Corporate honchos and entrepreneurs loosened their ties for 'White collar bout', a series of boxing and kickboxing fights organised by The Fitness Fight Club (FFC).
Seven kickboxing and eight boxing bouts, each with three, two-minute rounds, were held at Hotel Lalit Ashok on December 7. An auction of sports memorabilia also helped raise a total of `5 lakh for the Needy Heart Foundation which helps treat children with heart ailments.
All 30 contestants selected for the final fights underwent rigorous training for eight weeks at FFC. One week prior to the main event, competitors were weighed-in to match their fight cards. Since each contestant is allowed only one fight, the champions are announced based on an assessment of their performance. Working professionals from organisations and institutions like IBM, Standard Chartered, Aditi Technologies, Fidelity, Intel, Jain University, R V Dental College, Olive Beach Restaurant formed the pool of contestants.
For Murali Chittas, an Exastack Specialist from Oracle, the foundation associated with the event was an inspiration to participate again this year. The defending boxing champion from WCB 2012 who won his bout and retained his title said, "We got to know our opponents only on the day of the weigh-in. Even if you have a strategy, once you get in the ring, you would not remember it. Everything just blanked out for me and the focus was on the moment." Though he joined FFC to maintain fitness, Chittas was drawn to the sweet science after sparring at the Club.
Komal Basith, one of the 10 female contestants, won her kickboxing fight despite training for only during the eight weeks. The founder of Jossbox.com and a first timer at WCB said, "My strategy was to use my boxing skill, even though it was a kickboxing fight, to corner my opponent and dominate the ring."
Fitness Fight Club aims to improve fitness and self-defense skills of its members through various combat sports - Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts among others.
Austin Prakesh, founder and CEO of FFC said that the contestants for WCB were trained for two hours a day.
He said, "Technical skill, ring science, how to go about moving in the ring, focus on skill and not slug were some aspects that they were trained on." Though this was only the second WCB in Bangalore, FFC has organised many WCB's abroad.