Sir Tom Courtenay’s favourite chippy may soon be home to a world champion. Our pattie pugilist correspondent Angus Young gets into a scrap.
The answer to this particular question can be seen as soon as you enter Challis’s fish and chip shop in Hessle Road. One wall is covered with photographs of a young female boxer celebrating success in the ring. There’s also a big glossy poster of her advertising an upcoming bout at Hull’s Connexin Arena. Behind the counter, shop owner Aman Dhesi smiles as only a proud Mum can. “I’ve got loads more. They were all over the place but I had to take most of them down during a recent refurbishment,” she says.
The girl on the wall is Aman’s daughter Charan – the first ever British-born Sikh woman to become a professional boxer. “She was actually born in the flat above here,” says Aman pointing to the ceiling. With her husband Mak, she’s owned the shop for 24 years having previously run a fish and chip shop in Newbridge Road. “At first we lived in the upstairs flat. I’ve loved being here from day one.”
Charan is now 22 and first got into boxing as a 13-year-old hanging around a gym where her two brothers Teerth and Amrit were learning the sport. “They all did karate – Charan and the boys – and then it was boxing. We are a sporty family and that’s how we encouraged the kids when they were little. Whatever sport they tried, we would be right behind them. The more Charan boxed, the more she loved it. I’m incredibly proud of what she has achieved. For a while when she was an amateur I watched her through my fingers when she was fighting but I enjoy it more these days. She still lives at home but I don’t see her much during the week. She’s up at 5am every morning to start her training and I’m here all day but we get together on Sunday when we all go to the Sikh Temple. Charan really loves going there.”
Right on cue, her daughter arrives for a chat and some more photographs. Aman smiles once more. Since turning professional last year she’s fought twice and won twice – a knock-out in her debut bout at the Hilton Doubletree hotel in Hull last May and a unanimous points win at Doncaster in November.
“Becoming a professional boxer has been a big step for me but so far it’s worked out really well for me,” she says. “Most importantly, it allows me to concentrate on working hard in training which is something I really enjoy.”
Charan is still a member of the East Hull Boxing Club where it all began nearly a decade ago. Her next big step is her third pro fight at the Connexion Arena on May 30 as part of the Hull Back on Top bill. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m aware I might be a role model for other girls, and particularly Sikh girls, so I try to do my best to show them they can achieve the same things as I have. In a way I suppose it’s like being an ambassador.”