The Laureus Sport for Good Award was presented by two legendary fighters, former world middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler and former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan, to Northern Ireland's Gerry Storey, a man who has spent a lifetime training boxers of all denominations at the Holy Family Gymnasium in Belfast.
For centuries, the people of Ireland have been divided by religion, politics and - until recently in the North - by barbed wire, bombs and bullets. In the middle of it all, on the streets of Belfast, the Holy Family Gymnasium stood as a lone sanctuary from the violence.
The Laureus Sport for Good Award celebrates Gerry Storey’s remarkable achievement in doing what political and religious groups could not do, bring people together, ironically enough, by fighting.
In paying tribute to Storey, Barry McGuigan said: “Gerry is a remarkable guy he could walk down the Shanklin Road and walk down the Falls Road and they would roll out the red carpet for him – because of what he’s done for the community and because of what he’s done for these kids. On behalf of the countless people that you’ve helped over the years I want to congratulate you. You deserve what you’re getting tonight.”
Gerry Storey said: “I’m delighted to be here tonight to accept this award. The kids in all these areas didn’t know each other, they had no way of meeting each other until we brought them in to the gym. They trained together, they went off on their bikes together. So after they’ve boxed, they’re better friends than they’ve ever been. Win lose or draw the kids respect each other for the rest of their lives.”
