London, Ont. gears up for boxing event in Fight to End homelessness

A boxing ring is shining in the Forest City as London gears up for the return of the second annual Fight to End homelessness event.

In supporting Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.), the event launches Wednesday night at RBC Place London at 300 York St. and is set to feature local entrepreneurs, community leaders and politicians, all facing off in a fully sanctioned amateur boxing tournament.

“It’s been a passion project for a while, really for years now because of COVID,” said Brett Lucier, co-chair of Fight to End.

First sitting down with Y.O.U. in 2019, the first event focused on raising funds for the Youth Shelter on Clarke Road, raising $80,000 in total. This year, the event will shine a spotlight on the Joan’s Place project.

“This year, we’ve set some lofty goals,” Lucier said. “We’re hoping to raise enough money to furnish the 39 rooms at Joan’s Place and maybe even more.”

Construction of the affordable housing and youth wellness hub in the downtown area got underway earlier this week as the city announced that it would be contributing roughly $4 million to the project from its Housing Development Corporation.

Set to be located on the corner of Richmond and York streets, the $30-million Joan’s Place project has already raised around $10.4 million for the planned 55,000 sq. ft. facility which will offer services and programs for young people in regard to mental health, addictions, employment, training and more.

Construction began on Monday and is expected to last for approximately 24 months before it is completed.

“Nobody really talks about the youth,” Lucier said, adding that some 26 per cent of the homeless population is made up of those aged 16 to 30.

“What’s different about them is they’re not the ones that have necessarily chosen to be in that situation, and something that we felt that we could really help out with,” he said.

Lucier said that they hope to knock the 2019 donation “out of the ring,” and that this year’s event will have the audience walk into a “Vegas-style show.”

“We feel that we put on one of the best events, and we have some of the best participants this year that just have absolutely blown my mind,” he said. “We spend, two, three nights a week together, 18 weeks of training, and we really have become like a family.

“People’s jaws are going to drop,” he added.

For a full list of the 2022 head-to-head matches, visit fighttoend.ca.

Lucier recalled what it took to convince some people to tie up some gloves for a charity event.

“It took a little convincing, obviously, to get someone to step into a ring and be punched in the face for charity. That is a tough sell,” he said. “But from what we’ve done, and our track record of 2019, it was actually fairly easy.”

Lucier said that zero boxing training was a requirement to sign up for the event in ensuring that everyone “started from the same spot and was properly taught.”

“They will go all three one-minute rounds,” he explained. “They have headgear, they have mouth guards, they have 16-ounce gloves, and it is a Boxing Ontario sanctioned event. So, the one thing about these participants is that at the end of this, they have a Boxing Ontario record.”

Lucier, having been one of the participants in the 2019 event, won his match, saying that because of the steps taken in preparation for the boxing match, he can now “retire as a 1-0 Boxing Ontario record winner.”

“What’s great about this whole event is that nobody hates anybody,” Lucier said. “Even though you’re fighting somebody else, you can feel the love, and that’s really what our city needs.

“That’s really what we bring with this event is that everybody has come together and become a family,” he added. “It happened in 2019 and we’re proving it again this year.”

The event runs on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.