LEW TRISTRAMDerby boxing legend Lew Tristram who competed with the best amateurs in the world before going on to become a successful coach died aged 78 on 11 March, 2009.Mr Tristram set up the Merlin Amateur Boxing and Fitness Club at Merlin Gym, Osmaston Road, Derby, and was given a civic award by the city council in 1989 for his contribution to sport.Three weeks before his death, Mr Tristram attended the club's awards night.His wife, Averil, paid tribute to the former Rolls-Royce worker, who died at his Normanton home. She said said boxing was her husband's main passion, but added: "He loved music, he played the drums and he loved the theatre. He was very well-known and a true legend. He'll be greatly missed."Mr Tristram grew up in Alvaston and was hooked on boxing from a young age, thanks to his father, a former professional boxer.When he was 10, he was invited by his headmaster at Brighton Road School to take part in a two-round fight with a school friend.It was the beginning of a career which saw him competing with some of the best amateur boxers in the world.He was Midlands’ featherweight schoolboy champion at the age of 15 – with the nickname Baby Face – and went on to reach the national finals.But medical problems, first with rheumatism and later broken bones, forced him to give up competition in sport.Instead, he coached hundreds of Derby boys, many from poor backgrounds, who went on to win their own prizes.He was team manager for Derbyshire Amateur Boxing Association for 15 years.In 1963, Mr Tristram set up a boxing gym at the Alderman Russell Youth Club, in Osmaston Road.It built up an impressive stable of youngsters. But in 1976, when the centre closed, Mr Tristram moved his stable further up the road to Merlin Youth Club. Mr Tristram guided youngsters to Midlands Counties titles and national finals and brought big amateur shows to Derby."Boxing is an excellent character-builder," he once said. "The discipline and dedication of the sport teaches you such an awful lot about how to conduct yourself in life."David Finn, head of youth services at Derby City Council, also paid tribute to Mr Tristram, saying: "I saw him at the recent awards night and he looked fit and healthy – he got a standing ovation."Merlin is more than a boxing club. It looks after people's welfare. Many of those who went there were put on the straight and narrow. It's helped thousands of youngsters."A lot of people will be saying thanks to Lew for what he did for them. His legacy continues to help them."Mr Tristram was also survived by his son Steve and grandsons Matthew and Thomas.
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