‘It’s his superpower’: story of autistic boxer who trained in garden shed to become film

H e was an unbeaten professional boxer for three years until financial and mental health struggles forced him to retire, but Billy Long Sr went on to punch well above his weight in saving disadvantaged youths with mentoring that has now inspired a successful British film-maker.

When his son, Billy Long Jr, was facing the challenges of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bullies linked to local gangs, Long feared the worst. He decided to protect him by home schooling him and created a boxing gym in a garden-shed on a council estate in Chelmsford, Essex.

It was barely bigger than a portable building but, in that space, he coached him. After three years of training, he watched him become the junior national boxing champion, before being picked to represent England,