Events Archive

Previous Events

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Sunday December 6th, Oceana Nightclub

Nightmare before Christmas was hugely popular budget show held at Oceana Nightclub. The opening bout started with a bang with buddies James Connolly and Rob Catton facing each other in a highly competitive bout. Both have improved massively during their time at the gym and are moving on to have a crack at the amateur circuit in the near future. Connolly has always had ability but showed composure to pip Catton in a highly skilled technical fight. The second bout saw portsiders Eddie White pairing off with Fighting Fit first timer Dave 'Boy' Short. Shorts busier work rate saw him ahead after two rounds but White picked up the work rate with some heavy shots to even things up in the last.

Michael Page's recruitment king Adam Hopcroft faced nervous first timer Michael Showell. It was Hopcroft twitching at the opening bell as Showell equipped himself well and landed some big right hands over the top. Hopcroft scored frequently with the jab late, using it to full effect keeping Showells bombs at bay. The jab had persistently landed and Showell's nose was bleeding heavy at the end. Maths teacher Pallab Ray and Military Doctor Joe Penn-Barwell had a slugfest contest in the fourth bout of the day. Both men started tentatively until they found where they were most comfortable - up close trading. Some big shots were exchanged and both men walked away with success, respect and no doubt a few bruises.

Amateur boxer Jon Shaw stepped in as a late replacement to face the boxing Barrister Kevin Saunders. Saunders who like Connolly and Catton is due to crack the amateurs next year showed why he is held in such high esteem against a 20+ bout seasoned amateur. Shaw always stayed a few points adrift of Saunders but was caught by some clever work, an effective jab and some well picked right hands. First time heavyweights Ben Eason and Sean Feenan had a fantastic fight. Eason looked supremely fit and effective out of his southpaw stance with looping right hooks and straight left hands. For a first timer the well supported Feenan handled the southpaw style well and was effective with his own counter right hands. Feenan struggled late but was a credit to his army of supporters as he had battled the flu all week in order to participate.

John Wright didn't know what to make when his opponent sang his own entrance music. The Rod Stewart impersonator Pete Upton carried his energetic warm up through into the first two rounds starting the livelier of the two. The entrance had clearly taken a lot out of Upton who looked tired in the last as Wright re addressed the balance. Glynn 'the Spartan' Purnell had a excellent show closure against Jason Arnold. Arnold started well and was slightly ahead after the first two rounds as the longer range cat and mouse style boxing seemed to suit him. Glynn came on strong in the last and finished slightly ahead clinching victory for his team in another fantastic show.

Summer Sparrathon - Help for Heroes

Fighting Fit's Summer Sparrathon was a huge success, raising over £ 1,000 for Help for Heroes, 72 of the gym members traded blows with the coaching team over the 12 hour marathon event. Gym trainers certainly had to use every bit of their ring skills as gym members lined up and looked to make a name for themselves against their experienced instructors. Members of the Royal Marines Commandos attended the event as did members of the armed forces recruitment team. The event unveiled some hot new talent, Solicitor Ben Eason looked to be an effective soutpaw and company director John Mahyer had a useful jab behind a tight guard. On the week women's boxing was allowed into the 2012 Olympics our female members did themselves credit. Victoria Yates was highley impressive against the trainers, where as Caroline Young, Sharlene King, Emma Blake and 'Boxing' Betty Nicholas all gave the trainers some stick.

Bloody Sunday

The credit crunch friendly, reduced price Sunday afternoon show featured 7 superb bouts of boxing. The opening bout featured a heavy handed debutant pairing off against a more experienced late replacement. CTM’s Dave Copeland had bad intentions from the opening bell in this White Collar Exhibition bout and rocked the more experience Rob Catton early, however Catton's experience enabled him to survive the last two rounds and subdue the club fisted south paw’s attacks. We look forward to seeing them both in action again soon. Trowbridge’s Ron De La Cruz squared off against Fighting Fit City Gym’s John Wright in the first White Collar Bout of the evening. The Trowbridge youth worker tried to make his weight advantage count early on, by stepping into the Birmingham based Recruitment Consultant. Wright was rocked early but began to find his rhythm by the end of the round. At the start of the second Big Ron was still blowing from his previous rounds efforts as Wright targeted the midsection and combination punching to neutralise his opponent. De La Cruz was retired towards the end of the second to give the Birmingham man his first victory. Ron will learn from this I’m sure and continue on his boxing journey. Popular Barrister Kevin Saunders showed superb skill against his strong Trowbridge opponent Aaron Fox. Saunders on/off style proved successful for the first two rounds. In the third the Trowbridge man started to connect more frequently as Saunders sensed victory, the Towbridge man was unable to stop Saunders so he earns his first victory. James Connolly had a superb bout with Nick Winfield. Both men at times made it look more like a street fight. The bout included taunting, grappling, after the bell action and some big shots landed by both fighters. All rounds were close but the judges awarded the bout to Winfield, thankfully they were both best of friends after.

After the interval Robbie Jones squared off against Dan Carr. The first of our EBF fights featured 3 superb rounds. It was a big ask for Robbie giving away experience to his Trowbridge rival. He boxed superb and was competitive throughout, however all judges scored in favour of Carr. Stewart ‘spud’ Tordoff   stepped up to 3 minute round in this all action affair against Josh Leat. He dominated the first round with big shots and it was looking suspect if Leat would be able to continue under such a barrage. To his credit he did, the second and fourth rounds were close and most people agreed Leat nicked the third. At the scores it was awarded a draw, 39-37, 38-38, 37-39. Another Leat brother, Mia had a daunting task of facing Personal Trainer Jamie Cahill over 6 rounds EBF action. The popular trainer roared on by the 250+ in attendance needed far less time than that, a promising opening saw Leat catch Cahill to the body which seemed to trouble Cahill. His reply, a three punch combination finishing with a short right hand to the temple dropped Leat heavy. He rose at 5 but was still unsteady so referee Scott Spencer called a halt at 32 seconds round 1.

Charity Hurts 2

Teenage Cancer trusts were the benefactors of this co hosted event by Fighting Fit City Gym and Kerrang Radio. DJ and lottery presenter OJ Borg Mc’d through a fantastic night of boxing that featured a sit down 3 course meal and 9 boxing bouts. The boxing was scored on the amateur Olympic scoring system that was fed live to the crowd throughout with boxers been split into two team (red and blue). All scores were cumulative throughout the night with one team declared winner.

Red teams Stewart Tordoff boxed Blue’s Dan Boden in the opening bout. Tordoff a former amateur showed his experience of playing point scoring boxing and opened up a 12-7 lead for the Red team. Debutants Solicitor Gavin Tansley (blue) boxed KPMG’s Martin Roughead (red) in the second bout of the evening. Roughead began aggressive and scored frequently in the first two rounds but as fatigue set in Tansley had a high scoring last round. Fire fighters Reg Weaver (red) and Pete Eglin (blue) had an all action bout, scoring on neither parties mind just action! The two work colleges and friends left that outside the ring as both unloaded bombs. Weaver slightly edged the scoring throughout, at the first interval the Blue team trailed by 16 points.

Two big men making their debuts showed excellent skills for men of their size after the restart. Simon Bergenroth (blue) boxed Rob Catton (red) in a superb long range boxing battle, both showed the ability to feint, jab and draw opponents onto their right hands which scored throughout the contest to head and body. Teacher Daffyd Davies (red) boxed Company Director Adam Duffy (blue) and adopted a very different strategy. Davies circled the ring, tucked up and countered against the heavy handed Duffy, despite Duffy’s heavy artillery landing at times the ‘Welsh Wizard’ pick pocketed the points for his Red team mates. Last before the interval saw Celebrity Chef Glynn Purnell (red) against the bigger Paul Crockett (blue). Crockett, a heavy handed pressure fighter isn’t best suited to Olympic style scoring. Purnell on the other hand had been sparring with top amateurs in the build up, he had learnt how to hit and not get hit. At times with a low guard he relied on good footwork and angles to pick scoring shots. Purnell even switched stance at times. He was at however reminded of Crocketts power when the big man connected. At the second interval Red team sensed victory with a 21 point lead.

For the last course of boxing action started with experienced Eddie White (blue) against first timer John Wright (red). Blue needed White to score big however he had fallen behind after 2 rounds to the impressive debutant who was playing the Southpaw at his counter punching game. In the last Eddie stepped up his game with combination punches that won him the fight by a single point. Blue now trailed by 20 points. Assistant Chief Constable Stewart Hyde (blue) needed to do something big against Spearmint Rhino’s manager Mark Walsh (red). The senior police officer obliged with a heavy jab that scored throughout on Walsh’s head. The Rhino manager however was not letting Hyde have it all his own way and landed some big shots. It was the biggest score of the night with Hyde winning by 16 points, the deficit going into the last just 4 points. Abid Khan (red) had to defend his teams four point lead against Huxley’s recruitment consultant Adam Hopcroft. Both looked tentative early on and didn’t over commit with scores infrequent. Going into the last round Blue still trailed by 4 points, under orders from the corner Hopcroft took it to Khan (red) to the delight of the 350 in attendance. His combination punching scored as his Blue team with 30 second left led for the first time in the night. Khan (red) glanced at the scores to realise he was trailing stepped it back up, Hopcroft (blue) now with a tired lower guard got hit with scoring shots. With 10 seconds left Khan (red) had restore his teams lead by a single point, as Hopcroft (blue) ploughed forward in search of victory but a flush one-two by Khan on the bell opened up his teams lead to 2. Final scores Red 158 – 156 Blue

Sparrathon and Open Day

Friday 13th March, Fighting Fit City Gym has an official charity open day. The sparathon features 12 hours of all action sparring at the gym. The day is in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and starts at 8am in the morning and finishes at 8pm in the evening. Several of the gyms clients and White Collar boxers will be trading blows in aid of charity.

Celebrity Chef Glyn Purnell, Assistant Chief Constable Stewart Hyde, Councilor Mike Olley and BRMB breakfast show DJ Elliot Webb are just some of the guest boxers along with City Gym's "white collar warriors", barrister Kevin Saunders, IT Ted's Eddie White, recruitment consultant James Connolly and fireman Paul Crockett. The training team will be on hand to chat regards training options and give you a personal tour of the gym, top nutritional advisor Cain Leathem will be on hand to speak to people regards their nutritional issues. Healthy foods, snacks and refreshments will be provided for all.

England v Germany

Fighting Fit's Ryan Aston shone in his Senior England International debut out boxing and outclassing his German opponent. Aston was tentative in the first but had edged his way into the lead, following from this the Priory Park Southpaw through some quality shots showing his full repertoire. It was a comfortable 15-4 victory for Ryan who was cheered on by over 50 of Fighting Fit's gym members on there Christmas night out. There will be more to come from the 'Tank' whom we are sure is destined for great things based on the ease of the performance.

Rumble in the Crumble

Fighting Fit's finest evening of boxing was kicked off by two debutant heavyweights taking part in a White Collar Exhibition Bout. Company director Simon Jenner and Michael Pages Recruitment consultant James Conolloy broke there boxing cherry and the silence of the crowd kicking the evening off with 3 action packed rounds. The punches they exchanged were of far better quality than the jokes of the comedian that preceded them. The two guys showed tremendous heart and spirit. The pattern of the fight emerged as Jenner looked to load with big rights as Conolloy worked more with combinations upstairs and downstairs. They exchanged some big shots and Jenner clearly didn't like a right hook to the ribs but was happy trying to walk through combinations in order to unload his own bombs.

The second bout of the evening featured Birmingham's Eddie White squaring off against Chase Hudd from Trowbridge in a second White Collar Exhibition Both. Both fighters were hesitant at the opening exchange after both coming off a loss to 'Sex Toy' Roy Bushell. As the fight eased in Whites southpaw lead hooks and back hands started to land more frequently with Hudd occasionally firing back to remind the Birmingham man he was still in the fight. The last round was the liveliest with some good upstairs, downstairs combinations landed by the Birmingham based Director.

Fighting Fit's Dan Boden slugged it out with Mia Leat of Trowbridge in the first competition bout of the Evening. Both men exchanged some massive shots and had the crowd on their feet throughout. It was hard to split the pair who left nothing in the ring and did themselves proud, the three judges were split and scored in favour of the Trowbridge man.

Following the interval Fighting Fit City Gym popular Personal Trainer Jamie Cahill received the praise of the entire crowd as he entered the ring. It was a daunting task for his opponent Dan Carr who would face him in 10oz gloves under EBF rules. Although Carr didn't seem too bothered by the partisan crowd he was clearly bothered as Cahill began unloading his trademark shots. The left hook started to land with venom to head and body. In the second Cahill started were he left off but this time it was the straight and looping rights rocking the Trowbridge man. Although Carr never looked like winning the contest he must be given credit for his bravery and willingness to fight throughout, however it was no surprise after four rounds when Cahill was awarded a 40-36 shut out unanimous victory.

Finally the boxing finished where it started, with two big men going at it! Paul Crockett faced off against John Jennings in a slugfest 3x2's White Collar Boxing Bout. The fight pattern emerged early on as the taller Crockett looked to use straight shots to keep the marauding Jennings at bay. When inside Jennings looked dangerous and there was always a worry with a big shot over the top. Crockett looked to be landing more but Jennings landed some hurtful shots on the Birmingham Fire fighter. The fight was close and the judges again were split but this time they favoured the home fighter.

Charity Hurts

A superb evenings exhibitions boxing at the Holiday Inn featuring Fighting Fit's pugilists competing against top amateur boxers from Priory Park Amateur Boxing Club. MC'd by the legendry Jerry Heljter and attended by former World Light Heavyweight Champion John Conteh. The event raised in excess of £ 7000 for Birmingham China Town Lions and Priory Park ABC

Local Radio DJ Elliot Webb looked hesitant out of his southpaw stance against Midland Champion and undefeated senior John Shaw. IT Teds Eddie White was far braver against the experienced amateur Steven Butler pushing him all the way. Eddie was not feeling charitable against a man 15 years his junior and had the Priory Park boxer blowing at the end. Multi decorated Police Sergeant Aaron Bell was game against Priory Parks x 4 midland title holder Richard Ghent in his last fight before his transfer to the paid ranks. Fireman Paul Crockett looked dangerous against Priory Park's talented Kevin Smith putting pressure on the England Academy boxer. Fighting Fit City Gyms Jamie Cahill an experienced EBF fighter traded blows with Priory Park's slick national champion, Lewis Collins in a real crowd pleaser. Superbly supported Barrister Kevin Saunders went in with Priory Parks top Light Heavyweight Wayne Evans. Saunders got carried away with his support and went at Evans, blacking his eye but was fortunate not to get caught more hurtfully as exhaustion caught up with him in the 3rd.

Friendly Fire

Hosted at the Holiday Inn with guest speaker former World Heavyweight Champion Tony "TNT" Tucker, Friendly Fire provided a superb night out for all those involved. Former Mike Tyson sparring partner Big Joe Egan introduced one of few men to survive 12 rounds with his old employer Tony "TNT" Tucker.

3 of Fighting Fit City Gyms White Collar boxing warriors put on excellent performances. Show opener James "the Stick" Newland put on the display of the night not allowing his Trowbridge based opponent to get into range to land his hurtful bombs. The freelance designer who runs his own company www.thedesignery.co.uk exceeded all the coaching teams expectations as he initially own started boxing too get fit after designing the flyer for the gym. Martyn McDonald competed in a controlled heavyweight contest neutralised his opponents superior physical strength where as Eddie White was brave to the final bell when been matched with experienced Roy Bushell from Trowbridge. Roy showed that he had learnt a lot from his to previous 2 losses, by not getting flustered as the White Collar debutant controlled the early running. Roy landed heavy late in the round to wobble IT Teds company director and controlled the fight to the closing bell. Top of the bill saw Fighting Fit City Gyms Trainer Jamie Cahill box in an EBF fight against Trowbridge based Nigerian "Long Jab" Joe. The tall African who had represented his country as a junior was unable to cope with Cahill's rolling, pressure style. Getting caught frequently as the fight progressed and was glad to hear the final bell.