An (upper) cut above
CRN's 2015 fighters left a lasting impression and put their hearts and souls into providing a baying audience with some fantastic and entertaining fights, writes Sara Yirrell
The atmosphere was tense; tenser than it has been in previous years, but the 2015 CRN Fight Night event went with a bang. Or a crash, or a wallop. Take your pick!
From CRN’s point of view, it is always a relief when the last fight is over, and everyone is in one piece with a smile on their face. And the smiles couldn’t get much wider that night.
With more than 500 people packed into the venue at The Brewery in Chiswell Street, central London, the atmosphere grew, with everyone waving their sponsored foam boxing gloves to help the referee decide the winners.
As if being repeatedly hit in the face is not enough, all the fighters we spoke to after the event said they would do it all again.
After three months of intensive, professional training, all our boxers were primed and ready for action, and really did give the audience something to be proud of. There was blood, sweat and tears, but luckily no serious injuries, despite some very personal-seeming fights.
The main driver for the event is raising money for charities close to the boxers’ hearts, and many had raised hundreds of pounds already for their worthy causes, with more money from the evening set to join the tally.
Taken to the limit
Up first in the ring was Matt ‘Hitman’ Huggins who was pitted against Lee-Martin ‘Luck of the Irish’ King. The fight went the full three rounds, but after a shaky start, Hitman found his stride and was unbeatable.
Speaking to CRN after the event, Hitman said: “Currently, other than tiredness, bad bruising to my ribs and a black eye, I feel great and would recommend the experience to anyone.
“Three months ago I embarked on a journey that tested all my emotions and took me to my limits, with some scary moments thrown in along the way. Now the dust has settled, I’d like to thank my opponent, CRN, The Ring Boxing Club (London), my trainer Rian, my family, wife, and of course my company Trend Micro UK for supporting and backing me all the way.
“I’ve just completed one of life’s moments. I’m pleased to say that I will have raised between £10,000 and £12,000 for my charity psds and thanks to you a great many families are going to be able to have access to many more opportunities with that money.”
Next up we had Mat ‘The Stinger’ Edwards from Aerohive, and Ben ‘Pride of Norbury’ Cranham from Trustmarque.
Both were extremely excited about their experience. In a statement to CRN, The Stinger said: “What an incredible night! I never thought I would have so much fun getting repeatedly punched in the face, but I loved every moment of this event from my first training session to even a week after the event when my mind and body were in ruin. So many people said to me afterwards ‘I wish I could do that’ – guess what, you can! I’m not a boxer but I thought why not, I loved pushing myself out of my comfort zone and was rewarded with learning a new skill, raising a bucketload of money for charity, and meeting some amazing people along the way. Thank you CRN!”
The Pride of Norbury also enjoyed being punched repeatedly, he claims: “The night ran like clockwork. The organisation by Faye [Garland] and her team and the support of the whole crew from The Ring meant that backstage was relaxed and focused, with everyone supporting each other.
“Walking out to the ring felt great and after a really good fight against a worthy winner, defeat has never tasted so sweet. I would highly recommend taking part – you learn a lot about yourself and I’m turning 40 next week in better shape than I’ve been in 10 years.”
Our final fight before dinner was between Clint ‘The MAC 10’ McCarthy from Qlik, and Symantec’s Ed ‘The Hitman’ Stirzaker.
The fight was stopped in the first round after a storming performance from McCarthy.
Speaking to CRN, The MAC 10 described the experience as an amazing achievement. “Being able to now look back at the journey and realise what I have achieved is immense,” he said. “Winning, losing or drawing is kind of irrelevant; all the people who have stepped into the ring are winners. It takes guts and guile to train like a champion for three months and then put your steel to the test.
"I personally did 50 hours of training for this event, I was fitter than I have ever been and also felt unstoppable before stepping in. For me the buzz was just amazing, knowing that nothing except my skills would stop me from getting a beating. For anyone looking to drop weight, learn to fight and also get mentally strong, I would recommend this. My top tips are to get a good pad man, a good fitness team and when you think you are fit and ready, double what you have done training-wise.
“Would I do this again? In a heartbeat.”
Tutu suits you
Dinner was then served, with guests tucking into pulled pork scotch eggs, a main course of chicken with sweet potato mash and veg, followed by an unusual crème brûlée.
However, attention soon switched back to the ring, with the ladies’ bout featuring Maria ‘The Fear’ Spindlow from Comms-care versus Dagmara ‘Daggers’ Wojciechowska from Kelway.
It was a well-contested fight, and at first it looked as if Daggers was going to storm it, but in round two, The Fear put in a stellar performance and walked away the winner.
Speaking to CRN aftewards, The Fear said: "Before the fight I wasn’t really nervous, time was going so slow backstage that I was eager to get the fight going. Once I stepped in to the ring the adrenaline hit and I was ready to give it my all! I was disappointed at myself after the first round, but decided to pick myself up and fight for the undefeated Comms-care title and show everyone how hard I had trained over the last three months.
"The fight went so fast and to be honest I didn’t even notice how many people were in the crowd! I was happy, relieved and proud of myself when my arm was raised as the winner it didn’t really sink in until the next day! The fight was a great experience and I got to raise a lot of money for Liverpool Women’s Hospital which is a fantastic bonus! I’m carrying on with my training to help me stay fit and lose weight and would recommend anyone to sign up and try out next year! I wish I could do it all over again!"
Our next fight was between Mark ‘The Stone’ Mason from Emulex, and Steve ‘Bam Bam’ Bailey from Tech Data. Another close-fought contest, but it was The Stone what won it.
Following on from them was Hammer’s Adam ‘Lightning’ Whiting versus Damian ‘The Omen’ Coe from Arrow ECS. The Omen, who entered the ring wearing a rather fetching pink tutu, was a demon on the night, and despite a valiant effort from Lightning Whiting, Coe walked away with the trophy.
Ben ‘The Real Deal’ Woods from Exertis was next in the ring against Paul ‘A&E’ from Ayala for a true heavyweight bout. However, despite putting his all into the fight, Ayala looked tired in the third round, and Woods got the upper hand.
Our penultimate fight led to one of the boxers, Chris ‘The Cobra’ Johnson from Check Point, walking away with the Fighter of the Night title for his incredible performance against an opponent far, far bigger than him, Jon ‘The Tank’ Hughes from Millgate.
Speaking to CRN afterwards, The Tank said he had “jelly legs” all the way through. (We didn’t notice – ed). “It was an awesome experience. No matter how much training you have done, the hardest part of the fight is entering the ring in front of all those people (I nearly tripped over the rope getting in and from that point on my legs were like jelly).
“It felt really good to raise all that money for a good cause and it was a fantastic night out for my co-workers who really seemed to enjoy watching me get punched in the face. A little too much, if you ask me!
“The atmosphere backstage between the fighters was very good too, both before and after the fights. My trophy is now proudly displayed on my mantelpiece and the banner will be going up on the wall at home in the trophy room.”
And he said he would definitely recommend taking part: “For anyone thinking of applying next year, all I can say is go for it. It’s for a brilliant cause and getting hit in the head doesn’t hurt as much as you think!”
Our final fight was another heavyweight bout between Jonny ‘The Buffalo’ Brakels from Softcat, and Netgear’s Aaron ‘Electric’ Watts. The sheer number of The Buffalo’s supporters seemed to give him extra power against his brave opponent and he emerged victorious.
Once the excitement had died down and the serious drinking began, the CRN Fight Night crowd dispersed to carry on partying at the aftershow party at Beduin Bar in Smithfields.
■ Anyone who is interested in applying for CRN Fight Night 2016 will be able to get their submissions in at the CRN Channel Awards in November.