Heartbroken fathers of two men killed after charity white collar boxing matches team up to urge a ban on the self-regulated fights
- The bereaved father’s spoke out following the death of a student in Nottingham
- They have called for the charity fights to be stopped to prevent more deaths
The heartbroken fathers of two men who died after taking part in ‘white-collar’ charity boxing matches have called for the deadly bouts to be banned.
The fights, set up by UK registered charity Ultra White Collar Boxing (UWCB), see amateur boxers enter the ring to raise money for Cancer Research.
UCWB is a self-regulated entity that gives office workers eight weeks worth of free boxing training before putting them in the ring.
Two fathers have, however, spoken out against the controversial tournaments, in calling for the contests to be put to an end.
They include the fathers of 26 year old content writer Dominic Chapman and 44 year old software manager Alastair Peck – both of whom died after entering the ring.
Content writer Dominic Chapman, 26, (pictured) died in hospital after collapsing in the ring at a white-collar charity boxing event
The heartbroken fathers’ interventions follow the recent death of student Jubal Reji Kurian who died after sustaining ‘serious injuries’ in a UWCB bout last March.
Jubal Reji Kurian died at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre following an event at the nearby Harvey Hadden Sports Village.
The boxing event organiser itself claims white collar boxing is ‘safer than cycling and rugby’ due to ‘excellent safety precautions at events’.
However, John Chapman, whose son Dominic died in hospital after collapsing in the ring, called for the bouts to be ‘stopped,’ according to the Sunday Mirror.
The 26 year old died in April 2022 after entering a UWCB charity boxing event at Tramps nightclub in Worcester.
‘We want to stop other families going through what we have,’ bereaved father Mr Chapman, from Birmingham, said.
‘Dominic was carried out of the arena in front of everyone,’ he said. ‘People would have known the gravity of his injuries, yet they carried on boxing that evening.’
Richard Peck, the father of 44 year old Alastair, who became the first person to die after entering one of UWCB’s bouts, also called for the events to be stopped.
The software manager entered the UCWB fight to raise money for charity following the death of his three year old niece from Kidney Cancer in 2008.
The 44 year old’s fight was halted after he hit the canvas in the third round of the UCWB event.
Friend’s reportedly said the software manager was vomiting appeared ‘punch drunk’ after the bout, before he was found dead on the bathroom floor.
His dad claimed people get ‘suckered into these events because they think they’re doing something good for charity’ as he also called for a ban on the fights.
Software manager Alastair Peck, 44, (pictured) became the first person to die after entering the ring in one of UCWB’s white collar charity boxing events
(Stock image) Ultra White Collar Boxing events see office workers enter the ring after receiving eight weeks worth of free training
‘Alastair had so much to give,’ the heartbroken dad said. It took me years to be able to get to sleep after his death.’
The bereaved father also slammed Cancer Research for accepting money from UCWB, which has raised £27 million for the charity since 2013.
‘It’s a disgrace that Cancer Research accepts money from them,’ the 79 year old from Thurgoland, near Barnsley, North Yorkshire, said.
Cancer Research says on its website that it is not ‘responsible’ for UCWB events, and that it encourages event organisers to look at ‘all aspects of safety for their event’.
An inquest into Alastair Peck’s death showed the 44 year old was made vulnerable by a previous head injury in a boxing training session.
Further damage to an already weakened vein then led to a fatal brain haemorrhage during or after the fight.
The coroner also raised concerns that those involved in the bouts were allowed to fight despite missing training sessions.
The inquest into Mr Peck’s death heard the 44 year old had missed up to two training sessions, and that his opponent Carlo Francisco Sandoval, 46, had missed half.
UCWB subsequently introduced new measures to ensure entrants participate in at least 50 per cent of the free training sessions.
The boxing charity is self-regulated, and not affiliated with England Boxing, the body that governs amateur boxing clubs in England.
Mr Peck now says the charity boxing event has left him with ‘three holes’ in his life, following the deaths of his niece and ex-wife from cancer.
‘Alastair took part because his mother, my ex-wife, was dying from cancer and his niece had died from the disease,’ he said.
‘For weeks beforehand I was trying to tell him not to do it but he wouldn’t listen,’ the heartbroken dad said.
Cancer Research and UCWB were approached for comment.
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