Nearly £20,000 has been raised for charity from a boxing event organised by a Birmingham gym.
The event was organised by the charity Ultra Events and the Sutton Coldfield gym, Boudica Boxing, taking place at Aston Villa’s Holte suite on March 26.
A total of £18,302 was raised by volunteers, which was donated to Cancer Research UK.
In a series of white-collar boxing bouts, novice volunteers from across Birmingham had the chance to train and fight for charity.
Each participant was given an eight-week training camp to prepare for their bouts.
Head coach of Boudica Boxing, John Ryan, who helped train the boxers, felt the process had been rewarding.
He said: “I had personal reasons for running the program as I’d lost a parent, a close friend and I currently have a family member undergoing treatment.
“Knowing what good could come out of it and the confidence it brings the volunteer boxers, as well as the financial benefit to the battle against this terrible disease, was the main driver for such a challenge.
“The coaches who volunteer their services and the boxers get massive fulfilment from the events, and by contributing to such a worthy cause.
“The programme benefited from Boudica being based inside of Corefit UK’s combat Centre, which is home to MMA coach Henry Clemenson, who trains UFC’s Welterweight number one contender, Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards.”

Ultra Events raised and donated £24Million to Cancer Research UK.
Cancer Research UK said: “Thanks to research funded by supporters who take part in activities like an Ultra Event, 2 in 4 people survive cancer.
“Our ambition is to accelerate progress so that within the next 20 years, this figure will reach 3 in 4 and enable more families to stay together for longer.
“We are so grateful to the organisers behind each event, every person that signs up to take part and the generosity of their friends and family who sponsor them.”
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–UWCB