Lords of the Ring

CRN can now reveal the lucky fighters who will be stepping into the spotlight on 28 May, writes Sara Yirrell

Our 18 wannabe heroes are about to embark on one of the most gruelling training schedules of their lives, as they get in top fighting shape for the CRN Fight Night 2009, taking place at The Brewery in Chiswell Street, London.

Click here to see our fighter line up.

Headline sponsor Trend Micro is looking forward to a good night. Tony Larks, EMEA marketing director of the company, said: “When times are tough, we want to be aligned with the fighters in the market.

“The channel needs to get out there and fight for business, and the CRN Fight Night contenders have exactly the attitude we want to see from our partners. We are really looking forward to the event.”

CRN even managed to pin down some of our warriors as they prepared for their training marathon.

Matthew Ball, account manager at CAE Technology Services, said: “We had such a great time last year when Jamie Stewart took part as a fighter that I decided to enter this year, although now I’ve made it, I’m not entirely sure I thought it through properly.”

“I’ve never actually boxed, but have been giving Wii boxing a good bashing. However I play a fair bit of football and squash already and am looking forward to starting my training,” he added.

Matt Batty, senior account manager at reseller Kelway, said: “I think it is slowly starting to dawn on me what I have let myself in for. I made the decision I wanted to enter last year and have been pretty much training ever since. Kelway is quite a large family so I will have plenty of support.”

John Haw, sales director of Gamma Telecom, said: “I’m delighted to have got in, although I am also a little apprehensive. I started taking boxing lessons in September and have been boxing once a week ever since.

“I’m not sure what I have ever done to them, but a lot of people seem keen to come along on the night and see me get beaten up,” he joked.

It is far too early for our intrepid fighters to have picked their final fighting names, but stay tuned to CRN each week as these will start to be revealed when we feature our boxer profiles. We will also be speaking to all our boxers over the coming weeks as we follow their training progress.