Fight Camp Diaries: What Our Fighters Learned This Week
Sparring with teenagers, HYROX sims, a Battle for Cancer medal and a gym called Hooked: our Midnight Mayhem fighters share their week in training.
Every week Lee and the WBC Cares UK team check in with the Midnight Mayhem fighters in our group chat with three questions: how has training gone, what's one thing you've learned, and does anyone have any concerns? This week's answers were honest, funny and a good reminder of what three months to fight night really looks like.
Humbled by the youth
A theme emerged quickly. Alex Pratt had a good week, and learned two things: two nights out in a row makes training very hard, and 14-year-olds can punch far harder than he imagined.
Wayne Fisher got through three boxing sessions and “got battered by a 22 year old (again!)”, then hit 5k on the treadmill, which he admits was horrible.
Rosa Kolkka knows the feeling: “The amount of times I’ve been paired with a 17 or 18 year old who came for their first boxing class ever, and still faster than me with better reflexes. A humbling experience.” Kevin Reid’s verdict: “Ditto!”
Rosa has also found her second home at Sliema Fight in Malta, and is thinking of getting her post and groceries delivered there for the next few months.
Back on the horse
Roger Redfearn-Tyrzyk was back training after six days in bed, working on explosiveness on the pads and active recovery afterwards. His lesson of the week: planting your feet properly helps quite a lot. Who would have thought?
Richard Symonds put in two good sessions working on sitting into his defence, while nursing a tweaked hip.
Fight camp starts here
Becky Johnson-Kent had a slightly tapered week of five training days before her 12-week fight camp kicks off. She also learned that professional boxers are massive in real life. Then she headed to Olympia to take on the Battle for Cancer challenge, where it turns out your placing in the heats also depends on how much you raise. Her report afterwards: “Nailed it!”
With the kids off school and no clubs to ferry them to, Kevin Reid squeezed in a full HYROX simulation, while Alex was still doing the rounds of swimming, football and tennis drop-offs.
A family affair
And the best lesson of the week goes to Robin Hutchison, who took his youngest to a parent and child class at Hooked Boxing & Fitness and learned she has a better left hook than him.
Three months to go
Twenty fighters, ten bouts and one night at La Paloma, Barcelona, on 19 January 2027. Every one of them is raising money for a cause close to their heart, so if this week's stories made you smile, back a fighter on the Charities page.
