Brighton boxer Thomas Sayers was born 200 years ago today (Monday 25 May) – and to mark the occasion, a senior councillor has given his commemorative plaque a spruce.
Jacob Allen said: “As cabinet member for public realm, I went to personally clean up the plaque on North Road to pugilist Thomas Sayers ahead of his 200th birthday.
“I wanted to pay respects to Sayers and make sure his plaque was looking pristine ahead of his bicentennial birthday.
“As an administration, we are proud of Brighton and Hove’s heritage and that includes celebrating figures from our past who made an impact – literally in Tom the boxer’s case!”
“Some people try to make fun of me for cleaning things myself throughout the city – but I say as an Englishman that DIY is in our DNA.
“And I am more than happy to spend some of my bank holiday weekend paying tribute to our forefathers that helped make our city unique.”
It’s likely Cllr Jacob Allen will have a lot more time on his hands after the local elections next May. Let’s see if he goes round cleaning plaques and issuing press releases to local journalists then 😉
Hope Ms Sankey will have a lot more time too
It’s a good reminder that a lot of Ward Councillors go into the job because they want to make a positive difference to the city, and have been involved in lots of activities beforehand.
And to add they will be involved in lots of activities when they don’t win their seat in 2027. Hopefully these won’t be involving closing local schools.
Good, but are you proud enough of Brighton and Hove’s Boxing heritage to save the famous 80 year old Boxing Club from the bulldozers at the King Alfred, which has turned hundreds of young lives around?
Quite a few major names have also either trained, sparred, visited, or spent time at this CLUB over the decades. The club itself highlights these famous fighters as having come through the doors of the King Alfred Boxing Club.
Tyson Fury
Mike Tyson
Lennox Lewis
Evander Holyfield
Roy Jones Jr.
Marvin Hagler
A lot of those names were not permanent members in the sense of growing up there; some visited for training camps, sparring, or events connected to promoter and former British heavyweight champion Scott Welch, who has long been associated with the club.
The gym has also produced and trained respected local and national-level fighters, including:
Scott Welch — former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion.
Tommy Welch — unbeaten heavyweight prospect and son of Scott Welch.
Chris Eubank Jr. has trained with coaches connected to the gym, particularly Anthony Brown.
For a seaside amateur club, it’s got an unusually strong reputation in heavyweight boxing circles. The King Alfred gym is one of those old-school places where top pros occasionally drop in when training on the south coast.
Gimmick or not it’s nice to see anyone taking an interest in maintaining historical objects.
If more people did then perhaps the place would look a lot better?
Lovely, thank you Jacob. It is nice to see that someone cares.