Old Boxers Never Die on Robert Street

Every October, far from the lights and glamour of big time boxing, in a rather scruffy corner of Camden, a little hall on Robert Street is taken over by people who've followed boxing obsessively for decades.

They flock there from all over the country, and they wouldn't miss it for the world. Many of them are getting on a bit, and they all know each other. When a familiar face is absent, there are immediate concerns that they may have heard the final bell.

You won't find any influencers or YouTubers at the Boxing Memorabilia Fair. No cameramen or bikini-clad girls. And yet, the people here are boxing's lifeblood.

Perhaps more than any other sport, boxing is shaped by its history, so it is vital that these collectors who trade in memories, keep converging on Robert Street. 

I am proud to be friends with one of these men. Don Ewing has been coming there since it started 28 years ago.  He has so many boxing books, programmes and posters in his home that it would probably take another 28 years to sell them all.

Don isn't really interested in making money at these events. He often gives his stuff away. He just wants to be part of the occasion, have his annual catch-up with old friends and chat about boxing over a beer or two.

There was great sadness at this year's fair because Don's stall was missing. Thankfully he is still with us, but he is feeling a bit out of sorts at the moment and couldn't find the energy to come. He will get a hero's welcome if he steps through the door next year.

Don is a remarkable character with an inexhaustible supply of stories. As a young middleweight in 1963, he was sent to a certain Cassius Clay's training camp, to help the American prepare for Henry Cooper. Sparring a fast middleweight like Don sharpened up Clay's reflexes.

When Don Ewing wasn't boxing, he would provide security at a couple of nightclubs - the Regal Billiard Hall in Mile End and Le Monde in Chelsea. These were taken over by the Kray Twins, before the peak of their notoriety.

They liked the look of Don and decided to keep him on for double his old wages.

Boxing and the underworld have never been far apart, and stories about each often mingle.

Don became a highly-respected conditioning coach and found himself in the corner of legends, such as Lennox Lewis.

The fair's most famous attendee is the former WBC and Linear welterweight champion, John H Stracey, who will always be remembered for beating Jose Napoles in Mexico City in 1975, in one of the greatest overseas wins ever by a British boxer. John is treated like a megastar at the fair, but the man could not be more sweet and humble. He was absent too this year, but only because of a diary clash.

The men in this room trade in stories, but they are often sources of fascinating stories themselves. Why not join me next year in Robert Street, and hear some for yourself?