He thought his life was over at 17 – now he has the Olympics in his sights
In a tiny makeshift office in Oldham town centre former boxer Eric Noi introduces me to his latest prospect. Kyle Shaw-Tullin speaks quietly but with confidence.
Yet six years ago Kyle thought his life “was over” after he became a victim of knife crime. He shows me the scars which he now regards as part of him – not something he once hid.
He dug deep to find the resilience, and mental strength, to match the guile and raw talent in his fists. With Eric as a mentor he has staged a remarkable comeback to the ring.
Now 23, Kyle, from the Limeside estate of Oldham has become a Royal Marine and recently became inter-services champion fighting for the Royal Navy. This week he was fighting in a prestigious tournament in Finland for Team GB, and defeated Fin, Benjamin Eriksson, and Frenchman, Hassana El Qadi in Helsinki.
But he knows the debt he will always owe Oldham Boxing and Personal Development Centre. A member from the age of 13 he was showing great promise before an incident on a night out almost killed him.
“I was the victim of knife crime when I was 17 years old. But in a way it was the best thing to ever happen to me. It was a massive turning point in my development as a person, as an athlete, as a boxer. It led me to join the Royal Marines and become a Marine Commando, winning national competitions and becoming a full time Team GB athlete. It was all to do with the mindset I was able to reach.
“I don’t remember much of the attack. It was a night out in Oldham, and a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was knifed. I had my left arm on my bicep badly cut, which was of course quite detrimental to a boxing career for a long time. It reduced my endurance and it was hard to hold the arm up.
“I was cut across my chest an inch above my heart, and across my face, meaning I nearly lost an eye. I nearly lost my life, I spent two weeks in the Intensive Care Unit. It was pretty bad and I did not get back in a boxing ring for two years.
“I couldn’t do anything for a year. The physical things were bad. The mental things were worse. I thought my life was over at 17 years old.
“When I look back it is so silly to think my life was over at 17. People like Eric have made me a confident individual. I used to be very introverted and wore a long sleeve T-shirt all the time because I did not want people to see my scars. The way you see the world at 23 compared to 17 is very different.
“Eric was there for me all the time during those two years when I didn’t box. I didn’t want to live anymore. The scar on my face caused social anxiety which was so bad I did not want to go out. I did not want to go into town. It took a lot of confidence building.
“I remember I was due to have surgery to reduce how bad my scars looked. It took such a long waiting on the NHS, that by the time it came round for it to be done I said “no I want to keep them”. I decided ‘this is me’.”
Kyle added: “I did not get back into the ring until I was 19. I went straight into the development championships with Eric and won, having eight fights in a month and a half. I won them and then joined the Marines aged 20.”
Sustained by phone calls to Eric when the going got really tough he got his green beret. “Joining the Marines was hard. I was 300 miles away from Oldham. Every single Saturday I was on the phone to Eric. I would tell him how bad it was and he would call me soft.
“You join the Marines as a regular human being and they develop you – that’s what Eric has done with me from the age of 13. The Marines have moulded me, made me a little bit tougher. People think about the Royal Marines, you have to fit, you have to be tough but the hardest thing is always the mental battle of getting through the next day – sometimes it was that hard mentally I just wanted to get through the next half an hour.
“When you haven’t slept in days, you haven’t eaten in days and your clothes are wet and you are in them for the rest of the week, and you haven’t brushed your teeth that is all mental.”
Oldham Boxing and Development Centre is just one organisation which benefits from money which GMP seize from criminals being diverted to benefit the community. The £30,000 it has received via that route has helped pay for boxing trainers to also acquire skills of mentoring.
Kyle is shining proof of what can be achieved. He is confident but not cocksure, and focused on the main prize without swagger. His story could turn into a stunning boxing comeback.
He has set his ambitions high. “I am on a projection of constantly improving, getting better every day. I am going to fight for Team GB. I have been to three international tournaments now and got two gold and one silver medal. The dream is to get into the Olympic team for Los Angeles. I owe it all to people like Eric.
“People need to understand as well not everyone can become a great boxer but the mentoring I have received is about making progress. If a kid is suffering mentally or physically it takes perseverance from people like Eric to work with that kid.
“I am constantly changing, learning, and improving. What happened to me that night when I was 17 has 100 percent made me stronger as a person. That was a blessing in disguise. When I am looking for that one percent to push a little harder, maybe I am thinking of that in my mind.
“I would like to get to the Olympics in 2028 but at the minute it is just about getting better and better. I just strive for perfection in everything I do, even if I don’t achieve it, and will strive for it. I look after my body very well, I only eat real food, and I train every day. I don’t feel I am at my best yet, there is a lot more to come.”
His boxing idol is Andre Ward – an indication of his desire for perfection. The American former professional boxer, who competed from 2004 to 2017, retired with an undefeated record and held multiple world championships in two weight classes. He won all 32 of his fights – 16 by a knockout.
Eric set up the centre in 2006 in Derker, Oldham. When the building it occupied was demolished the club moved to its current home at Victoria House in Greaves Street in the town centre. With funding from Sport England and the government’s Levelling Up Fund the Edwardian structure is currently having a complete refurbishment at a cost of £1.2m.
Eric, 57, was born and raised in Moss Side, Manchester, acquired a science degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was part of Britain’s Olympic boxing squad in 1992. He turned professional and was ranked in the top ten middleweights.
He worked for the Youth Justice Board and is a key figure in the efforts to tackle youth violence in Oldham. He also worked for the charity, Positive Steps, working with adults recovering from drugs and alcohol issues. There he recognised a potential for expanding support to young people.
“I like to use sport as a vehicle, as a tool to engage with kids. Then you get your messages across through the sport or the arts, acting, music, – whatever they are doing. From day one the centre has had a dual task of teaching sport but also mentoring.”
Many of the young people his centre helps have fallen outside of the mainstream education system. But his own experience growing up in Moss Side is the source of his now ample street nous and wisdom.
“I look back on my own life and you have time to reflect and you get that wisdom stuff. I got into boxing quite early, at the age of about ten or eleven. But three nights a week I knew where I was going. It gave me stability and structure.
“Friday night was trouble night where I Iived. But I had been in the gym through the week and was tired. I still mixed with the same people and understood what they were doing. But for me the structure enabled me to be me a bit more.
“The traits that mattered were how tough you are, how popular you are, if you can dance. Structure meant I could concentrate on class, my studies.”
Eric got a degree in Chemistry and Biology and worked in chemical research. His family later moved to Middleton.
For Eric, benefiting from the guidance of legendary Moss Side boxing trainer, Phil Martin, was a huge influence. “He was ahead of the game. He was promoting sports science. I was going to boxing camps for Britain and England and he was teaching them.
“No one knew about carbohydrate loading but Phil did. He was also ahead of the game in the realisation of how sport can add value to society. Lads in his gym combined boxing with get back to work schemes.”
Commenting on the £30,000 which has come to the club via the police asset recovery scheme he said: “It has helped us massively train some of our coaches to be mentors and give young people opportunities, like doing indoor climbing, pursuing interest in music.”
Currently about 100 young people a week benefit from the club aged eight to mid twenties. It also organises educational courses and training to get them into work, plus maths and English. The refurbished building will include classrooms as well as two boxing rings and is due to re-open in July.
“We used boxing as a tool to assist recovery and as a way to prevent crime. Our demographic is mainly young people who could potentially get into trouble.”
He added: “One of the messages we try to get across is: feeling is not thinking. We are about how to control yourself. Schools teach A levels and GCSEs but not always emotional intelligence.”
During the pandemic the club acted as a food hub. Now through an asset transfer agreement with the council it has ownership of its building for 125 years.
Over the last year, GMP’s Economic Crime Unit has recovered over £17m from criminals and the funds have been handed to organisations who support local communities across Greater Manchester whose main aims are to help reducing, tackling and preventing crime across the region.
Last year a total of £17,715,283.24 was seized and recovered from criminals. Through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS), a large proportion of money that is seized from criminals as a result of policing activity is given back to the community.
Boxing coach, Eric Noi, whose centre in Oldham provides discipline and a path to avoid crime. (Image: Kenny Brown | Manchester Evening News)
The money has come from vehicles being stopped and cash found to be on board, and from searches of homes and stash houses.
An Account Freezing Order team who are also based in the unit, seize money in a different way – by targeting criminal bank accounts.
Operation Falcon is a dedicated operation launched in May 2022 to tackle money laundering in a bid to disrupt wider organised crime in Greater Manchester.
The cases are then passed to the Asset Detention and Recovery Unit. This team is made up of specialist officers and staff who conduct civil investigations that arise following these seizures. Using the balance of probability, officers need to have evidence to show that the money has been gained through the profits of crime.
Once the money goes to court and the case is successful, the money is then legally recovered and will be used to benefit the communities throughout the force.
GMP keeps 50 percent of the money they recover to spend on community initiatives and the rest goes back to the Home Office.
Detective Superintendent Andrew Buckthorpe who leads GMP’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “In the last tax year we recovered the highest amount of criminal cash we have ever recovered in recent times and it really shows that the hard work from officers and staff in the unit and across the force is making a real difference in communities across Greater Manchester.
“Just six hours into the new tax year, in Salford and Cheetham Hill, Economic Crime Unit officers were out causing disruption to those who we believe are blighting local communities. Two men were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and £50,000 cash along with an £80,0000 vehicle were seized following searches.
“We are getting more money from criminals, and this money is being used for good in the communities we serve. Keeping the people of Greater Manchester safe from crime is our main priority, and this is a way we can give back, through officer’s hard work, we are in a really strong position where we continue to strip criminals of their finances which are often used to further crime in our communities.
“These efforts are showing and it’s an important part of the justice system that those who benefit from the profits of crime get their finances stripped from them and aren’t allowed to enjoy this money at the detriment of everyone else, and it’s even more satisfying to know that it is now being used for a good purpose.”
Neal Keeling Chief reporter