What inspired you to take on this challenge?

I have always kept active. My main sporting interest is Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) racing and over recent years that’s been my main focus for training. Although there are SUP races locally in Jersey, they are relatively small scale so attending larger races relies on being able to travel to places a bit further away – like France, Spain and the US.

With travel having been slightly more challenging due to the pandemic, though, I was looking for something else to work towards. This boxing event is being run by the gym I already train at, Transform Together, and the coaches were so encouraging when I said I was thinking of taking part.

Which charity are you supporting and why is it so significant to you?

I am fighting to raise money for Kidney Research UK. Paul (Pablo) Hunter, Group Co-Head of Family Office Services, suffers from kidney disease and has recently undergone kidney transplant surgery. Whilst Pablo has been incredibly stoic throughout, as his colleagues, we have all seen the huge impact this has had on Pablo’s life over the last few years as his treatment has escalated, attending regular dialysis appointments whilst on the waiting list for a suitable donor.

Knowing that this surgery was essential for Pablo’s life to return to some degree of normality and that some don’t get the transplant they so desperately need, I have chosen a charity that will provide benefit to others in Pablo’s situation. My hope is that through fundraising like this, treatments can be developed for those with kidney disease whilst research can also be undertaken with the aim of curing or ultimately preventing kidney disease.

How have you been training and preparing yourself for the event?

The training currently involves three boxing sessions per week, each an hour long, including a combination of technical and fitness training. The technical training is really starting from scratch – I’ve never boxed before – so I’ve been learning the  basics really, how to stand and move around and what the various punches are. Alongside that I am also continuing with three personal training sessions a week, which are predominantly strength based and part of my existing training plan, as well as a group training session which tends to be more cardio based.

As the weeks go on, I will also incorporate one-to-one pad work sessions and then we will eventually move on to sparring to start getting us used to hitting and – more importantly – being hit! We will all also be focussed on nutrition and how we are fuelling up for training and in the lead up to fight night, some will be wanting to achieve a goal weight whereas others will be more focussed on maintenance. It’s certainly a lot of preparation and disciplined hard work.

How important is having support on fight night?

A few family members and friends are understandably unsure whether they want to see me get punched in the face.  On the flipside, there may be a few who would willingly pay to see that! From my point of view, as this is an entirely new sport and challenge for me, having support will be important – I would hope that people will come along to see how much work goes into getting in the ring to fight, both physically and mentally.

In addition, there is also a wonderful spirit among the training group already and, having attended the last fight as a spectator, I know that everyone there watching, no matter who they are there to see, will be hugely supportive of all the fighters and the fighters of each other. I’m looking forward to it!