If you weren’t able to attend last year’s amazing Aprons For Gloves boxing extravaganza, watch the above video – Warren Lane Pictures’ awesome documentary “The Road To The Restaurant Rumble” – for a refresher. We were there on July 25th, beer-soaked in the mouthfully-named Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts at Simon Fraser University (Woodwards). It went down as one of the most memorable, exciting evenings in the storied annals of Vancouver’s restaurant industry, raising some $130,000 in funds and the spirits of all in attendance. On not too many evenings does one walk home shadow-boxing and slur-humming to Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World” and Metallica’s “Seek & Destroy”. So we’re stoked to see the big fight night coming back, and proud once again to be its web sponsor.

So what’s different this year? Well, because it was so damn kickass last year, it’s probably best to start with what’s staying the same. The Restaurant Rumble is still a fundraiser for the non-profit Aprons For Gloves organization, which aims to facilitate positive change through sport and mentorship in the lives of underprivileged youth in Vancouver. Coach Dave Shuck and the AFG team have secured the new East Side Boxing gym above Woodland Smokehouse on Commercial Drive, so new funds raised will go to obtaining safe and reliable boxing equipment (the ring and bags have been purchased), assistance with monthly rent (six months have been pre-paid), acquiring all the necessary city permits, and providing the youth of East Side Boxing with travel opportunities for matches outside of Vancouver so they can compete and grow regardless of their personal financial situation.

As the fundraising efforts grow, AFG will begin looking at further programs and ways it can help in the area. Also returning are the fighters. From what I’ve heard and seen on AFG’s Twitter and Instagram accounts (must follows, by the way), some 100 people from the local service trade have signed up. 90 of them went to try-outs this past weekend, with 10 more trying out this weekend. All of the aluni fighters are invited back for training, which starts next week, and those who won their Title Fights are expected to defend them. It all goes down on July 24th, a Wednesday, in the same venue as last year. There will once again be a bunch of undercard fights leading to 4-5 title bouts, which is to say a lot of punches will be thrown, missed, and landed, and maybe even a knockout or three.

So what’s different this year? There will be more seats in the venue and – wait for it – those assembled can drink in their seats! Beyond that, I’m sure there will be a few surprises, improvements, and course corrections, too, but envisioning anything better than last year is hard to fathom. We’re just excited to see how all the new fighters will fair through the gruelling training process, and to see them come out swinging for this city’s at risk youth.

We recognized many of the faces of those who tried out over the weekend. I’ve collected a few in screenshots below:

There are some real bruisers trying out, and plenty of dream match ups. We’d pay, for example, to see Tyson Reimer and Sean Sherwood dance. Likewise Brandon Grossutti versus Ivan Drury (oh wait…Drury didn’t even try out? What the…).

For certain, it’s a long road from now to July, and it’s paved with a shit ton of pain and good feeling. We’ll be providing updates during the training process, but in the meantime, good luck to all and have a browse through Mike Babiarz’s awesome shots from Restaurant Rumble 2012…