The End....

Its taken me a week to write this blog because I was feeling all sorts of emotions about the end of the experience and wanted to give do it justice so I will run through how I felt and what I did on the day and then chat a bit about the fight and finally the aftermath.....

Fight Day:

I barely slept the night before as Scott suggested I might, and I had taken the day off work so I could enjoy the build up. What really happened was my nerves jangled all day and I ended up getting to the venue at about 4.30! My advice to other fighters would be to go to work because I was beyond hyped up!

When I did get to the venue to be confronted with the ring in all its glory it was unreal, I've been to the coliseum in Rome and this felt like my miniature version! Our room was upstairs and everyone claimed a corner to be their own, was amazing seeing my WCBL family warming up and the atmosphere was insane, huge pressure was released by sitting with Leo and Jo and Lisa (I have never seen Lennox Lewis with his own hairdresser or hairdryer! Looking reem ladies!) we had top banter and then the serious hats went on....

Being on at 10pm had its negatives, watching everyone else come back through loving the buzz was great but impacted my nerves a bit, and I kept popping downstairs to see as many people as possible but I couldn't sit still, Fred at the other end of the room looked ready as well.

Showtime.....

We were told we were next and I was second in, I heard my name and then a massive roar, HUGE love to those representing the Bear, and as the tears pricked my eyes  I  worked out it was game time, I was struggling to hold myself together and it showed...

I've watched the footage back and Fred and I brawled, which was great for the crowd, but while technically not the best fight the hot conditions didn't necessarily suit heavyweights but it did make me wish I had tried harder at the hill sprints! I came away with the win but Fred's commitment was massive too and it honestly could have gone either way.


Aftermath....

Seeing my wife's proud face when my arm was held up was one of the finest moments of my life, Lauren has put up with my determination to fight with tolerance and has stuck to her guns throughout that while she doesn't understand the violence she is proud of my reasons both charity and personal for taking this on, and she even took on her own personal fears in the shape of a jaegerbomb!

My WCBL family, I have never been more proud of every person who stepped through those ropes, the heart needed to do it is incredible, and the support everyone gives each other is second to none, I've made some great mates and I will keep training at Knights. Your cornering on the night and Jonesy doing his great work behind the scenes too everyone was a part of a great period in my life.

My friends and family, your support has been incredible, from family to colleagues everyone has shown huge love,. through donations or being there on the night, it took hours for the chants of "Gilly" to leave my head, fantastic support, you owned the Irish Centre.

The End...

So my fighting days may well be done but I will keep training, I would recommend everyone look up Scott "Biz" Borthwick and WCBL, there are plenty of pretenders out there but Scott will look after you and see you right, the training is great, the pairings are done with care and the man gives a shit quite honestly.

My next challenge will be the Gurkha Run, a non boxing event but I will keep training because I love it now....

Biggest Love and Thanks

The Bear xxxxxxxx

The Last Week...

Saturday came round too fast, my last session  before this Fridays warfare, Fulfilling a bet I spent the whole of the training in a pair of Calvin Y-Fronts, and that was it for the lower half after I did it to raise a little more cash for the charity I am fighting for, Broadway, Scott paid up as promised and some of my WCBL family dug deep on the day too, in addition to loads of the guys donating online, cheers to everyone!
Training had even more tension than last week, people putting final touches to their technique and fitness will always remind people of how little time was left till tomorrow night, I wouldn't personally spar on Sat, I wanted to but the vision of damaging ribs and missing tomorrow was too much for me personally to risk.
We also had a load of laughs as always, my budgie being out caused Jo to remark that I might be the man to turn her, but then she mentioned I might need to borrow some socks to fill it out, so I was getting mixed messages!
Everyone looked sharp and drilled and I think it will be an awesome show tomorrow with loads of different styles on show and some technical fights and some all out brawls (Ill let you guess my style!) It will be an action packed night out and a credit to Scott and all the fighters commitment to the cause.

Tension...

I have been climbing the walls all week, and I am not going to get into smack talk but I feel ready to go, Ill stick my headphones on tomorrow close my eyes and be properly in the zone, one of the girls at work mentioned fight eyes, and they will be on tomorrow, not silly bulging eyes but focussed and ready to go to work.

I want to lay out some thanks now, to Scott Borthwick our trainer, he has worked us hard but in the best possible way, and runs a great professional set up. He has never promised anything he hasn't delivered and its been what I hoped for and more.

WCBL family, everyone at training has been amazing, I feel like I have made some great mates and the banter has been priceless. Looking forward to beers and more training in the future.

Sponsors and supporters, everyone who has donated, bought tickets, or just sent me over support via FB, text and phone, I am going to be unleashing a whole lot of Bear tomorrow for you.

Finally my wife Lauren, she has put up with months of me boring the living shit out of her, stressing her out and farting all over the house thanks to protein. Despite not being a boxing fan she has supported my reasons for doing this, and has always been proud of the effort Ive put in.

Ill post one last blog after this following tomorrows fight, good luck to everyone fighting, and thanks again for the love and support for me and the charity.

Biggest Love

The Bear

Gutted...but read on!

I got my planning wrong this morning and missed training for the first time...Ill be honest I'm gutted...

Its got to that point where I look forward to the banter, new friendships and incessant build up to fight night, even Scott's horrible shorts stolen from Mini me from Gold member
I pack my bag the night before, go through the ball ache of rolling metres of hand wraps, triple check my head guard and gum shield are present, its all a ritual, like despite not being religious I follow a certain process or I'm not happy.

People who love and play sport tend to head towards superstitions, my own are fairly simple, drinks at certain times, listen to music, but when I was playing rugby regularly it was far worse, I used to stress if I forgot particular pants, and then one day some ones boot ripped them and my arse apart, it felt like the loss of an old friend, and the loss of the pants far exceeded the pain of a 4 inch cut across my arse! (The shower after that was horrific)

I intend to write certain things on my hand wraps on the night, and some I will never explain except to my wife , some will be obvious to most  and refer to people who have passed and some I feel far deserved the shot at life that they got, I feel sometimes like I carried a burden when I was younger which made me the way I was, now I'm happy but this fight will put a few ghosts to rest for me. I'm sure I will be accused of making too much of what this fight is, a scrap between two blokes, but in order to step through some ropes it takes some nuts and I dare anyone reading this blog who thinks it is easy to step in and try it....and I'm happy to spar.

My life hasn't always been easy, but its far better than some, I believe you don't get a practice run at life, though this view will depend on your religious beliefs!

To the cause!!!!!!

I want to try and raise the profile of the thousands of unseen Londoners, the people with nothing, the people who don't sleep, don't eat, and beg for cash for drink to try and help them escape from the shitty reality of the life they are caught in, without charities like Broadway,  who I will fight for there is no way out of the cycle for these guys and girls. If you have ever felt cold or lonely then you have to feel the way I feel, its easy to write everyone off as scammers but this is in fact a massive minority.

With all the charities out there today its easy to feel like everyone wants something, but there is no one reading this blog who hasn't seen a homeless person, or wondered what they do when it rains or snows. Any donation will help! And a deep heartfelt thanks to those who have already donated.

I've promised to train in my pants, or NUDE if it raises the money for the charity, my personal dignity next to raising money for the cause is irrelevant! Don't make me though!

Enough of me bleating along! Thanks for the amazing support, through donations, tickets, and just messages telling me to keep pushing on. I promise an explosive fight on the night. You have my word.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=thebearboxes&faId=329837&isTeam=false

Thanks again everyone....

The Bear

A late one...

Sorry for the delay in the blog, had meant to write it over the weekend but a blazing hot sunday was the only reason I needed to be out all day, and then between work, training and dropping tickets off its been a busy week so far!
Saturdays training was purely boxing focussed and people were virtually straight into sparring and padwork, I got two rounds of sparring in and after being concerned about the need to move I again allowed Lee to use me as a punchbag by charging in, and being too static, I cant deny I was pissed off with myself, and sulked for a bit, but encouraged by everyone around me who bascially told me to suck it up and get back in, Jo and Leo really puched it along, I climbed back through the ropes.
This time Walter, who was down for the first time stepped up, and I got caught flush with a hell of a hook to the chin, I'm man enough to say it rocked me, but I managed to get a bit of composure and kept my shape and tactics to the end of the round, but still feel pretty unhappy with my all round game.
Its going to take more hard work and movement but with less than 3 weeks to go I am confident I can pull it off on the night.
It was actually great to see some new faces down at the gym, and everyone was made welcome as always in the WCBL way, the sweat was running down the walls and everyone is really putting the work in.
Scott asked us our 60 second questions this week about WCBL and I am pleased to have avoided biggest moaner (Cheers Lisa!) because all I do at the minute is moan about my form, tickets, being tired etc, but I love it really. Will be a hell of a night and I want to put on the best show I can, big defence needed, and sharp attack and I cannot wait.

Big Love

The Bear

Learning from Mistakes

Another week, another training session done in what is basically now a countdown to fight night, the glorious English summer arriving didn't help as I heading out with a bag full of kit yesterday morning.
I had a good week this time in the build up and felt far more confident after 3 good gym sessions, and a lot more sleep, I mixed things up this week with home and gym workouts and I think it paid off, I used the gym for the heavy bag, treadmill and machines, then at home focussed on moving and bodyweight stuff, push ups, crunches and planks.
The training itself wasn't too bad, bag work, shadow boxing then sparring, and as you can tell, those that have seen the videos I have clear work to do on my defence, I also need to hold back more as I am tiring myself out too quickly trying to land heavy blows, but the punches I took prove I have a chin at least, and it was good to spar against a tall guy and a shorter fighter as I had to think more tactically. In the build up to the fight and on the night itself I need to be more focused and not brawl as I have a tendency to do.
I had an incident in the gym today where I was loosening up after training which made me feel even more pleased to have been involved with WCBL and Scott over other companies that organize White collar events, a girl came up to me as I was hitting the heavy bag and asked if I was training for a fight or just for fitness, when I said I was training for a white collar fight she said she had been asked to do the same thing by someone from her gym in Harrow, except he was billing it as a models fight night! She was unsure whether to do it or not, I advised her that it sounded a bit dodgy and if she was serious about wanting to get involved in white collar she should go to a gym where she would be treated equally. I'm no Germaine Greer and I can think of worse things to watch but I can imagine the event would not be what she was looking for as a challenge, unless the challenge was to get into Loaded magazine. At Knights everyone gives everyone else banter and the girls in the group train and fight just as hard as the guys, if not harder.

Fight night isn't far off now and the tickets are flying out the door, I can guarantee it will be a great night in Camden and I think the buzz is building among my friends and colleagues as well, if anyone wants to get hold of some send me a message and I will happily sort you out.

Right, little word about my charity now if I can, as people know I have chosen a homeless charity to benefit from donations building up to the fight and I have been really impressed with the response so far. Broadway look after the needs of London's homeless, and I feel it is a fantastic charity. I know there were some statistics that showed that a percentage of London's homeless these days are foreign and this may be the case, but a large percentage are from the UK, and many are ex-military who couldn't cope with the things they have seen in theatres of war, or were treated badly and not supported when they came home and Broadway give the first step on the ladder back for these people. Not that I care about the foreign issue either, if someone is in such a position that they are on the streets, sleeping in parks and doorways, afraid to close their eyes to sleep I couldn't give a shit where they originated, they need help, end of. If you would like to donate please do so and feel free to look up Broadway to see exactly what they get up to helping those who need it.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=thebearboxes&faId=329837&isTeam=false

Thanks for all the donations, bought tickets and support, I won't let you down and promise to give absolutely everything I've got.

Big Love

The Bear

Quick Midweeker!

As I sit here in the office, on my lunch hour, halfway through the week I am well pleased. My training this week has been hard but rewarding and I am feeling really positive. The secret to keeping motivation going it seems is creating mini targets, and not setting goals that are unachievable.

Train hard, Win Easy!

Ups and Downs...

Sport is a funny thing, you can have highs and lows alongside the obvious winning and losing of matches, you might be disappointed with a training session or elated with the progress made, and if you have a bad one the little demons creep into your head, but when you have a good one you consider calling out David Haye!

Been a funny old week this week for me training wise, after Saturdays session spent  a good 2 hours in the gym on Sunday, came out feeling awesome, then rest day Monday, cardio Tuesday and then another session I was really happy with on Wednesday, then I let things tail off towards the end of the week for some reason, not enough sleep by my own error caused me to have an average session at best yesterday and I promise this week will be better.

We started off with a nice run out to Tower Bridge and round the Tower of London, while I wasn't especially enjoying the running the views were pretty sweet, and the looks on some of the tourists faces were worth it, plus the comment from a group of fat blokes walking towards the bus stop cracked me up "Why the f$$k would you go jogging?", it is a valid point but then equally valid would be "Why do you want to die of a coronary at 50?". What also motivated me on this run was the fact that if I dropped behind I had no idea how to find my way back to the gym! Props to the 50% of the group who managed to not read the bit about the training starting with a run at 10.00am, I believe you, but remember God sees everything!

Back at the gym after a bit of shadow boxing it was straight into sparring, having not sorted my mouth guard I nearly bottled it, but wanted at least a round to keep my hand in, took a few smacks but I think it was a bit better than last weeks, but I am aware I need to be more aggressive and keep my head up, and trust my guard more.
There were some pretty intense sparring sessions this week, and I filmed a few so they are on my fb page, and eventually when I have time I will slap them on Youtube as well, I am going to make the video another part of this blog because looking back over the videos really adds to the story.

Ticket sales are going well so far and thanks to everyone who has bought, or is in the process of buying tickets, it is looking like being a cracking night with some quality boxing on show, let me know if you are reading this and would like to come to the fight and watch us all in action.

Finally, things I have learnt this week:

* Charlie has a mirrored shower in his house, and a revolving bed (The bed may be my exaggeration)
* Disco may not be Lisa's real name
* Charlie has a disturbing obsession with David Attenborough
* Body shots are very effective (going to be doing some ab work this week)
*Wearing a mouth guard is advisable when boxing
* I am never going to end up on the bad side of Jo Yates
* Japanese tourists are very scared of large groups of men running towards them
* The Tower of London is smaller than I remember it being
* Next time we do a run like that I will remember to take my oyster card!
* I have a lot more work to do before the 2nd of August

So that's what I'm off to do...

You can catch the videos so far on Youtube, or facebook

Don't forget if you are feeling generous you can donate to the charity I am doing this for as well....

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=thebearboxes&faId=329837&isTeam=false

Big Love

The Bear