trouble when he began receiving support from Greater Manchester’s Violence Reduction Unit, then Your Trust, a charity that works with the unit, suggested he try Muay Thai.
Thankfully, he said yes.
At just 17 years old, he is now the adult British Muay Thai Nai Khanom Tom Heavyweight Champion.
When asked about the win, Aigbekaen said: “It felt amazing. I look back at the video sometimes. A lot of my school mates came as well, and there was a great atmosphere, to be honest it was something else.”
Comparing Thai boxing to football he said: “With this type of sport you’re in there on your own, you’ve done the work yourself so when you win, it was all because you did it.”
He added: “And your team, you’ve still got your team to back you up, but when you’re in the ring, it’s just you, so after the 10 or 15 minutes of fighting, and your hand gets raised, it feels great.”
Watch the full interview here:
Featured image credit: Gleb Krasnoborov via Pexels
Join the discussion