Page 177 - RAPTC Mind, Body & Spirit

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Later that year I had been selected by England Boxing with a number of other England Referees to attend an upgrading course in Italy in order to upgrade to 3 Star Referee and to qualify as a World Series of Boxing (WSB) and AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) Referee. However, I was unable to attend this course.
So I decided to retire after 37 years as a fully active official with England Boxing.
As a result of this decision I took an alternative route in order to continue refereeing a sport that I love and enjoy and wanted to continue to enjoy, and to assist others in an attempt to educate and promote good, safe and professional practice at all levels.
This now allowed me to get fully involved with the White Collar boxing scene and in addition to Ultimate Boxing in Lowestoft.
I was appointed as the Head Referee for UWCB in 2016. UWCB is now a huge organisation that run Charity Events over four seasons of 6-7 weeks in a year to support of Cancer Research UK. During their four seasons there are up to 20-25 events every Saturday and Sunday all over the country from Exeter up to Aberdeen and including Dublin and Belfast, highlighting just how popular these events are.
These events are aimed at members of the general public who generally have never boxed before but would like to have that once in a lifetime experience of putting a set of gloves and a headguard on and climbing in the ring and boxing someone and probably never do it again. Once signed up for an event, they then receive 8 weeks free training at a local recognised boxing/combat club. I’m sure most of us can fully relate to this concept having conducted Inter Unit/Coy/Sqn/Bty Boxing where the boxers receive minimal training before competing.
There is obviously a general misconception in relation to what is commonly known as White Collar Boxing and where it sits in relation to it being unregulated and unlicensed. Due to it’s nature it probably sits somewhere in between
the amateur and professional game. The term “White Collar” has unfortunately got a stigma attached to it and is generally misinterpreted.
In reality these White Collar events sell out more so than some professionally promoted events and are certainly promoted and marketed far better than some ABA/England Boxing events also. They have become a culture in the UK and are becoming more and more popular and attractive to the general public. They generally take place in the public domain, such as Sports centres, hotels and nightclubs around the country and the thought that these events are taking place in the dark and dingy cellar of a public house somewhere or in the shadows of some underworld dive in the back streets is far from the truth.
I appreciate that there are some bad White Collar and unlicenced organisations and promotions operating on the circuit, but all events that I have been involved with and especially UWCB, have got very stringent medical aspects and safety measures in place which are constantly applied and adhered to.
In essence, these events are well organised, promoted and marketed shows that are fantastic events for both the boxers, their families and all spectators
attending. Dependant on the venue and the number of bouts, some shows generate in excess of 2-3,000 spectators making them very exciting events and with all the glitz, glamour, smoke, lights, music, ring girls etc, the boxers are made to feel like Champions for a night.
To date UWCB has been operating since 2013 and some approx ballpark figures since then include, 200,000 people signed up for an event. 80,000 started training. 50,000 have boxed at an event. 10,000 have continued training. 15 boxers turned professional with the BBBoC and 100 registered as Amateur boxers with England Boxing. Surely these are very encouraging figures for very obvious reasons in generating an interest in health and fitness and allowing individuals to change their personal lifestyles and at the same time for a great cause. Currently at April 2018 in excess of £13 million pounds has been raised for Cancer Research UK.
In my capacity as Head Referee for UWCB I run annual Referee’s Seminars and in the past 18 months I have managed to recruit 10 ex England/AIBA qualified and experienced referees and bring them on board and that has included 6 ex Army and RAPTCI’s.
My constant involvement on the White Collar circuit has also led me to be involved in other Military Charity organisations such as Pilgrim Bandits that was set up by ex members of the Special Forces for ex limbless serviceman and I was honoured to have been asked to referee at the last two “Remembrance Rumble” charity events at York Hall in London. The first in November 2016 was ex SAS v ex US Navy Seals and last year’s was ex SAS v Ex US Special Forces/USMC. Both these events proved to be a sell out and raised considerable money for a number of Military Charities.
Last years event also included a first for me with having to referee an exhibition bout as part of the Adaptive Boxing Organisation’s (ABO) quest in showcasing and promoting wheelchair boxing. This was a bout between former soldier Chris Middleton, who had lost both his legs during a tour in Afghanistan 5 years earlier and