Stories from the Boxing Ring Under Pasar Rebo Flyover, Where Fighting Youth Have Found Redemption

‘I don't want to get into fights anymore.’ Under the concrete span of the Pasar Rebo flyover in East Jakarta, it used to be a place for brawls among local youths. However, the space, previously closely associated with a stigma of violence, has now become a boxing training venue for the youth. The Jakarta Provincial Government (DKI Jakarta) has indeed built the facility as part of an effort to curb the number of brawls in East Jakarta, a region that has long drawn attention.

He describes how he managed to break free from a life of brawling that had held him since he was in junior high school. Before discovering boxing, his daily life was spent mostly on activities he considered negative. Fights, hanging out until late at night became routine activities carried out by the man from Depok. Now, that routine is slowly changing.

Almost every evening, after finishing work in the Fatmawati area, South Jakarta, Bintang comes to the boxing arena in Pasar Rebo. Up to the age of 22, he hardly ever took an interest in physical activities such as exercising. Moreover, his circle of friends began to change as well.

‘It's more about personal awareness. How long can I keep doing this? And there are many friends as well, for example there is Bang Fale who recently won in Bogor. That is one of my motivations to join boxing. There is also Bang Yunus and the others,’ he said when interviewed by Kompas.com, Monday, 18 May 2026.

In addition, he also admitted that he did not want to keep making his mother worry if he continued to fall into the world of brawling and negative peer groups.’