Ultra White Collar Boxing will introduce new rules in a bid to ensure fighter safety in their next event in Lincoln.
White-collar boxers are now forced to wear new and improved head guard models, groin/mouth guards and 16oz gloves as opposed to the 10oz gloves professional boxers use. These can cause more damage on impact.
The bouts will be three rounds and each fighter will be paired with someone of a similar ability.
The competitors will undergo an 8 week training course at Function First, on Dixon St.
White-collar boxing is a form of boxing in which men and
women in white-collar professions train to fight at special events. Most have had no prior boxing experience.
Over 40 people from the Lincoln area have signed up to take part. The event will be held at the Engine Shed at the University of Lincoln on the 14th of April of this year. Run by Ultra White Collar Boxing (UWCB), the night will be held for charity, with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK.
Stricter rules have now been implemented to ensure fighter safety, after Ben Sandiford, 20, was hospitalized last year for 17 days after suffering two cardiac arrests and bleeding to the brain following a charity bout with the organisation in Coventry.
Following his recovery, Sandiford and his family called for an end to white-collar boxing, with his grandmother, Rosaleen Andrews-Sands saying “This unregulated boxing has to be banned. Ben was wearing a helmet but it obviously didn’t work.”
Marta Thompson, who is in charge of the Lincoln branch for UWCB, said “All new safety regulations have been introduced. The event will raise hundreds of thousands for Cancer Research UK and we can’t wait”.
The Lincoln event has currently raised over £82,000 for the charity with that figure looking to be doubled by fight night.