Redfern elder Shane Phillips never anticipated that within a decade of starting a boxing program for 10 young offenders, it would become a regular event igniting pride in a new generation.

"I reckon it’s one of the most rewarding things that’s happened to me," he said.

Three times a week at dawn, about 200 people from Redfern's Indigenous community fill two basketball courts at the local gym, where 26-year-old Jacob Saunders guides them through an hour of boxing training.

'Clean Slate Without Prejudice' head mentor Jacob Saunders and his mentor, program founder Shane Phillips. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

But growing up on the Block, Mr Saunders remembers a time when his 10-year outlook involved either jail or drug use.