Ashley Theophane Is the Best Kind of Role Model

I’ve long thought that boxers represent the best of the human spirit. You’ll be hard-pressed to find someone more determined than Floyd Mayweather. No one can question the resilience of Manny Pacquiao – and few can match the charm and intelligence of Mohammed Ali.

And the same can be said of Ashley Theophane. Smart, outgoing, and with an orotund tone, he possesses much the same characteristics as the greats before him: determination, resilience and an ability to persevere. For over an hour, we spoke about his life before boxing, his experience in the ring, and why he’s intent on making a change.

“Just by watching it” is how he answers the question of when he first became interested in boxing. His father, Theophane explains, was a big fan. To him – an impressionable five-year-old boy – it looked fun. From then, his fate was sealed: boxing was his destiny. He asked to take part – his mother refused. Five was too young, she felt (and she was probably right). At eight, though, he got her approval – and on his trips to the gym, he fell in love with the idea of becoming a boxer: “I went down to the gym, like All-Stars, and I had so much fun, and then we just started .”

When chatting about his childhood, Ashley Theophane is joyously reflective. He recalls his early days into boxing with romantic poetry. It’s as if he’s Romeo – and boxing, his Juliet. Like Shakspeare’s romantic tale, the course of Theophane’s true love never did run smooth. By his own confession, he had had a difficult time as a young boy. Like many his age, he fell victim to a perfect storm of youth violence and historical societal neglect.

It’s something we cover later in our chat. But first, I was curious – how does he progress from fun boxing to actually fighting? “I went to the kids’ class, and then I saw that one of the other guys – he [McKell] was older than me at the time – went out and had a fight.” That was enough to whet his appetite. He wanted a taste of the action, too. His mentor – “Mr A” – thought otherwise: “Mr A at the time he said, nah, Ash you’re too young. You’re too young; I thought he was lying, so I said alright cool and bounced to the next gym – Stowe Boys Club.”

What that shows, I think, is a steely determination to make it. “It’s nice”, he says, “to see that a childhood dream becomes reality – because the majority of the time, it doesn’t.” These days, boxing enjoys plenty of attention, thanks to the age of social media. When a big fight happens, we’re all intrigued, even if most (mainly me) of us couldn’t tell the difference between legal and illegal fight moves. Thanks to social media, there’s more money in the sport than there’s ever been – meaning increased investments in training facilities and talent spotting. Not everyone has seen those benefits, though, Ashley points out.

In 2003 – when Ashley Theophane turned pro – the sport was different, for all the reasons mentioned above. In a career spanning years, he’s seen a lot, making him the best person to chat about the big changes in the sport. With precision, he lists what he sees as the big differences, especially from a British perspective: “One, you’ve got Hatton. When he came about, he carried the sport for so long. 20,000 fans would go with him to the US. Then, you have Amir Khan. When Amir Khan went to the Olympics, everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s such a kid and he’s achieved so much.’ And you have so many stars that came out – like Anthony [ Joshua]”, he says.

It’s hard to adequately explain what it’s like to interview Theophane. He’s commanding, charming and completely in love with what he does. He tells stories, recalls memories and makes arguments with impressive detail. Sat in his sofa with a dark blue t-shirt (branded with the logo of his boxing club), he had little time for my attempts to romanticise his journey through boxing. He’s a straight talker, with a unique ability to tell it as it is. That may mean some don’t like him, he says – but there’s little sign of him caring about that. He is who he is – and he makes no apologies for it.

That may have a lot to do with the sport, and what’s required to make it. He possesses the same qualities as the boxing greats. That’s no coincidence, I point out – and he agrees. From Ali to Tyson, Mayweather to Pacquiao, many boxers have a hard time growing up. Whether through the perils of poverty or difficult and troubled communities: “A lot of us come from hard beginnings. A lot of us come from being very poor. That’s why I’m proud of a lot of my friends – because a lot of them from being dead poor”, he says. That injects into them an extra sense of zeal, tenacity and resilience. For kids from a similar background and circumstance to Theophane, there’s never been a better time to get into the sport – despite some of the challenges that still exist.

In his 17 years as a professional boxer, Ashley Theophane fought 60 fights, winning 50, claiming the British super-lightweight title from 2011 to 2012, whilst challenging for the WBA super-lightweight title in 2016. An impressive career by any standard. His big break, he explains, came when he travelled across the Atlantic to the US. It opened new opportunities, and it allowed him to expand his reach. It also gave him the chance to be spotted by a certain Floyd Mayweather. 

“A lot of us come from hard beginnings. A lot of us come from being very poor.”

On what it’s like to face another man in the ring – and whether there’s actual animosity between fighters – he’s fairly candid: “You know what, I only think there’s hate when someone is disrespectful towards you, like say you might meet him and he might say some shit”, he said. “But other than that, the majority of guys who I fought I didn’t really care about them.”

In his career, he’d have witnessed the big changes.  In recent times, boxing’s played host to some of the internet’s biggest influencing names, including the likes of Jake Paul and KSI. What does he think of it all? Nothing, really, he doesn’t much care. In his eyes, they’re bringing more attention to the sport, and that can only be a good thing.

For Theophane, stepping out of the ring doesn’t mean separation from the sport. He’s taken up a noble cause: setting up his own boxing club. As we chat, I get a sense it’s what he’s truly proud of. “I think the people who have should always try and give to the people who don’t have”, is how he begins explaining his reasons for setting up his own boxing club. As he describes the mission of Treasure Boxing Club, it becomes clear this is something Ashley Theophane deeply cares about. It’s a way, he says, to help solve problems he describes as “our own.” On the subject of what politicians and wider society can do, he seems reluctantly optimistic. 

Treasure Boxing Club is his way of giving back. As a young kid, Theophane had few opportunities. It led – as it has done for so many others – into a difficult and troubled time. The best kinds of change, I think, are the ones which stop unwanted things from happening in the future, a sort of insurance policy, if you will. It’s exactly the kind of change Theophane is affecting. The true impact of Treasure Boxing Club may never be known – but as we chat about it, one thing is clear: it will change lives. It has become a place of sport, opportunity and learning – something Ashley Theophane found hard to come by when he was younger.

“The camps I do, a lot of it is for kids on Free School Meals. They come to our class, they get snacks, they get drinks – and you know what I mean, they get to make friends. A lot of the classes we do, they get to train for free”, he says, as he describes the benefits of Treasure Boxing Club. It’s his way of tackling the issues that affect too many young people – especially those from inner-city London. He isn’t some distant authority, an official with one eye on politics. He understands all too well the dangers of poverty, and how it can lead to crime, trouble – and sometimes, violence and death.

“I think the people who have should always try and give to the people who don’t have”

What the club gives its young people is a real opportunity to engage in a meaningful sport. It allows for big dreams and ambitions, discipline and safety. And the real beauty of it all, I say to Theophane, is that the young people he serves will be of the assumption that this is how life ought to be, with little to no knowledge and experience of hardship and troubles beyond.

To them, Theophane – a Black man so obviously proud of his heritage and story – is the best kind of role model. My several attempts at flattery land on deaf ears – he has little interest in beating his own drum. What he does comes naturally to him. He doesn’t seem keen to make a fuss, with an almost dutiful approach to making change and giving back to those who come from the same or similar circumstances.

As we round up, I have one last question: “When you watch boxing now, are you itching to get back in the ring?” “No”, he answers, without any hesitation. What he wants to do next is take Treasure Boxing Club, its work and mission, around the world.

In just over an hour, I was genuinely moved and impressed with Theophane’s no fuss, no fanfare attitude to life. He enjoyed a long and impressive boxing career – and his work with Treasure Boxing Club is an example to us all, a practical reminder of Darryn Kagan’s infamous quote: “Bad things do happen in the world… But out of those situations always arise stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

This interview was organised by HERO talent agency

Like Ashley Theophane, Christian Weaver, a young barrister, is doing the Lord’s work.