Boxing: Corporates train for clash

Tauranga's Anthony Taylor will be the star turn at the Clash of the Corporates fight night next month. PHOTO/ GETTY IMAGES

Saturday, October 11, should be inked into the diaries of all Western Bay boxing fans, when the inaugural Phil's Place Clash of the Corporates is staged in the Memorial Hall.

TGA Box proprietor and Tauranga Boxing Club head coach, Chris Walker, is upping the ante of his popular tournaments held in the TGA Box gym on Waihi Road.

The Clash of the Corporates will feature up to 14 bouts between the best corporate boxers in the Western Bay of Plenty and will culminate with a professional fight, featuring fast-rising Tauranga professional star Anthony Taylor.

Proceeds from the fight night will go to support the amateur team at the Tauranga Boxing Club.

Corporate boxing, sometimes described as white-collar boxing, is believed to have started in the world famous Gleasons Gym in New York City in the mid 1980s, when the gym owner began organising informal bouts between his businessmen clients. The initial concept snowballed worldwide to where corporate boxing is seen as the new face of boxing.

All those taking part in the Clash of the Corporates are midway through their training sessions at TGA Box, under the watchful eye of Walker and his assistant trainers. Walker is one of the best credentialed amateur coaches, in the country having taken his boxers to eight New Zealand championship titles. He has guided current WBO Oriental Middleweight champion Gunnar Jackson and Taylor throughout their careers.

Taylor is the number one welterweight in the country and is a devastating puncher, who will bring a seven win, one draw and one loss record to the ring at the Memorial Hall. His management team is endeavouring to bring an Australian or Pacific Island opponent to the country for an international title bout.

All the corporate boxers will be sponsored on the night by Western Bay businesses. The mainly first time boxers, have jobs ranging from plumbers, hairdressers and accountants to teachers, real estate agents and an investment advisor.

Not only do the aspiring boxers put their courage on the line but they derive numerous health benefits from the concentrated training sessions such as fitness and weight loss.