Their account management skills pack a punch, but will our two Trustmarque colleagues be able to come out on top after their debut at the CRN Fight Night next week?

It’s been almost two months since we confirmed that our IT heavyweights Paul Neary and Lewis Fox have secured a spot in the renowned amateur boxing event, CRN Fight Night.

With just two weeks to go until they head to London to fearlessly face the competition, we catch up with them to see how the training is going. For those who read the first interview, you may recall an unorthodox preparation plan of eating pies and unwanted nose bleeding.

Firstly, have you picked your fighter names yet? 

Lewis: “As you may remember, we gave people the chance to vote on our names to hep raise money for charity. Of course, putting anything to public vote comes with risk and as such I will go into the ring with the title; Lewis ‘Foxy McFoxface’ Fox. It is in homage to the great Boaty McBoatface. I hope to live up to the name by doing Boaty proud.”

Paul: “My name is Nosebleed. And it means ‘an instance of bleeding from the nose’.  It was chosen mainly because it was the least offensive of the suggestions put forward. I am confident I will live up to my name by receiving one on the night.”

How is the training going? Have you noticed any changes to your fitness and are you still eating a lot of pies?

Lewis: “The training is going well. I’m definitely fitter than I was before. Having said that, considering how unfit I was at the start, that isn’t a huge achievement. I’m not bleeding as much anymore. I did buy a headguard though which probably helps.”

Paul: “I sometimes ask myself ‘Why are you doing this?!’ But the pies are a bonus.  I wouldn’t say I am getting fitter. For me, getting up in the early mornings has always been difficult, but at least now falling to sleep at the end of the day is definitely easier.”

Paul, last time we spoke you had a goal to be punched in the face. Any progress?

Paul: “Every morning I get into work Lewis welcomes me with a punch in the face. It’s a great wake up call. He then bobs and weaves so I find it hard to hit him back. He’s a nippy so-and-so.  At least I think that’s what he’s doing, it might be concussion and he could just be standing there still for all I know.  Sometimes there are two of him.”

Will you have friends and family cheering you on on the night?

Lewis: “Some of our Trustmarque family will be there. They’re all pretty excited to see how it pans out.”

Paul: “There will be people from work there yes but considering they are coming to watch me get punched in the face I am not sure they would be classed as friends. But I do know their names, if that counts.”

Paul, does your mum know yet and what does she think? 

Paul: “She found out a few weeks ago and her comments were typical of my mum; ‘you are too old for this… what are you thinking?… wait till your dad hears about this…make sure you leave the changing rooms tidy afterwards…’  Supportive stuff like that.”

What do you have planned the following day? A nice spar break? (do you see what I did there?)

Lewis: “In preparation that I will likely be unfit to work, I have booked the day off and will be resting.”

Paul: “As Lewis has nabbed himself the annual leave, I’ll be having half a day off only. I expect the concussion to wear off on the train home from London though so it should be fine. Of course, if it doesn’t I will wake up in Edinburgh so I will be late to work if that happens.”

For both of you, this is the first time you’ve dabbled in competitive boxing, will you carry on fighting or look for a new challenge?

Lewis: “I will definitely keep up the Boxing training. But I am not sure if I will have another fight. We’ll have to see how this one goes first!”

Paul: “I feel there should have been an age limit on entrants which is less than my current age. I am never doing anything like this again. George Foreman regained the World Heavyweight Championship at 45. I’m 47, I have never held the World Heavyweight Championship, never mind regained it. But maybe I can emulate him by inventing a new cooking device for fried foods and name it after myself. I’ll get back to you on that.  I am getting rid of the beard though as it is very unpopular at home.”

Who asked anything about a beard…

About the CRN Fight Night

Since first launching in 2008, CRN Fight Night has raised over £210k for charity and is the number one place for wannabe boxers from the IT world.  Discover more.

Paul and Lewis are competing through their own initiative, but we are proud to give them moral support and wish them the best of luck.

You can sponsor the guys and make a donation to their chosen charity Special Care Baby Unit York by visiting their Just Giving page;

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lewisandpaul

Neither Lewis or Paul were involved in the making of this video…

By Katherine Murphy, content enthusiast