For 10 weeks some of our corporate leaders change from business suits to track suits and head to the Grange boxing gym in Narellan.
They include well known names like Anthony Vitocco, Luke Leone and radio man Rob Doorey.
Going to the gym for boxing and fitness training is something they must do after signing up to get in the ring on July 4 for the second Corporate Clash in the Cube.
Making the 10 week preparation for those jumping in the ring mandatory is one of the reasons Corporate Clash has taken the region by storm, according to its founders and mates, Marsdens Law Group partner Grant Butterfield and Camden Hire owner Mark Scarce.
It hasn’t meant turning middle aged business heavyweights into boxing champions, but it ensured that they went into the ring a little fitter than usual and armed with at least some basic pugilistic skills to entertain 600 people in attendance.
Scarce and Butterfield can personally vouch for that because they didn’t just organise the fight night, they also got inside the ring to face the possibility of getting punched on the nose or copping a black eye.
Mark, who looks a little fitter than Grant, pays tribute to all the “boxers’’ from last year.
“They were really good, there was none of that, OK, your turn to hit me now.”
The first Corporate Clash in the Cube last year was a phenomenal success: The venue, the Cube at the Catholic Club, was sold out and around $50,000 was raised for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and Camden Rotary, who organised the charity side of the event.
The second instalment, on July 4, will be even bigger and better with nine bouts – one between two women – and the House Full sign outside.
It was sold out in the blink of an eye, no doubt off the back of last year’s success.
So the boxing is pretty fair dinkum and the audience enjoys that, but why have people who normally sit in front of a computer or in a board room holding meetings agreed to put on boxing gloves for one night and take the chance of getting seriously hit?
What’s in it for them?
“You know what Mike Tyson said: everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face,’’ says Grant Butterfield.
“It’s a bucket list thing to get in the ring, for sure, and that’s why we had no trouble getting people to sign up to fight for this charity night.’’
OK, let’s see.
The heavyweight boxing champ was once asked just before a fight: “I hear your opponent has a clever plan for defending your left hook. How do you respond?”
Iron Mike’s surprisingly profound statement implies that while planning is done in a calm, calculated way, when you strike problems – in the ring or in business – you have got to respond immediately.
There’s no time to sit back and think of a response.
And everyone knows business too can sometimes be punched in the head, at least metaphorically.
So that’s another tick for being one of the reasons Corporate Clash in the Cube was such a hit – no pun intended – and is bigger and better in its second year.
The fights – three by two minute rounds – are fully sanctioned by the official body, the Combat Sports Authority of NSW, the new name for the old boxing authority.
Both Scarce and Butterfield are well known around the Macarthur corporate world and when you’re asking people to sign up for a fundraiser that’s half the battle.
“It’s a great area for that,’’ says Grant, who is 46.
“Put on a fundraiser for a good cause and Macarthur will back it every time,’’ adds Mark, who at 44 is the younger partner in the enterprise.
The two have been mates for a while, but this is the first time they have worked together to create a fundraising event.
So how did it all come about, boys?
“We were at Bong Bong races in 2013 when we first discussed this idea,’’ Grant says.
“We were enjoying a few beers, having a bit of fun and talking about what sort of a charity event we could put together,’’ Mark says.
Mark explains that the races were on in November, and after Christmas that year, he and Grant decided to sit down and seriously discuss it a bit more.
“That was January,’’ Grant recalls.
Finding a good cause wasn’t a problem for them: Brain cancer claimed Grant’s father in law and Mark’s best mate at just 41.
Mark says that after deciding they wanted to raise for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation, the next challenge they had set themselves was to come up with something different for the event.
“There are plenty of charity golf days, so we wanted to steer clear of that,’’ Grant says.
Both being successful in their chosen fields, once they had decided on the charity and the type of event, they then knuckled down to get the nitty gritty right.
That’s because like everything else in life, if you don’t get the basics right, forget about it.
So the two old mates put their heads together to come up with a plan and a model that gave them a strong chance of success.
Grant says a number of things they did were key.
“It was very important that we went to the right people to ask them to take part,’’ he says.
Mark explains that this means business people who not only had a reputation for jumping aboard such charity fundraisers, but who could value add to an event by bringing others to it.
“Secondly, we outsourced the charity side (to Camden Rotary) and the 10 week training program (to The Grange),’’ Grant says.
Mark nods in agreement: “Rotary and the Grange have been great in this,’’ he says.
“And of course the Catholic Club have been tremendous in their support too,’’ adds Grant.
Not once do the two mates nominate their own roles as key to the success of this venture.
Not even though they thought of the idea, they established a great business model for the fundraiser – and jumped in the ring themselves to possibly cop a punch in the nose as well.
“No, that was OK,’’ says Mark, “nothing serious happened in the ring, just a few bruises, that sort of thing.’’
Grant and Mark are doing it all again, including putting on the track suits and heading down to the gym at Narellan for 10 weeks to get ready for their bouts on July 4.
The other 16 who will jump in the ring with them are:
Paul Collins – The Oaks Hotel
Angelo Paparo – Paparo Group
Troy Newman – Boss Windows
Daniel Logue – Fairmont Homes NSW
Anthony Vitocco – Vaste Developments
Luke Leone – Barenz
Aaron Johnson – Marsdens Law Group
Jason Beaven – Crown Electrical Solutions
Greg Hall – G &S Diesel
Paul Hope – Modern Wealth Management
Daniel Alberteri – Subcorp
Aneek Moller – Blooms The Chemist
Lincon McLaren – McLaren Real Estate
Rob Doorey – C91.3
Marina Mikelic – Symphony’s on Argyle
Stephanie Turner – Marsdens Law Group.
