Tommy Coyle Still a Champion for Hull Despite Defeat to Luke Campbell

Tommy Coyle didn’t get the result he wanted against Luke Campbell in Hull, England, although it wasn’t for a lack of effort on his part.

Boom Boom did all he could to cause an upset against Campbell (12-0, 10 KOs), an Olympic gold medal winner whose amateur pedigree and early progress in the paid ranks suggest he could go all the way to the very top.

Coyle (21-3, 10 KOs) tried bravely to ruffle his rival’s feathers, launching himself forward with little concern about his own well-being.

He took shots in the process—lots of shots. His body had to absorb some particularly heavy punishment, before he was eventually worn down in a 10th round that saw him knocked down three times.

On each occasion he was dropped, however, the 25-year-old summoned the inner strength to get up and carry on.

Coyle kept climbing off the canvas—he did it four times in total—because he is a fighter. In the end, it was only the referee’s intervention that stopped him from continuing on.

Christopher Lee/Getty Images

Although he came up short in his bid to put a dent in Campbell’s perfect record, there was still a smile on his face in the aftermath. Although he had been beaten, he was doing something that made him happy.

An honest Coyle said before the clash with his former gym-mate: “Boxing saved me. If I hadn’t found boxing, I would probably be in a world of trouble.”

Fighting for a living has given Coyle a much-needed focus in his life—he admits he wasn’t the best-behaved pupil at school and didn't leave with any qualifications.

That same determination he shows in fights is now also being channelled into trying to help others in Hull.

“The way I fight, I’m not the greatest fighter. I never know when my career is going to come to an end,” he explained.

“With that in mind, I thought about setting up an academy, so when it’s said and done I can go in there and be a personal trainer, or train kids. It would allow me to stay around and involved in a sport I really love.

“I left school with no GCSEs to my name. If boxing hadn’t worked out for me, I wouldn’t have had anything to fall back on.”

Rob Lancaster

The plan he formulated in his mind was eventually put into action, with Coyle opening a gym on the west side of Hull. However, he wasn’t finished there.

He continued: “My brain started thinking: 'What if I can do this in the east of the city as well.’"

“I’m doing one thing for kids on the west side, it isn’t fair if I don’t do it for the kids on the other side as well.”

While he pumped his own money in, Coyle also found help from a number of enterprises in the region. In total, he's managed to raise £150,000 to get the project up and running.

The academies he now has in the east and west of the city are not just a nest egg for his retirement, whenever he decides to hang up his gloves.

He has allowed anyone under the age of 17 to use the facilities for free, opening the doors to those who might not normally have the finances to pay for a gym membership. 

Boxing made a difference to Coyle's life, and now he wants the sport he loves to help others.

“It’s fantastic to now be able to provide free facilities in the east and west,” he said while being interviewed at his academy on Bean Street.

Rob Lancaster

“Hopefully, we can find the next boxing champion.”

The academies may yet unearth a rough diamond that can be polished, someone to follow in the footsteps of role models like Coyle and Campbell, who have put Hull on the boxing map.

However, that’s not the main focus, as Lee Stephenson—who works in the east Hull gym—explained.

“There are a lot of people who cannot afford to attend these gyms," he said.

“However, this is a free opportunity to young kids. We have got the best coaches available too. We have four professional boxers on board.

“We wanted to give these kids some focus and discipline. Hopefully, then they can take some of the lessons learned in boxing out into the real world."

“What these kids are learning, they can take into a job or their education. We are teaching them life skills, not just boxing skills.”

Stephenson—who knows the importance of discipline following his time in the parachute regiment—is part of what Coyle describes as a “great team" working for him, meaning he can still remain focused on his career.

“None of this would have been possible had it not been for boxing,” Coyle stressed.

“That [boxing] is first and foremost. My trainer, Jamie Moore, says you have to plan your life around training, not training around your life.”

For his part, Moore gave a glowing reference to Coyle's achievements in his Sky Sports blog after going head-to-head with Campbell, writing:

"

I’m not just proud of him as a fighter, I’m proud of him as a man and as a human being.

What he’s doing for the community in Hull, getting kids off the streets, and his performance the other night will inspire young kids to be like him or Luke Campbell.

He’s not just a good fighter, he’s my friend, and I’m proud of what he’s doing for the community.

"

Coyle has received plenty of credit for his display in defeat, but he deserves even more praise for what he is doing for so many youngsters.

He is a champion of Hull, whatever the outcome of his fights in the ring. 

Rob Lancaster is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes used in the story were obtained firsthand, unless otherwise stated.