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For a dedicated group of Hong Kong Police officers, 'the gloves are on' in their growing fight against juvenile crime, using their spare time to help youths beat their problems through boxing. But where's the benevolence in boxing?
Superintendent Danny Lawley of New Territories North Region police says he cannot count the number of occasions colleagues have asked why he taught a sport like boxing to juvenile offenders, many of whom got into trouble through violence in the first place.
"They often fear we are training 'super thugs', arming them with skills they can use next time they are stopped by Police," Mr Lawley said.
"However, there can be few sports better than boxing to show a rowdy and impressionable youth the futility of using your fists to win arguments. Anyone who has ever stepped into a ring will tell you it is a humbling experience, which painfully demonstrates how unlikely you are to get things all your own way."
Mr Lawley said boxing was a timely grounding in reality for a generation raised on invincible comic book heroes and immortal video game warriors.
The programme he and his police colleagues set up six years ago, Operation Breakthrough, has been so successful the Police Boxing Club's 100-plus juvenile members have recorded a zero recidivism rate. That is, none of them has returned to a life of crime.
They partake in weekly training sessions in Tai Po Police Station's gymnasium, now one of the best-equipped in Hong Kong, in which police officers coach them not only in boxing but in life and social skills, so they can take care of themselves and avoid trouble with their delinquent peers.
The Police also hold regular boxing nights, allowing the youths to go toe to toe in the ring and show their talents and compete for prizes before an audience of police officers, local community leaders and parents.
Mr Lawley's partner in running the club, fellow Superintendent B.J. Smith, said despite its often rowdy image, boxing requires a strong sense of discipline, anger management, tact, strategy, patience, endurance, physical co-ordination and raw strength and courage !V traits that can help the youths in their daily problems.
It also instils a strong sense of self-worth and a healthy lifestyle among a generation highly susceptible to insecurity and bad habits such as drugs and junk food.
"Don't let the opponent-biting antics of Mike Tyson fool you - boxing is a highly disciplined sport that requires great concentration and responsibility. Silly shenanigans, seemingly to attract publicity for a multi-million-dollar fight, do not represent the true nature of the sport.
"There is a saying 'you have to roll with the punches'. You can take a lot of knocks in your life, but if you keep calm and avoid violence, you become stronger than those picking on you."
The best boxers in history never resorted to brawling.
"They won matches through tenacity and tactics - picking the right times to make the moves that secured their win by points, or by knockout for those in heavier, more professional classes. The toughness of a boxer is as mental as it is physical, and simply coming out swinging will not see you through the many confrontations experienced in life."
Some classic examples of adversity being overcome through the endurance and discipline of boxing can be found in the biographies of legends such as Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali, long-revered for bringing a strong sense of courage and dignity to the sport that has been plagued by corruption and greed for decades.
Marciano overcame gang fights and poverty in his youth through the discipline of a tough exercise regime he imposed to pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player or boxer. The former was ruled out due to injury and he went on to become one of the most successful boxers in history.
Meanwhile, Ali, despite the debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease, continues to participate in charity events and never refuses an autograph, an amazing physical and mental feat of endurance likely nurtured by his years in boxing.
Mr Lawley said similar feats of courage have been seen in many young members who have managed to successfully turn their lives around since joining the club.
He said it was their passion for the sport and enthusiasm to improve themselves that has made the club so successful.
"Superintendent Smith and I never realised when we started this venture where things were headed. In truth, the club's real momentum has come entirely from the 500 or so troubled youths who have walked through the gym doors seeking an alternative to life on the streets.
"We provide an interest and a venue for those who have, for whatever reason, fallen foul of the law and who need a little help turning over a new leaf. Without their constant and overwhelming enthusiasm to improve themselves, we would have packed up and gone home years ago."
Mr Smith added: "At the end of the day, there are no guarantees that some of these boys will not be sucked back into a life of crime."
"However, they have been given a chance to look at their lives in a different light, and have seen a positive side to both themselves and the Police Force, and are better equipped to make choices about where they want to end up in society. Operation Breakthrough claims nothing more than this."
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