Am I ready?  Yes, I am.  Am I fit?  Yes, I am.  Am I strong?  Yes, I am.  Am I a winner?  Yes, I am.  So too are each and every one of the squad that I’ve spent the last 3 months of my life training, sweating, swearing, moaning, laughing and fighting with. 

With the team at Vanda helping us every step of the way, we’ve been on an incredible journey together and I know that everyone will take away lasting memories of this period of our lives.  I would personally like to say a massive thanks to Ian Mullane and all at Vanda for giving me this opportunity; to Alexis, Rey and Ridhwan (pinky wave!) for their relentless efforts to whip us into bona fide boxers; helping us to be the best that we can be and never forgetting Michelle, my personal coach, my mentor and my friend (I know, pass the sick bag!).  She has been patient, encouraging & supportive throughout, picking me up when I’m down (her right hook does that!) and challenging me to never give up….and I won’t.  Anyway, I know this is all a bit gushy but I really want to convey just how much effort everyone has invested into making this Saturday night the most enormous success that I know it will be.

So just a couple more things to say really….to everyone who has kindly donated to our fund-raising efforts, your support has been incredible and highly motivational.  I know we’ve been relentless in our bullying tactics and thumbscrew approach but as of now, our squad has successfully raised $11,800 for The Children’s Surgical Centre in Cambodia.  Add to this the funds that will be raised on Saturday night itself and Dr Jim Gollogly and his team at CSC will continue to march on with the sensational work they do – saving and changing people’s lives for the better.  Playing a part in this is something that we can all be extremely proud of, so thank you, it really does make it all worth fighting for.

And last but by no means least, to Keriann. I couldn’t have asked for a more worthy opponent. 

Bring. It. On.

Sue “Nami” Tummon

The fight is now just 3 days away and preparations are in their final stages. Our last ‘official’ training session is tonight, though I will do something light with Alexis on Thursday, taking 48hrs rest before the actual fight!

How do I feel? I don’t know; it’s difficult to explain. I am pumped, that’s for sure. I am itching for it to be over, in a positive way. I am sitting at my desk and playing my walk-in music over and over again to try and get used to it and visualize my entrance so I don’t get too nervous before the fight.

The weigh-in went well. Some unplanned dehydration meant I have some photos I can be proud of and stand as a testament to how hard we worked at this! Despite not losing a single ounce during training, I’ve lost 30lbs since moving to Singapore and, at least, the training kept me (somewhat) away from my usual vices!

Weigh-in evening also decided who I will be fighting and when we will be fighting on the card. My opponent will be Alan King “of the ring” Shott and we are the 7th fight of the evening. Two things to note here – The first is that Alan is my best mate at Vanda and that will make the actual fight quite ‘interesting’, I am sure. The second is that we were desperate to be on ‘early’, so we could get back to our ‘fans’ and start on the re-destruction of our bodies!

I dread to think what state my supporters will be by the time I climb out of the ring

We are arriving at the Convention Center at 5pm, which means we probably have around 5hrs to keep ourselves occupied before the fight. I have no doubt that we will watch our fellow WCBers fight, but it will be interesting to see how that affects the adrenaline and heart rate! Is this the point I will look back and regret not learning yogic breathing?

No matter what happens, there is one thing that all 16 of us (and all of you who supported us) can be proud of and that is the amount of money that has been raised for the Children’s Surgical Center in Cambodia, a charity that has become very close to my heart over the last few months, especially after my visit in February. Please can I encourage everyone to maintain their association with the CSC and continue to support them, wherever possible!

And, since this will be my last entry until after the fight (when I will give you an update as to how bad my hangover is and maybe a snippet about the fight); I want to say a massive thank you to Ian, Ivy, Philip, Rey and of course my Chief (tor)mentor Alexis and all the Vanda team. I am not always the easiest person to work with (no comments), it’s sometimes been a struggle to actually put boxing above the other things going on in my life, but I will do you all proud on Saturday – I promise you.

It’s not a secret amongst my friends, or even on this blog, that March 17th is a very significant day for me. I’ve worked hard for this and I will not let anyone down; win, lose or draw. I will be coming out of my corner fighting and I won’t stop until the last bell of the last round. And when that bell rings, I’ll hug Alan, walk out of the ring and have the (2nd) best night of my life

Veni. Vidi. Vici.

Tonight, 8th March 2012, I will be getting on the scales for the official weigh-in at Vanda Boxing Club and by my reckonings I’ve lost a grand total of 8kg since mid-January.  Get (the French Connection UK) in there!  This ticks one of the biggest boxes that I personally wanted to tick in terms of my many reasons for taking on this challenge, so I now have a big, daft grin on my face and I’m wearing it with pride.

Another box which may shortly be ticked is that of the fund-raising aspect for The Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC) in Cambodia.  I was hopeful that we’d do a good job of raising extra $$$ for this amazing organisation and, I’m pleased to report, we’re very nearly up to $8k.  This is thanks to the incredible generosity of our friends, family and colleagues from far and wide and I for one am truly grateful and massively motivated by the fantastic support shown so far.  Not one to rest on my laurels though, here’s another shameless plug to see if we can hit $10k in time for fight night…..

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/IFS_WhiteCollarBoxingSGP/17march2012

So 888 it is then.  A sign of good fortune if ever there was one!

Sue “Nami” Tummon

Myself, Dr. Jim, fellow boxer Dom and fellow boxer Ming

So part of the reason we are doing this boxing is to support the Children’s Surgical Centre http://csc.org/ in Cambodia. This is the charity which the White Collar Boxing (WCB), run by Vanda, is affiliated with. Vanda raises money at the 4 WCB events a year (2 in Singapore & 2 in HK) by having both a silent and live auction and they raise around US$200,000 every year. The company I work for, Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), www.slh.com is donating a 7 night stay at any SLH hotel worldwide and hope this excellent prize will raise thousands of dollars for CSC.

Helping the children in Cambodia

The money raised from this prize and from all of the other auction prizes will go directly to the Children’s Surgical Centre. On average every US$200 raised will pay for 1 life changing surgery. The kind of problems that people come to CSC with and need surgery for are horrendous, seriously debilitating such as club feet, cleft palate, cleft lip, acid burns, road accident injuries, babies with fluid on the brain to name but a few. An operation to help or even cure any one of these problems is life changing but only costs US$200 which would be considered nothing for you or I but the people who benefit from these surgeries would otherwise not be able to afford these operations. There is no NHS in Cambodia and these people are very poor and so going private is not an option. The charity was in fact originally setup to help children but they will also operate on adults as otherwise the adults will rely on children to help them, that is the reality of it in Cambodia as there is no home help or disabled facilities.

A baby with club feet

I have always been slightly intrigued as to when you donate to charity where the money goes. I have always been slightly put off from giving by the statistics you hear about only a small percentage of what you give ever finds its way to the people who need it. Therefore I decided to go to Phnom Penh in Cambodia and visit CSC for the day with some of the other boxers and see for myself how the money is spent and how the operation is run.

The Legend: Dr Jim

First of all I met Dr. Jim, by all accounts the founder and godfather of CSC. He has been doing this for 20 years and has dedicated much of his life to helping Cambodians, not just in Phnom Penh but all over the country. I very much doubt that Dr. Jim will be ever to give this up as it really is his baby and he has built it from scratch and overcome many challenges along the way. He estimates that CSC now carry out around 5000 operations a year and if you think that he has been doing this for 20 years then he has made a huge difference to tens of thousands of people’s lives. But Dr. Jim would be the last person to tell you it in those terms.

Fast growing legend: Little Jim

After this we did morning rounds with little Jim. He is a surgeon from the UK who has previously worked in Africa and is now dedicating his time and skills to help those less fortunate.The ward was very busy with people who were recovering from the previous day’s operations as well as people who had just been submitted. It was very busy in the small ward of approximately 25 beds. The doctors were going around and assessing the success of the previous days operations and saying how long until the patient could go home or were diagnosing new cases and deciding what treatment was needed.

Morning rounds

I saw a baby who had an operation the previous day to remove fluid from the brain who was recovering well and there was also a 15 year old girl who had club feet but had never had them treated until now. It is such a shame as if she had been treated earlier in life she would not have the problems now.

Removal of keloid scarring after an acid burn

After this we went into surgery and this was not for the faint hearted. The theatre had three operating tables with three operating teams and there were operations going on simultaneously. They were not hanging around either. While I was in there I witnessed six operations which was unbelievable. With so many people who need help there is a real sense of urgency and Dr. Jim does not mess around, he is old school and he gets the job done. With such a tight budget decisions need to be made immediately as the surgeons simply cannot afford to procrastinate.

At the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity

After visiting the CSC we went to the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity. In Cambodia acid burns are a big problem. Many acid burns are inflicted on purpose in crimes of hate. Acid is very readily available in Cambodia as batteries for cars and bikes come ‘dry’ i.e. without acid. It is therefore readily available at news agents and cheap. Up until recently the law did not consider the act of burning someone with acid to be a serious crime and was only punishable with a few hundred dollars fine. This has now changed, partly thanks to lobbying by the Acid Burn Survivors Centre. I am glad that this is the case as it destroys people’s lives and the damage inflicted on people is irreversible, both physically and psychologically. Dr. Jim in fact setup the charity as some of the young girls who had been burnt were treated at CSC but then committed suicide due to the depression caused by the disfigurement. He wanted to give the victims the support they needed after the immediate surgery. Some of this support has been legal by trying to bring the perpetrators to justice and some has been psychological by trying to provide counseling. They also help in the long term by providing physiotherapy and making compression garments to soften the keloid scarring.

What the new wing will look like

After my visit I can really see that all of the money raised gets through to the people who really need it and nothing is wasted. Dr. Jim is an inspiration and has an amazing passion. He is ambitious and thinks long term as well, always trying to make CSC bigger and sustainable and so it can help more and more people in the future. They are building a new three story wing which should be ready soon which will hugely increase the capacity.

The new wing under construction

I am glad that the money which Small Luxury Hotels of the World raises will go to such a good cause and urge anyone on the night to bid generously as it is also a fantastic prize! If you cannot be there on the night but would like to donate to this excellently run charity then please visit and donate http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/IFS_WhiteCollarBoxingSGP/17march2012

Shoulder pain has been replaced by back pain (I modified my left jab and have relaxed my shoulders, after watching Alexis spar, which has sorted the shoulder), but the progress continues. Alexis is working us harder than ever, but I am starting to notice the differences and ‘get it’ more, now. I’ll be honest; it’s taken some extra sessions, but the last week has probably been my best of the whole experience. There is still a lot of work to do, but I am prepared for fight night, which can’t come soon enough!

Well, perhaps it’s the beer-a-thon afterwards that can’t come soon enough?

My trip to the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity (CASC) and the Children’s Surgical Center (http://csc.org/) was more than eye-opening. I actually started writing a blog the day I got back (9th February) but I stopped halfway through as I just hadn’t fully absorbed the experience at that point.

I don’t know quite what to say – It’s simply amazing work the doctors are doing there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or done anything that has had such a swift, profound impact on the way I view charity work. Even now I am struggling to find the words.

I spent the majority of the two days in the Operating Theatre watching the Docs ‘go to work’. I don’t mean that disrespectfully, but it is something else to see someone pulling a metal rod out of someone else’s leg with a pair of mole grips and an electric drill waiting by the side of them. I won’t go into gruesome detail, but trust me when I say that I will almost certainly never get the opportunity to witness some of these operations again.

The people/ patients are also amazing. You walk into any A&E in London and it is full of people moaning and whining (I’ve been one of them, all too often) yet you walk into CSC and you don’t see a single person complaining. Every operation that is being done in that hospital is improving the patient’s quality of life in such a swift and marked way that the doctors must have the most rewarding job in the world, especially considering the tough working conditions, without the money for the latest drugs or equipment.

They make do with what they have and, in my humble opinion, they do an unbelievable job. Jim, Jim Jnr and their team work so hard and they really are modern day heroes.

If I could urge anyone to give money to charity, please consider sending something to these guys. They are changing lives and they are doing it for very little money, on a shoestring budget and they deserve so much respect for taking on that responsibility – no one made them, it was a choice and one that I would almost certainly not be man enough to make.

Fantastic, fantastic people and a true inspiration to all of us who had the pleasure of going out there to meet them.

So… it’s back to training tonight and hopefully weigh-in (8th March) and Fight Night will come round quickly and I will be ache-free and ready to rumble!

What is easy however is an inherent ability for us to become distracted by pressures of work, personal life, social commitments and deadlines.  All too often we procrastinate, sometimes we let our inner demons dictate & from time to time we seem to lose sight of what’s really important in life.  Now in the grand scheme of things boxing isn’t hugely important – Haye & Chisora would likely disagree but evidently they’re a pair of numpties, so objection overruled boys.  For me though this isn’t just about boxing and it certainly isn’t just about me, it’s more than that.  Consequently, I refuse to let any pesky little demons stand in the way of me doing anything other than my very best and for what it’s worth, although it’s proving challenging to keep my balls in the air at the moment (*giggle*), they are there and they shall not be dropped!

Anyway of late, training has been weirdly enjoyable.  We have a new team member so welcome & BIG RESPECT to Cristina for stepping in; we’re now sparring regularly, we’re getting encouragement & continual feedback from our coaches, we’ve been filmed & photographed from every angle (most of them undesirable) and Alexis has even cracked the occasional smile.  Not kidding folks….you heard it here first! 

Michelle however keeps telling me off because apparently, smiling and laughing don’t compliment being a mean and intimidating mofo!  What if I get gold teeth, will that work?  Anyway from now on, I’ll be working hard on my ‘bad ass’ face.  Speaking of which, if a certain member of the team (you know who you are) continues to insult our senses with his bad ass (literally) I may be forced to open a can of whoop ass before 17^th March!

One way in which I have been able to add some additional exercise into my regime is by cycling everywhere. I cycle to and from work and boxing training which means I never have to get the bus, MRT or taxis which also cuts alot of stress out of my life. However the buses and the taxis try to exact their revenge for my lack of custom by trying to mow me down. I am one charged up individual by the time I get to work. However I try to be as safe as possible as when it is Bus vs. Billy the Kid Kerr there will only be one winner. Touch wood we will not be hearing about that fight.

Another efficient way to keep fitness up is Bikram Yoga. I have been practicing Bikram Yoga at City Hall http://www.bikramyoga.com.sg/ since November when I did the 30 day challenge and it is beneficial in many ways. One way is that it is just a really good workout as you are basically trying to hold 26 poses in a 40°C room over 90 minutes and really stretch your muscles and loosen them up which also prevents injuries. A second benefit is that psychologically it gives you strength as you cannot leave the room and so you have to keep going and so you build up the mentality that there is no giving up and you can do it. It also teaches you to regulate your breathing in order to recover as quickly as possible which is going to be essential in the ring. Some fighters simply forget to breathe as they panic and so having the calmness to remember the basics must be instilled in you and this is what happens at Bikram Yoga.

In terms of the boxing training my coach Alexis is excellent. He is ex-Singapore army and is in the Singapore Police Force and doesn’t take any rubbish, especially from me! He is pretty militant and that is what I need as I need to get this stuff drilled into me, over and over again in order to learn it properly. We are still concentrating on the basics but I need to learn some more tactics because basically I have T-Rex arms. They are very budget. Therefore I think I will be best off becoming an infighter much in the style Mike Tyson and so I can get close to my opponent and overwhelm them with quick punches but I will need a good chin for this!

Well keep reading my blog as next I will be writing about my experience in Cambodia at the Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC), the charity we are supporting. Speak to you soon!