Commonwealth Games: Sportswear firm steps up for boxers without kit

Athletes from team Anguilla were seen as part of the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony

A sportswear brand has stepped up to support boxers who could not afford kit to wear during the Commonwealth Games.

Coventry-based Box Raw said it received a message requesting help for athletes from the Caribbean island of Anguilla.

Ben Amanna from the company said it was a "no brainer" for the firm to make sportswear for the team.

One of the nation's athletes, Japheth Olton, said having the kit had given the delegation a confidence boost.

Box Raw designed, produced and funded the shorts, tanks, tracksuits, sauna suits and training items within two months for four of the athletes.

Curlun Richardson represented Anguilla in the men's light heavyweight boxing on Monday

"I am from a strong boxing background and boxing ultimately is a family," Mr Amanna said.

"For a lot of these guys, this is like a career or lifetime highlight for them, the stage won't get bigger."

He said he couldn't imagine the "embarrassment or frustration" for the team to see other countries "represented with proper team kit" while they went without.

Confidence and pride

The business also has a charity called Boxing is Love, which aims to bring the sport to areas where they may not otherwise be able to access it, with projects in Liberia, Cape Town in South Africa, the UK and US.

Mr Olton has his first heavyweight fight of the competition, representing Anguilla in the quarter finals on Thursday after being given a bye in an earlier round.

"Coming up here from Anguilla it is a great opportunity and I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to represent my country on such a high level so I take a great deal of pride in that," he said.

"It has given us that confidence boost to help us train, also aesthetically when you walk around you are not seeing anybody else in the kit so it adds a bit of pride as well."

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