Fight Night 2011 is a knockout

Emotions where whipped into a frenzy at the 2011 CRN Fight Night, with three fights stopped prematurely, one draw and the remaining five coming down to the final bell before a winner was decided.

Our 18 brave fighters battled it out in the ring to raise money for a selection of worth-while charities and a number of auction lots were sold off during the evening to boost the charity coffers.

First in the ring was Haleem “The Rock” Hoque from Interactive Ideas, who took on Henry “Skills You Can’t Teach” Beech from Westcoast. Beech won the day with some enthusiastic and targeted punches.

Second was “Long” John Woolley from FalconStor Software, who fought Kev “The Power” Grainger from Griffin. Despite fighting talk, Grainger was overpowered on the night by Woolley, who also won the Fighter of the Night award.

Speaking to CRN the next day, a proud Woolley said: “There are no words to describe how I’m feeling. I’m on the top of the world. It was definitely the best thing I have ever done, it was brilliant. To win Fighter of the Night was amazing as well.”

Woolley added that he would recommend anyone to get involved next year.

“My advice would be to just do it. Grab the bull by the horns,” he said.

The third bout was between Neil “White Lightning” Bryers from Comms-care and Marty “Mayhem” Visser from QBS Software.

After a close fight at the start, Bryers pulled ahead as the winner and the fight was stopped in the third round.

Bryers said: “I’m feeling elated. I’m very pleased the fight is over, and especially pleased with the result. I’m happy with the amount I have raised for charity as well, which is an added bonus. The night was brilliant and the best thing for me was having an early fight and being able to watch the other bouts with a glass of champagne in my hand.

“For anyone considering taking part I would say do it, but make sure you train. Don’t even think about it if you are not prepared to do the training.”

The fourth fight was between Husseyin “No Mercy” Mehmed from Caretower and “Lightning” Phil Bushby from Brother. Despite a brave effort from Bushby, the fight was stopped in the third round, with Mehmed announced as the winner.

Next in the ring was Jonas “The Hammer of Thor” Persson from HP against Michael “Lights Out” Canning from CAE Technology. The two warriors went at it hammer and tongs, with the fight declared a draw after the third round.

Then came Mark “The Mother” Tucker from McAfee, who gave Bally “Bad Intentions” Pal from Emerson a hard fight to the end, emerging victorious after three rounds. Tucker was unaware that he was being cheered on by his father, who had booked tickets without him knowing.

“When I played professional rugby I let my dad watch, but had said I didn’t want him to come to Fight Night in case things went wrong,” Tucker said. “But when I won I was very glad he was there. The atmosphere was fantastic and I really enjoyed the whole night.”

Fight seven was a clash of the titans, with Dave “The Destroyer” Ellis from Computerlinks taking on Jared “Scary” Cary from IBM. Both put on a great show, but Cary was eventually overpowered by The Destroyer.

Speaking to CRN after the bout, Ellis said: “I enjoyed the training and build-up but have been incredibly nervous. It was a really good experience and you go on a real journey with the training. But it was the most nervewracking and exhilarating thing I have ever done. I would definitely recommend it.”
The penultimate fight was between Isaac “Beast From the East” Kan from CMS Peripherals and Paul “The Mangler” Morris from Servium. Both fighters gave it their all and it was an extremely close match, with the referee’s decision to award Kan the victory belt going down as a slightly contentious result with some of the audience.

Finally, Sam “Muhammad I’m Hard Bruce Lee” Mager from Krome Technologies took on Del “The Dynamite” Wilson from Comstor. Mager emerged the victor after three brutal rounds.

CRN caught up with Wilson’s colleague Clive Hailstone, sales director at Comstor, who said the night had been a hit.

“We have had a fighter every year for the past three years and it is a great night. We think it is a fantastic evening to build relationships with customers, and we brought a few of them with us tonight.”

Other spectators were also full of praise for the evening.

Christian Standford, distribution manager for the UK and Ireland at Check Point, said: “The entertainment was superb. For just three months of training, they did well.”

Standford said his favourite were Huseyin Mehmed from Caretower and Dave Ellis from Computerlinks.

Sarah Knight, marketing executive at Integralis, said: “It was generally a good night. This is the first time I have been. I thought Dave Ellis from Computerlinks was particularly good.”

And Danny Louis, account manager at Kelway, said the night had been fantastic.

“The atmosphere was great. I think [the event] reconnected my base male instincts. Fighting! Grrrr! We liked the ladies who got out the scorecards too!”

The fighters

All a-Twitter
For the first time this year we provided tweetall at the function, and judging by the stream of comments received throughout the night, plenty of people got into the spirit of the event.

Source: CRN, 06 June 2011, Page 20