It’s been nearly a week since a series of fires engulfed several buildings in downtown Brandon.
The Brandon Boxing Club was one of the businesses to go up in flames.
Club president Noel Harding was in Mexico last Saturday preparing for a match when he learned the news.
“I found out fifteen minutes before leaving for Guadalajara that my club was burning. I had to watch it basically burn,” Harding said.
Harding was given the option to bow out of the fight, but he decided to not throw in the towel and entered the ring. He admitted it was hard to not to think about his club during the match.
“I tried to zone it out, I mean, but leading right up to walking up the stairs it was in the back of my mind and I said to myself ‘I’m going to win this for my club and my city.'”
Harding got the knockout. Now back in Brandon, he plans to rebuild.
“I’m cut, I’m beat up a bit, but I’m going to keep moving forward and banging like I always do, and this club is going to come back bigger and better than ever.”
The fire completely destroyed the Brandon Boxing Club, along with Christie’s Office Plus, Collyer’s Sales and Service, and a building that housed a beer vendor and vacant nightclub. A nearby apartment building was also badly damaged during the blaze.
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But through the charred rubble you can see the Brandon Boxing club’s entrance, main mat and bags.
Fire crews were able to sift through the rubble and save some of Harding’s gloves, medals and even a championship belt. The Harding family said they’re grateful those items were salvaged because to them, the club was more than just a business.
“The club was actually a second family that was our extended family because we were down there every night and everybody just helped one another and it was a great atmosphere,” Beverly Harding, Noel’s mother said.
Rebuilding the Brandon Boxing Club won’t be easy. Harding didn’t have fire insurance.
“I didn’t think the place was going to burn,” Harding explained.
“I had enough trouble paying the rent there as it was, so it seemed like the fire insurance was a waste of money to me actually, and I never guessed in a million years that I would have needed it.”
Harding said it’s a tough lesson to learn, but the fighter inside him won’t quit. He estimates he’s lost about $100,000 worth of equipment alone.
“It was devastating. I mean this is my life, seventeen years, all the memories I’ve had in that place. There’s countless memories and I hold this place so close to my heart. It was just such a loss, it’s the most tragic thing.”
The community has rallied behind Harding and the Brandon Boxing Club. Items have been donated and a Go Fund Me page has been set up. There’s also an amateur boxing show planned at the Victory Inn for June 9. Money raised from the event will go towards the rebuild.
In the meantime, not having a building isn’t stopping members from getting their workouts in.
Harding is training people outside the old club, until he finds a new home for the Brandon Boxing Club.
“I’m a fighter through and through. This is just a minor setback.”
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