THE Old Chapel on Tarn Flatt in Marton is an outwardly unassuming sort of building, but inside is a boxing gym which is rapidly becoming a destination for up-and-coming amateurs and seasoned professionals alike.

What started out as just somewhere for professional Ryan Watson to train instead of travelling down to Manchester, has evolved into a small but thriving club which has sent out several young boxers already this year.

It has also attracted the likes of world heavyweight title challenger Hughie Fury and former Barrow Raiders player turned mixed martial arts champion Brett McDermott to train, and Watson is pleased with how rapidly everything has progressed.

“I was travelling to Manchester training out of the gym in Heywood and it was getting really far to travel, and it was hard training with work and everything,” said the Barrow Amateur Boxing Club product.

“We had a gym for weights for a lot of years at our house, but we turned it into a boxing gym so I could train for my professional fights.

“But we've ended up having people coming and training out of it, so we've turned it into a boxing club now.

“We've managed to get some big names coming to the gym to train everyone and give them advice, so it has been good.”

Fury, who was joined by his father and trainer Peter, utilised the facility as part of their training camp in the South Lakes for the upcoming showdown with WBO World Champion Joseph Parker in Manchester.

And, as when they visited Watson's old club at Jeff Moses' Brook Street gym, they took time out to pass on some tips and give a talk to the small band of youngsters who are just taking their first steps in the sport.

Former British super-featherweight champion Michael Gomez is another who has visited to regale them all with some tales from his colourful career too, with Watson in no doubt hearing from those who have been there and done it will have proven inspirational.

“It's good for them to give the fighters advice and it gives them a boost in the gym,” said Watson. “It gives them an incentive to keep going and keep training hard.

“The talks they were giving, Hughie said they were just normal people who stuck at it, kept dedicated and that's how they got up to where they are.

“The knowledge Michael Gomez gave the fighters was brilliant. He's a really nice guy and he brought his Lonsdale belt with him, so everyone got a photo with that.

“He brought his autobiography with him as well and signed copies for all of the fighters who wanted one.”

Watson is putting in plenty of training alongside running the gym, with the 30-year-old hoping to return to the ring in October for his third professional contest and banish the memory of the loss to Youssef al Hamidi in February.

But he is enjoying the coaching side, and is impressed with the way his young charges have progressed both inside and outside the ring in just over half a year.

“It's brilliant because we've got a few juniors coming down, we're getting them off the streets and the parents have said since they've been coming to the gym, they're not hanging about and up to no good,” said Watson.

“They're putting all of their energy into boxing and it's doing them good, which is good to see. A lot of the juniors only started six to eight months ago and there has been a massive improvement with them already.”