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It will be all fight on the night
Wednesday, November 21, 2012 • Marianne Gillingham
TEN weeks of intensive training is put to test on Friday night for 14 “volunteers” in Gisborne’s own Fight For Life, a gala fundraising event for Life Education at Ilminster School Gym.

The volunteers were conscripted from all walks of life and tossed into the gym for a gruelling mix of training aimed at turning them into fully-fledged boxers for the night.

Some, like lawyer Adam Simperingham, have never boxed before in their lives, let alone fought, and have had to learn from scratch.

He grew up in a leafy suburb in Auckland and went to “nice Anglo-Saxon schools” where there were never any fisticuffs in the playground.

The daily training has been horrendous, he says, rubbing his newly-swollen nose. He also had a black eye after a training session but the worst was a headache lasting for several days.

Although he has run marathons, this was something else again.

“They had us running up hill, cross training . . . it has been constant.”

“I got an email inviting me to take part and in a moment of madness I said ‘yes’ because it was for such a good cause.”

As someone who frequents Gisborne District Court, he believes the work Life Education Trust does is vital.

“They teach kids about drugs and alcohol, healthy living and good food. The trust does not take any government funding.”

He is quivering in his boxing boots at the prospect of his three two-minute rounds against finance broker Brent Mitchell on Friday.

“Brent is bigger than me and fitter,” he says.

“He has just got back from the world waka ama championships.”

They were born on the same day and are friends — so he hopes Brent will be kind on the night. He also comforts himself with the knowledge that boxing is not about brute strength, but more about skill and tactics.

Brent “The Bonecrusher” Mitchell is just as nervous about taking on Adam “The Defender” Simperingham.

“I was already fit for the waka ama champs and the trainers have done a great job, but there is no room for complacency because Adam is a smart guy and he has done the training as well.”

The training was hard but it was the sparring that was the really rude awakening, jabbing at a real person and not just a punching bag.

“I am not an aggressive person and fighting is not in my nature.”

He has had a black eye and a blood eye, and one night his jaw was so sore he could not eat.

“I would not do it again — it’s definitely a bucket list thing.”

While VIP and corporate tables sold out weeks ago, general admission tickets are still available from the Gisborne i-Site.

Doors open at 5:30pm and the first fight starts at 6:30pm.
BRING IT ON: Finance broker Brent Mitchell and lawyer Adam Simperingham shape up ahead of the weigh-in for Friday night’s Fight For Life fundraising extravaganza. They and 12 other identities will endure three two-minute rounds in a boxing ring in the Ilminster Intermediate School gym. Picture by Paul Rickard
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