Ultra White Collar Boxing

Ultra White Collar Boxing is coming to Westcroft Leisure Centre on Saturday 5 December, and it's a bit different from your usual night out. The whole thing is built for complete beginners: anyone with no boxing background signs up and gets eight weeks of free professional training before stepping into the ring. From there, you're matched with an opponent of a similar level and go three rounds, wearing 16oz gloves and head guards, in front of friends and family.

It's fully regulated, so the focus is on the sport rather than anything too rough. The training is the big part of it — eight weeks to learn the basics before you actually fight — and the matching means you're not going up against someone who's been boxing for years. The three rounds are short enough to be manageable, and the head guards and heavy gloves keep it on the safer side of things. It's pitched as a way to get in shape and experience boxing in a safe environment, with the training and the fight as a package.

There's a charity angle to it too. The night doubles as a fundraiser, and boxers are asked to raise at least £50 for charity and sell tickets to the people coming to watch them. So if you're thinking of signing up, you'll be doing a bit of fundraising alongside the training.

The fight night takes place at Westcroft Leisure Centre on Westcroft Road, Carshalton, SM5 2TG, in South London, on Saturday 5 December. If you've ever wondered what it's like to box but didn't know where to start, this is a way to do it from scratch, with the training included.