Last night, following months of training, Playdale’s MD Barry Leahey laced up his boxing gloves and entered the ring for the Business Heavyweights white collar charity boxing match at Audacious Church in Manchester.
The event saw high profile business leaders fighting to raise vital money for those who need it most. Months of intensive training with expert coaches and boxing pros culminated in a lively evening of sweat, tears, triumph and inspiration.
The referee for the evening was Robin Reid, former British professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012, pictured here pre-fight with Barry along with a triumphant post-fight ringside photo of Barry and his wife Louise.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester took to the ring to kick-start proceedings and ask for support for his end to rough sleeping in Manchester campaign. Then it was ‘ding ding’ and the bouts began!
To say Barry’s fight was short-lived is the understatement of the year as ‘The Playmaker’ knocked his opponent out after just a few minutes in the ring! Looks like those hours of hard training definitely paid off! A well-deserved win. Barry summed his win up in a short, succinct statement, “Train hard, fight easy”.
To date, the grand total raised by the fighters is in excess of £150k. This incredible amount of money raised will go to the Seashell Trust, a homeless charity, The Booth Centre and Manchester Maccabi Cultural & Sports Club. Barry himself raised an astonishing amount of just over £3k! Some of which will also go to Playdale’s three staff-chosen 2018 local charities.
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