by Rommy Ghaly | The positive impact that Aprons for Gloves will have is hard to overstate. The event, slated to go down on July 25th, will pair up familiar faces from the local food and restaurant industry in a boxing battle royale (dubbed Restaurant Rumble 2012), bringing the community at large together with one purpose: to help build a new boxing gym for the city’s youth and to keep it open for years to come.

On Tuesday morning, we had the chance to speak to the fighters, to see them train and to witness how they’ve progressed. All told, some forty-two fighters have been training for many weeks in a repurposed meat locker on the fourth floor of Save On Meats. Coaches have been putting fighters through a standard routine, and if you’ve never seen boxers train, then you haven’t seen training at all. We saw more than a dozen fighters sparring, drenched head-to-toe in sweat and panting heavily. To see it is to know the event is going to be totally legit.

Though some were noticeably bruised and most were probably still reeling from a late night shift, contenders Shay Washburn (Woodland Smokehouse), Nigel Springthorpe (Alibi Room), Kristofer Betts (L’Abattoir), Matthew Morgenstern (Nicli Pizzeria), Nathan Hudon (Elysian Coffee), Marie Hunt (Railway Club), Steve Da Cruz (Tacofino) and their trainer Jordan Bowers spoke to us with unwavering energy and inspired awe about their personal experiences thus far. Their passion for what they were doing, the impact they were having, and the personal thrill they got out of training (almost) made you want to jump into the ring with them. When Nigel spoke about the adrenaline rush he got from his fear of being in the ring, all heads nodded in agreement (all the effort and hard work has also gotten Shay to quit smoking). The buildup to the event appears to be benefitting the contenders as much as the youth for whom they were building the gym.

On fight night, we’ll only have the chance to see 12 fights  – 3 title and 9 undercard – which means that not all those who’ve trained will get to fight on July 25th. The three title fights are determined by you, so be sure to get to the website and vote for your top three fights (right sidebar). Most importantly, if you haven’t already done so, be a part of building this gym and help some of these fighters reach their fundraising goals by donating what you can afford. When we asked the contenders we spoke to if they would continue boxing on the side after the event, every single hand shot up. Let’s hope that means the Restaurant Rumble becomes an annual event.

EVERYTHING SEEN IN VANCOUVER

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Rommy Ghaly was born and raised in New York. He’s spent the past sixteen years moving around from city to city and country to country, trying (and failing miserably) to find himself. You may see him out in the streets with his cameras taking photos of people he doesn’t know. The results of those adventures can be found at vancouverish.com.

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