The crowd will be roaring, the lights will be bright and the sound of the bell will echo through the Gaslight District as Tapestry hall is transformed into a Las Vegas style venue for a fight night this spring.
On April 12, the Brawl at Tapestry Hall will see 20 local business professionals, trained by local legends in the ring, fighting for more than recognition or accolades.
Local boxing champs Mandy Bujold, Syd Vanderpool and Kaitlyn Clark are coming together to host one of the biggest events of the year all in the name of charity.
"Right off the bat we started to get a lot of interest and support from the community," said Bujold. "We sold out of all our tickets in four minutes."
Bujold is a Canadian boxing icon, 11-time national champion who has been competing at a high level for nearly 20 years.
Now retired from the sport, she has entered her philanthropic era with the founding of Champions for Charity, which in 2019 hosted its first event with local business professionals training, competing and raising money for charity.
"The pandemic didn't really let us host the event again for a few years, but from the success from the first event we knew we needed to do it again," Bujold said. "We sold out all our tickets in 48 hours back then. I mean who wouldn't want to see their co-worker or boss get punched in the face?"
This year fighters have been split up into two teams, red and blue. They will be competing not only in the ring, but also to raise money for McMaster Children’s Hospital with a goal of $250,000.
The pool of pugilists range from all walks of life and are mostly business professionals from the region.
Bujold and her teams started with 65 potential fighters and cut it down to the top 20.
"This is not just an easy boxing camp," she added. "This is 15 weeks of intense mental and physical training to prepare them to get into the ring."
Not only does this event offer an opportunity to raise money for a cause, but the participants also get trained by boxers who have competed at some of the highest levels in the world.
Bujold is an Olympic boxer and Canadian Champion while Syd Vanderpool aka the 'Jewel' is a super middleweight champion who has trained with Kitchener boxing legend Lennox Lewis and other greats of the sport.
Kaitlyn Clark is also a Canadian Champion boxer, coach and fierce advocate for creating a safe welcoming space for athletes.
Cambridge participant, Erica Tennenbaum has been working at RBC Dominion Securities for the past 30 years and felt like this was something that would challenge her and take her out of her comfort zone.
"At first this was never something I thought I would do, but then I thought about it and when do you have the opportunity to train with amazing people like Syd and Mandy?" said Tennenbaum.
At Vanderpool's gym in Kitchener, SydFit, Tennenbaum and her red squad teammates get put through the gamut of actual training professional athletes do in order to prepare for their events.
Vanderpool is also training Olympic hopeful Scarlett Delgado who is training to make the trip to Paris to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games for Team Canada.
Feeling excited and nervous, Tennenbaum is trying to enjoy the journey just as much as she will her time in the ring.
"The ring is only a few minutes and I'm just trying to take it all in as this amazing experience," she said. "We have 14 weeks to get ready so I think I'll have all the confidence by then."
Around 500 tickets have been sold for the April event with the Gaslight District chosen strategically because of its unique layout.
"I was walking through Tapestry Hall and just seeing the mezzanine brought this complete other layer to the event and I think this is going to be special," Bujold said. "There's no other venue in the region like this."
Champion's for Charity is hoping to make this a yearly event and serve the need for combat sports in the region.
Considering how fast tickets for the event sold out, Bujold said she knows there's a hunger for boxing in the community.
"I can't wait to get out there and put on a good show," Tennenbaum said. "I would recommend this to anyone who's looking to try something new and find a different way of staying active. Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity."
