Whether it’s compliance specialists stylising Clazaghe or PR chiefs peppering their opponents like Pernell Whittaker, the iGaming industry has embraced a passion for the fight game in recent years.
It’s far deeper than just enjoying a scrap. As the events calendar has expanded, the culture around iGaming has shifted, according to the duo who have helped fuel this surging transformation.
Lee McFarland and Julia Weygandt have both lauded the mindset of the industry, which has enabled them to accelerate the growth of Behind the Gloves and provide a new approach to industry events.
Having started with a pads session in the park, both McFarland and Weygandt couldn’t have imagined that the Behind the Gloves initiative captured the passion of the industry in the way it has now.
McFarland emphasised: “What we’ve now seen is that we’ve built this boxing community and this fitness community – with boxing being the spearhead – but it’s more than boxing, it’s the community. And you know, the value that gives everyone, and that’s where this comes from. For me, it’s just, I know how it helps me in my day-to-day life.”
He also revealed that as a youngster, boxing helped him find stability and grow into a better person, from a young age discovering that ‘there is nothing more exhilarating than punching and being punched and the thrill of the battle’.
Whilst Weygandt’s ascension into the boxing world occurred at a much later stage in life, she also spoke of ‘the wonders it has done for her lifestyle’.
Speaking to the versatility of the benefits of the sessions, she praised the impact of training in the morning and starting the day in the right way.
Providing more details on her lifestyle shift, she revealed: “I just thought, I can’t do this anymore, going out for a drink pretty much every day after work. So I hired a personal trainer… I tried it, and I never stopped. It completely changed my lifestyle.”
“I got up every morning at five, I went to the gym. I had more energy when I went to the office. I was way more focused, I was more disciplined.”
McFarland added that this is something that is contagious across the workforce, as ‘a fit and engaged workforce will be happier and work more effectively’.
“I speak to the CEO of Captain Up quite often, and he says what you’re doing and the value I see it gives everyone else. We as an organisation are happy to see that”, stated McFarland.
“That’s the surprise I have. I have the surprise of commercial organisations actually committing funds to see the well-being of not just their employees, but the wider industry.”
From a personal perspective, McFarland added that boxing has always been the ideal remedy for improving his mental well-being.
He said: “I have day-to-day stresses. I have anxiety, you know, just everyone does, and so going to be able to, you know, release that in a controlled environment with a good, good group of people shows that actually boxing is so good.”
What stands out, having attended the Behind the Gloves sessions, is the wide scale of people they accommodate, whether it’s for those that want to trade leather before a day of meetings or those that just want to get a graft on and exercise before a busy day of conference.
The business case for the sessions isn’t solely in the productivity they lead to throughout the day, but also in the strong, albeit sweaty, networking environment they provide.
It was impossible not to notice the different levels of bonds being formed between industry colleagues as they exchanged jabs to the chops or rallied each other through burpee jumps. It’s something that many business stakeholders search for as they spend endless amounts on networking events.
Weygandt stated: “You will meet people you wouldn’t meet at a party because they don’t go to these events. And also, you meet the real people. There are no suits, no business cards, no makeup.”
“Everyone is just in, just like sweaty. So it’s having real conversations, meeting the real people, and building a different kind of relationship.”
McFarland added: “No one goes in with the intention of doing some business. But people have done business. People have connected. The community continues to thrive… it allows people to get closer through the combined effort and the challenge.”
The expansive crowd that is catered for is only growing as the pair have begun to introduce their functional fitness classes alongside the boxing classes.
Weygandt did, however, share a funny anecdote from Barcelona in January, when an attendee showed up for functional fitness – gumshield in, handwraps on and raring to go – having to quickly adjust as they had shown up for the wrong class.
The appetite for a new, healthier lifestyle is something that has been felt across the industry and is simply undeniable – it has been underpinned by the rapid growth of the fitness classes taking place at industry events.
Friends telling friends, colleagues telling colleagues, more and more industry figures are showing up to sweat it out before the event and subsequently departing from events in a much fresher state.
Describing the Behind the Gloves sessions as fitness classes feels like a real injustice, they are far deeper than that – they are a wider movement for a healthier and happier industry.
That movement simply wouldn’t be possible without the unwavering passion of McFarland and Weygandt, who continue to take time out of their own agendas to grow the fitness classes and bring in experts to show the industry there is a healthier alternative, not just to events, but to life.
The shift has gone unnoticed from Weygandt, who emphasises that ‘in the last year or two, you could definitely see a shift in the industry… we saw a lot of people say, no, no, I don’t want to go for a drink every night’.
“What was a surprise was that there were more people than we expected, and the fact that everything just grew so fast.”
That growth wouldn’t have been possible without the myriad of sponsors that have stepped up to support the movement and enable it to grow, which both McFarland and Weygandt were keen to show gratitude towards.
The passion of the industry for growth, for supporting a good cause and for wellbeing is underpinned not only by the appetite for 6am fitness sessions, but also by the undeniable excitement for an event that has become a favourite for so many, the SBC Charity Boxing Championships.
Taking place on this Friday, 27 March, it embodies an industry that is shifting in culture and intent on supporting good causes. To find out more about the event, click here.
