Elite Performance Academy Coach Pat Woodcock has been named Strength & Conditioning Coach for all of the “White Collar” Fighters participating in Fight For the Cure 2011. Final Round Boxing Club and The Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation founded the Fight For The Cure Gala in 2008 to help raise money to increase survivorship in our region. It is a Gala which hosts an elegant gourmet dinner with Olympic style boxing, including local business leaders and celebrity bouts. It is an amazing and unique event that we are proud to be a part of. Stay tuned for training videos as the boxers prepare for combat…EPA-style!

Thank you Pat, for helping us Fight For The Cure!

But seriously, we are all uber-competitive and want to put on a great show in our white-collar matches in front of our friends, colleagues, and in some cases, corporate competitors. And from the training I’ve seen from others to date, this aspect of our respective personalities is, shall we say, very very healthy. At the same time, I have to keep reminding myself even as a former Chairman of the ORCF (www.ottawacancer.ca) of the larger cause of what we are training, fundraising and fighting for … which is cancer research, care and support.

Building on this theme, the funds raised this year will once again go to the Maplesoft Wellspring Centre now being built at the Cancer Survivors Park at the southeast corner of Industrial and Riverside. It is worth a drive by if you have time over the holidays to keep your sweat, sore ribs and some blood for this whole event in perspective.

As for fighting Randy Woods again (who is a great guy and I’m happy he’s on board although I will ramp up the TO-boy triumphant trash talking come January), my only advice to him is keep traveling, eat lots of ice cream and pizza, beer and wine are as good as Gatorade, and by all means bring your pressure fighter inside game.

Can’t be touched … oh, you’ll understand what these three words mean soon enough!

- Walter Robinson

At Fight For The Cure (www.fightforthecure.ca) we take entrepreneurs, executives, local celebrities and even politicians, train them and put them in the ring for a 3 round Olympic style boxing competition. The event also features our national level amateur boxers in formal dinner gala setting. Since inception 3 years ago, the event has been more than accepted in the region it is quickly becoming a must-attend event and the best part; it benefits the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation!

It’s about that time again where we start gathering the volunteers and the new crop of white collar boxers. We are super excited about our talent pool of actual and potential competitors…. but I can’t name them just yet. Getting the committee members together to sit down for a beer at our favourite watering hole Heart & Crown Irish Pubs (which just so happens to be our headline sponsor) has proven to be like herding cats. We’ll get them though and this year will be our biggest year yet! I can’t wait to get it going. This event will take place March 26th, 2011.

Also, if you would like to sponsor or be a part of Fight For The Cure, please contact any of us or visit www.fightforthecure.ca.

Anyone who knows me at all will know that I am a big believer in giving back to the community … to me it just goes with the territory.  Yes, we are all the architects of our own destiny, which means “we have what we have” because we worked to get it … but if it wasn’t for the infrastructure around us then we couldn’t be successful!  Therefore it is incumbent upon us all to look after that infrastructure we call our community.

I give money.  I give time.  My company gives money.  My employees give money and time … AND are proud of their contributions.

So … the burning question of the moment is, even though I’m happy to give money, and happy to give time, am I willing to give blood?  I’m not talking about the nice neat kind of giving blood using a needle, I’m talking about the potential of climbing into a boxing ring and going three rounds with some other “blood donor” all to raise money for cancer!

For the last three years the Fight For the Cure has been held in Ottawa to raise funds in that more serious fight, the fight against cancer.  Bouts are set up between local “white collar” participants, who are not otherwise boxers … and for 2011 I was asked to “think about it”.

The first part of my “thinking process” was to go and see my doctor who is still working on fixing up my knee so I can play soccer again next year.  His response, “Other than I don’t know why anyone wants to get their heads pounded, I don’t see why you couldn’t do it!”  was not either the ‘easy out’, OR the resounding endorsement that I was looking for.

The doctor’s visit was followed by a “training session” at Final Round Boxing in Ottawa.  The owner, Matt Whitteker, a twenty-something super-fit former amateur boxer spent an hour with this old codger to see what he thought, and for me to continue the “thinking process”  (Now I’m thinking about whether I could survive the training regimen, never mind three two-minute rounds with someone trying to bash my brains in).  Matt’s club is a sponsor of the event and donate some serious time … so kudos to Matt!

I tried to clarify a few things, given my Liverpool up-bringing … would you believe that head butting and use of the knee is frowned upon!   They don’t even allow elbowing … there go all my secret weapons!  I forgot to ask about ear biting, but I seem to remember that’s not allowed any more either!

So it appears that I AM willing to give blood for charity … however there is one last hope in my “thinking process”, which is that they can’t find another fifty-something, in my weight category, who is also dumb enough to do this.   Other than that its five months of training to prepare for six minutes of “blood donating” in “the GeezerRumble”!  Some people will do ANYTHING for charity!

Character

The event was an astounding success and something I noticed as it happened throughout the night that gave gave me a sense of enormous pride and encouragement was the 50/50 draw. We could barely keep up with sales. The attendees had purchased their tickets to be there which are not inexpensive, they purchased many items from the silent auction then went back in their wallets and bought 50/50 tickets as if they were life-jackets on the Titanic. I already knew the rock-solid character of our fighters, our volunteers, our committee, the sponsors, but how incredible is it that you can see the transparent supportive character of our attendees. I applaud you all! You blew me away. Also, the winner of the 50/50 draw donated half of his winnings right back to the event.

Volunteers

How can you thank people that come in on their own volition just to help? Guys, if you all had not been a part of this incredible event it would not have reached the level it reached. I completely demonstrated my total lack of ticket organization and you guys absolutely saved the night! Every volunteer was amazing! Thank you all!!! And I promise that we will be better prepared next year with our lessons learned. Morgan, thank you!

Sponsors

The Heart & Crown was, of course, awesome. The Hampton’s Suzanne and Mowsen and the rest of the staff we’re incredible. Konica-Minolta, who came to us and said “We want to help”, were great and I hope had a great time ringside, thank you Andre. The OBJ, Boxing Ontario and all the door prizes that were given, thank you. In an event where I feel I should be thanking them (which of course I did), each and every sponsor thanked ME for letting them be a part of the event. I think we may have something here.

A special note, the Heart & Crown gave every attendee a $25 gift certificate to their restaurant and a $50 gift certificate to every volunteer and boxer at the event. At every turn I got a call from them asking “What else can we do?” These guys are a class act all the way!

If I forgot to thank anybody, my apologies and I owe you a drink.  I think you know where…

Hello All,
Thank you for reading my blog posts this week. I enjoyed writing them even though it was a little intimidating to try to follow Greg Hebert, an incredible writer with a powerful message. I’d like to share this last post with my partners, Matt Whitteker and Eric Belanger. Thank you again for “tuning in.” (Did I just age myself?)

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Excited

With Fight for The Cure 3 just eight days away I’m in a state of sheer excitement. To specify exactly which part of the event has me so sleepless is tough to pin down precisely. For one, in our third year I’m able to say that myself along with co founders Rob Imbeault, Eric Belanger and Scott Whitteker (year 1) are ecstatic about the community support we’ve received and we’re looking at a sell out event! Secondly, my regular correspondence, coaching and organizing the “white collar” boxers /boxing part of the event has been an incredible experience but I can say undoubtedly that I’m nervous for “my guys” having their first official boxing match. Finally the sheer buzz around the city for the Third Annual Fight for the Cure is overwhelming. With an estimated six media appearances and features leading up to the event the city of Ottawa has clearly embraced the event we’ve worked so hard to build.

This has truly been an outstanding experience which has been made possible by some exceptional people that we’ve met along the way. Sleep hours will be few, and the final preparations will be many but all will be more than worth it come March 27 watching “my guys” step into the ring for the first time to raise money for one incredible fight.

- Matt Whitteker

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Why we do it – Eric Belanger

Just over 3 years ago now Matt and I sat down and decided to kick off a major fundraising event in support of a charity. A charity of choice is often a personal decision and with so many great causes out there, we went through a priority process. First and formost we wanted to keep it local along with many other factors, we decided on the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. Like most of you here and as it’s been said before, cancer has affected us in some form or another and will most likely continue to do so in the years to come. It is a battle that most are considered the underdog to win. Personally, as head coach at Final Round Boxing, I help people win battles daily with life, health and of course inside the ropes. Being competitive by nature, a good challenge and being considered the underdog is something I am always up for and am often confident to come out on top. The battle called cancer is no exception, I am confident that if we all do what we are capable of doing, whether it be organize or participate and support an event such as Fight For the Cure, being the scientist in the lab or the caring doctor at the patient’s bedside, we will win. And I look forward to the day where Matt, Rob and I must revisit our event in search of a new challenge and celebrate our victory!

In 8 days from now you will witness a community come together for one unique night and take a step forward towards that victory. Personally, I would like to thank ALL of our sponsors, specifically the Heart and Crown along with everyone who has worked so hard to make this event a sure success. The volunteer boxers who have trained day in and day out, the volunteer officials and referees donating their time, the ORCF staff and volunteers, all Final Round Boxing members and volunteers, and of course, our white collar boxers who have spent the last few months in training, taking the risk of stepping into that ring and participating in our fight for the cure in a way only few can ever experience.

- Eric Belanger
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I’ve mentioned the Heart & Crown a lot this week, but I’d like to quickly thank our other sponsors that are helping make Fight For The Cure a success this year.

Hampton Inn Conference Centre – www.hamptoninnottawa.com
Konica Minolta – www.konicaminolta.ca
Ottawa Business Journal – www.obj.ca
Mezzanotte – www.mezzanotte-bistro.com
Enviropure – www.enviropurehome.com
Fari Detailing – www.fari.ca
Carried Away Gift Baskets – http://tr.im/SmNZ
Empire Grill – www.empiregrill.com
Soma Health & Fitness – www.somahealthandfitness.com

See you Ringside!!!

Rob Imbeault

This year’s honouree is Rocky MacDougall. Trevor MacDougall my long time friend and colleague, has been an avid supporter of FFTC since its inception and is now an active committee member. Trevor lost his uncle last year to cancer. Rocky is the epitome of a Canadian hero. After completing his military service he earned his Bachelor & Education Degrees at Saint F.X. University. This enabled Rocky to begin a teaching career in the Antigonish / Guysborough area which lasted over 27years. Although he was an accomplished boxer, he often stated that teaching young children gave him more satisfaction than anything he accomplished in the ring. Rocky had a remarkable career in boxing. He turned professional in 1960 and went on to capture the Canadian Professional Featherweight Championship in 1965, a title he held until 1967. In 1969 he regained the Canadian Featherweight Championship, which he held until he retired from competitive boxing in 1972. Rocky was a member of the Canadian Professional & Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame along with being a life member of the Canadian Amateur Boxing Association.

For those of you who know Trevor MacDougall, you would agree it wouldn’t be too bold to suggest that he himself is a bit of a celebrity in the Ottawa community. He was indeed endowed with the gift-of-gab and tremendously friendly with any and every one who came in to contact with him. While uncle Rocky was in his last few weeks, it was difficult to see Trevor in a quiet disposition with which I can unfortunately relate when I watched my grandfather whither away. Trevor has since volunteered his time and resources to the FFTC committee and we will be honouring Rocky MacDougall this year with our new-found Robbie Wilcox Honorarium Award.

It’s often said that life’s a journey, not a destination and this event has proven to be no different. The first year I was able to offer my time and services through my company, 10Count, but the last two years have brought me something I hadn’t considered, which are new friends. I have made some great professional contacts and more importantly I have forged new friendships as well as strengthened existing ones. We all come together to share a common goal and we all have our parts to play.

The white collar fighters are executives and entrepreneurs who take on this challenge and even though they initially face a rude awakening when they find out how hard this sport truly is, they stay. They get in the ring and they fight. Each one of them has their own reason for participating and every one of them challenges themselves to see how far their body will take them which is usually much further than they would have guessed. I’ve gotten to train with them, yell at them to finish their circuits and I’ve even gotten in the ring and pushed them as far as they can be pushed. Some are too shy to hit me, others not shy enough (Jim!). I love to see them realize that they are much stronger and more in shape than they thought they were. They walk, or mildly limp, away from the work out dripping in sweat, maybe a little blood, with a private accomplished smile on their face. I’m honoured to know these individuals who push themselves, even if it means putting themselves in harm’s way, for the memory of loved one or a chance at saving a stranger. Either way I am tremendously lucky to know them and luckier still to call them my friends.

Last year in the midst of a global recession, we weren’t sure we could pull the event off. We had no sponsorship and it seemed it might have to wait another year. A member of the Fight For the Cure committee, and long-time friend, Trevor McDougall, mentioned that the legendary Heart & Crown were interested in helping. We had a meeting and the rest is history. The Heart & Crown Irish Pubs have a history of generous and thoughtful philanthropy in our community. They are dedicated partners in our event and are truly appreciated for their active involvement with us and their many philanthropic initiatives. Also, it’s the HEART & CROWN!!! …which is pretty much the best pub in the city!

I have met some incredible people at the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. It’s amazing to me to see that it’s more than just a job to them and I have made and I continue to make some great friends with many of them. They get sincerely excited for each event. They work tirelessly alongside us to help make our event a success. Thank you guys! You are all amazing!

Out of the three of us, I would have to say that Matt Whitteker is the champion of this event. I do my part in trying to arrange sponsorships and selling tables and Eric Belanger has more than his hands full in developing our Final Round competitive team which has yielded several national level caliber fighters, two of them Canadian Champions, since we started only 3 years ago. Matt takes it upon himself to train all the white collar fighters. While this may be fun, it is hundreds of hours of his time leading up to the event. He is on the committee and when a fight fell through at the last second on fight night in year one Matt changed in to his gear, got in the ring and fought despite trying to run the show. I thought I’d take this opportunity to acknowledge the fact that he’s done a tremendous job on both Final Round and Fight for the Cure. I’ve also partnered with Matt on a few successful business endeavors and he shows great ambition. One more thing, he’s only 26.

If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for reading!

Fight For The Cure

In 2008, when my friends and partners (Matt Whitteker and Eric Belanger)came up with the idea for Fight For The Cure Charity Boxing Gala with the proceeds going to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, I was immediately on board and I continue to co-chair the event with them to this day. I’ve been involved in boxing for a dozen years now and the potential to help the foundation just felt like a great fit. We feature what we call “White Collar” fights where local executives, entrepreneurs and celebrities, after training with us at Final Round, jump in the ring and fight an exhibition bout. The Chair of the Cancer Foundation at the time, Walter Robinson, led the charge and has since become a little addicted to the boxing training, as most do, and he will be fighting for the third year in a row. It is a
formal, four course dinner and this year will showcase three of white collar matches as well as a few of our own nationally ranked amateur boxers. It will be held on March 27th, 2010 at the Hampton Inn Conference Centre with the Heart & Crown Irish Pubs stepping up in their second year as our headline sponsor. More information can be found at www.fightforthecure.ca. This week I will be blogging a little more about the event, its participants and maybe even a bit more about myself.