On Friday 8th July at Royal Randwick Racecourse Ballroom, 20 erstwhile competitors from across Sydney’s media and marketing landscape (including B&T’s provocatively titled David THE FIST Hovenden, pictured above) stepped up their game and went toe-to-toe with an industry peer in front of 650 of Sydney’s best-dressed blood sports enthusiasts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP-y_kyt5z0&feature=youtu.be
While pitched by Pitch2Punch’s event organiser Gareth Eden-Styche as “not about the winning”, it was all about the winning, with 20 plucky pugilists showing the industry what they’re made of. In Hovenden’s case, it was chicken schnitzels, potato and gravy and seemingly more than a couple of Cooper’s Greens.
(All photography by Pat Moran Photography)
But there is no better example of what our industry can do than the impressive spectacle of 20 outstanding individuals stepping into the ring at Pitch2Punch.
Completing Pitch2Punch is no easy task, with 11 weeks of professional boxing training requiring Friday night and Sunday morning commitments (read no more late night Saturday shenanigans) to perfect the art of pugilism, earning each gloved-up competitor the moniker of “Industry Champion”. Which is significantly less-frightening than some of their fight names; Claire “THE NIGHTMARE” Allison (QMS) Olly “THE MAD MALLET” Taylor (Host) or Anushka “THE RAGING” Rajan (PHD). Daniel “THE MILKMAN” Almond (AdRoll) sounds more than likely to be our kind of cup of tea.
In six hours Pitch2Punch fought its way through 30 rounds of achievement to raise over $10,000 to help fight anxiety and depression in support of beyondblue, with a year’s supply of Tim Tams raising over $1,000 all by its chocolatey-covered self. And a couple of well-dressed supporters won awards at the hands of the Nova hosted red carpet featuring last year’s Pitch2Punch Industry Champion Matt “THE BIG RIG” (oh please!) De Groot
Seeing as you haven’t just been punched in the face, you can still donate to beyondblue through the pitch2punch fund-raising site here.
Special congratulations go to Deejay De Leon (Tonic) for Best Overall Fighter and Chris Ingate (APN) and Adam Ennis (Executive Channel Network) for Fight Of The Night. But, congratulations to everyone.
What an outstanding night. See you in the ring in 2017!