Sport & Fitness

London’s youngest boxing promoter, 31-year-old Michael Helliet, has put together an ingenious event in the heart of the East End with a great-value VIP ticket that looks set to satisfy the desires of not only the average boxing fan but just about anyone who ever fancied themselves in a real-life episode of ‘The Sweeney’. Feature continues

Sunday’s ‘East End Experience’ begins with drinks and some local history pointers in Bethnal Green’s Old George – apparently one of the most ancient pubs in the capital and much frequented in its heyday by popular ‘businessmen’ such as the Krays. If you’re getting warning bells, let’s put the Guy Ritchie schtick to bed nice and early. This day is not about posturing or looking well ’ard in your camel coat and driving gloves. It’s about experiencing an eroding London environment, trading banter with some genuine salt-of-the-earth characters over a beer or two and enjoying a live bill of professional boxing.

Once you’ve quenched your thirst, the G Kelly pie and mash shop on Bethnal Green Road is the destination for some proper lunchtime tucker. This cockney emporium, its walls adorned with photos of long-retired footballers and fighters, is seemingly frozen in time, the smoke of century-old Woodbines clinging to the ceiling. There’s even jellied eels on offer if you fancy a dabble.The main event of the day is at York Hall, with VIP ringside seats for the Commonwealth light-heavyweight showdown between Peter Haymer and Ovill McKenzie – a cracking London derby.

If you’ve never been to this famous old venue, Helliet’s ticket is the ideal introduction. With a capacity of just 1,200, a lively bar (often propped up by beaten fighters trying to drown their sorrows) and a genuinely warm atmosphere, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone with a bad word to say about this crumbling Georgian institution that has seen more stays of execution than a death row inmate.

When the fistic action is over, there’s an after-show party hosted by ex-world flyweight title holder Charlie Magri at his pub, The Victoria, in Bow – a popular boozer with a reputation for a right old knees-up. Forget the gum-shield; lager and comedy world championship karaoke will be the order of the day.

This is the second such venture for Helliet, in association with the World Sports Organisation, who are the foremost promoters of women’s boxing in the UK – hence the appearance on the bill of a contest between Juliette Winter and Cathy ‘The Bitch’ Brown (as featured in Time Out last week). ‘Not many people would normally choose to go out in Bethnal Green,’ he explains, ‘let alone to see a live boxing match, even though they may be curious about what goes on in this very historic place. The “East End Experience” allows them to come and see it all first-hand, as if they were in a bubble – they feel completely safe, which of course they would be anyway, but it helps to break down any negative preconceptions they may have had.’

If this sounds like a case of ‘boxing tourism’, there’s no trace of cynicism in Helliet’s pitch. Indeed, he’s quick to point out that a healthy proportion of those who attended the last event were East Enders themselves. Most importantly, though, if the result of this neat marketing exercise is a small increase in the numbers attending live boxing then his imaginative efforts have to be applauded.

The ‘East End Experience’ is on Sunday. See listings for details. Tickets for lunch, VIP seats at the boxing and admission to the after-show party cost £70 from 020 7388 5999/mayfairboxing@aol.com. Or you can watch the boxing only for £30.