A professional boxing coach who has worked with the likes of Amir Khan and Olympian boxer Muhammad Ali hopes to inspire young people through a new community boxing club.

Inzar Ahmed, 39, has been a professional boxing coach for the last 15 years and has travelled across the world, training under names including Freddie Roach and Roger Mayweather.

But Bradford born and bred, Inzar is now focusing his efforts on the Lights Out Boxing Academy in Girlington, which kicked off with an open day today. Muhammad Ali, who hails from Keighley, turned out to show his support.

The building has been renovated and transformed thanks to help from the community and will officially open its doors to the public on Monday.

It's a realisation of a dream for the married father-of-four.

He said: "I've been wanting to do it for a long time, but because I have been attached to different camps, I've not been able to give 100 per cent to Bradford, but I've finally decided that it's time to open something here.

"We've got a lot of issues in the community, in terms of crime and drugs. We need to tackle and address these issues, we need to get these kids off the streets and enrol them into programmes such as boxing.

"That's our main idea. We're also here to tackle obesity and prevent bullying from taking place as well.

"Boxing is probably one of the best ways to tackle these issues, because you can target the kids from seven plus and you can stick with those kids until they turn pro at 28, 29, 30.

"It brings a lot of discipline, a lot of confidence. It broadens their skills, it helps them go out there and achieve. It's a way of life."

Inzar, who works for Bradford Council's fleet and transport team, has high aspirations for the club.

"In the future, I see some world champions coming out of here," he said.

"I know what it takes to build a world champion, I've got the formula, so I'm aiming to create a few world champions from here."

He said the demand for girls to attend has also been huge, so a female coach has been brought on board to nurture their talent.

Inzar thanked the community for their "unbelievable" response and for turning out to show their support at the open day.

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