Fight club for City boys

A sweet-looking girl jumped up and down on her chair screaming at a man in the ring, spitting out the words: "Hit him James, hit him hard, hit him in the ribs."

To its critics, boxing is a brutal affair in which poor working-class boys knock the living daylights out of each other for the gratification of baying men in dinner jackets.

At York Hall a few clichés were turned on their heads as City traders and accountants, architects and lawyers squared up to each in front of a crowd of curious colleagues and East End hard men for what has become known as white-collar boxing.

The girl on the chair was Lucy Bolton, a 23-year-old estate agent
from Essex cheering on her brother James, aka Golden Boy, a property developer and novice in the ring who was getting the better of a man with 18 victories under his belt.

"It was amazing, just fantastic," said Miss Bolton. "He's never aggressive. He's a really quiet person. I just can't believe he won his first fight. He was brilliant."

Many in the ring at the East End home of boxing - where Terry Spinks, Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and Nigel Benn once fought - discovered hidden depths of bravery and resilience.

By day Phil "The Bomb" Boyce, 42, is a broker, moving huge amounts of money around on behalf of international banks. Last night he was more concerned with keeping out of harm's way as he tried to avoid the vicious jabs of his opponent, corporate lawyer Simon "Rough Justice" Dawson Collins.

It was The Bomb's first fight after only six months training but he acquitted himself well, staying on his feet under a welter of blows, landing several punches and always going back for more.

As the final bell rang the two men collapsed into each other's arms, whispering mutual words of respect.

Boyce's wife Jane cheered him on, relieved it was over. "He's come out of it in one piece and that's all that matters," said the mother-of-two from Bishops Stortford.

The bouts were billed as The Real Fight Club, the brainchild of amateur-fighter Alan Lacey who picked up the idea of white collar boxing in the United States and named his venture after the film starring Ed Norton and Brad Pitt slugging it out with bare knuckles.

At the ringside were several paramedics,and the boxers, who had all passed a medical, wore head guards, groin protectors and gum shields. Each bout of three, twominute rounds was tightly supervised with a referee ensuring a fair fight.

There was no winner or loser at the end. According to the programme, the men were winners the moment they stepped into the ring.

Venture capitalist Adrian King, who helped stage the charity fight, said: "Here City guys get to be like Muhammad Ali for the night and the next day who are the secretaries going to be talking about round the water cooler?"

Boyce The Bomb said: "My mates from the office came thinking it would be a giggle. But they saw the effort I put in. I did it for myself, but to get some respect from others is also great."

Back in the ring, practising architect Charles Jones, otherwise known as The Pink Pounder, Britain's first and so far only openly gay boxer.

With his loping gait and long reach, his fighting style harked back to the sport's gentlemanly age.

Before his fight against Steve "Fountain" Penn, Jones, 44, said: "I don't see why anybody who wants to box can't have a go. People who take regular exercise are better able to cope with stress, so I see this as enhancing my job, where the most physical thing I do is climb a ladder."

Staggering away at the end of the bout, he said: "That was bloody hard work. All the sparring and the training can't prepare you for that. It was the closest I've got to a near death experience, but in the end I think I was a little bit better than him.

"It's totally different to what people like me do at work. When you are in the ring it's just you, on your own, nobody is going to help you. You can play football or tennis, but you can't play boxing."