A professional boxer from Carmarthenshire hopes to get more young people involved in the sport if he is able to relocate to a church in the town.

Angelo Dragone, who runs Stallion Amateur Boxing Club and takes community fitness sessions, wants to move into Emmanuel Baptist Church having been on the lookout for a new venue.

He used to have a unit in Dafen but said it became too expensive prompting a switch to CFK Gym in Llanelli where he uses part of the space.

Mr Dragone said Wales had “hidden gems” in terms of buildings and that when he saw Emmanuel Baptist Church online he reckoned he might be onto something.

“I thought - wow that looks amazing,” he said. “I think we could turn it into a special place. And that area needs a bit of a spark.”

The 35-year-old has submitted a change of use planning application to Carmarthenshire council, which is assessing the proposal.

The plans indicate no external or access alterations, opening hours of 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday, 7am to 8pm on Saturday and 8am to 4pm on Sunday, and use as a charitable community-focused club.

A design and access statement on Mr Dragone’s behalf said there would be structured training sessions, youth and disability engagement programmes, and community fitness activities.

Householders at two nearby properties have objected to the application. They’re worried about potential noise, parking and traffic problems, and over-intensified use of the site.

The design and access statement said the church didn’t have off-street parking and that the proposed use wasn’t expected to have a “materially greater” parking demand than when it was a place of worship.

It added that sessions would be staggered, involve smaller group sizes, and mainly serve local residents and added there could be four full- and part-time jobs.

Mr Dragone, of Llwynhendy, said he got into boxing in his teens at a time he was losing his way. “My cousin and uncle were boxing and once I got the gloves on it changed me,” he said.

He won a super-lightweight Welsh championship fight in 2024 and reckoned he’d continue for another 12 months before focusing purely on boxing coaching and community fitness.

Asked about the coaching and fitness session side of things he said: “I love it. It’s my bread and butter. I’m in the gym at 5.30am ready for classes. I don’t see it as my job – I see it as my passion. I’ve got people coming aged eight to 76.”

He said he’d recently been working with mixed abilities rugby club Llanelli Warriors.

Mr Dragone, who used to be a milkman, believed boxing instilled self-discipline and respect. “You’ve got to put the hard graft in,” he said. “And to be good you’ve got to have that drive.”

He said the interior of Emmanuel Baptist Church was pretty modern and that, should he get planning permission and agree a lease with its owners, he’d like to give it a “rugged” old-school boxing gym look.

Mr Dragone is dad to Olivia, 13, Zayne, 10, and Romeo, four. Zayne, he said, was already a “carded” – or officially registered – boxer. “He’s going to be much better than me,” he said.