Boxers create music for Commonwealth Games Festival from within the ring

The boxers from Rectory Amateur Boxing Club in Sutton Coldfield have been using their jabs and hooks to make music with two local musicians, Joe Cook and Mr Auden Allen, who created musical tracks based on each boxer’s style and pace.

The aim of the project is to celebrate the universal power of rhythm across the two separate disciplines, boxing and music, and a documentary film, Boxer Beat, featuring the music tracks will be available to watch online for free.

Boxer Beat is part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival’s Creative City programme and is one of 107 projects, funded by Birmingham City Council, that will see community groups playing their part in the citywide Commonwealth Games celebrations.

Club founder and senior coach Phil Brennan said that Rectory Amateur Boxing Club is a club that is as much about community as it is about sport and they saw the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as a great opportunity to show the world just that.

He said: “The Commonwealth Games coming to Birmingham is an inspiring opportunity for our club to show the world how the power of sport, a community club and its members can be a really positive force in the world.

"I think art is a very powerful tool too and being able to work with local artists to bring a creative dimension to what we do here at the club has been a fantastic experience.

"We can’t wait to share Boxer Beats with the world and we hope it will inspire others to take up the sport."

Musician and boxer, Joe Cook said: “There’s huge elements of creativity in boxing and rhythm is the cornerstone of it all.

"Using the rhythm of the boxers we’ve created personalised tunes synchronized to their individual tempo while training and boxing.

"It’s also allowed the boxers to collaborate and compose through their movement and has given them opportunity to learn new skills by taking part in the process of creating music."

For more information about the club, go to facebook.com/rectoryabc