The first direct punch to the head from a sparring partner that got past the defences of Jesse 'Happy Feet' Kavanagh was a big shock. But his adrenalin kicked in straightaway. 'The last 90 seconds of that round felt like hours and at the end of it I was absolutely exhausted,' says the executive director and head of tax Asia ex-Japan for Nomura.
Kavanagh, one of 12 bankers and hedge fund managers participating in the charity Hedge Fund Fight Nite, was sparring as part of an intensive five-month training programme before the main event on October 29.
On that night, more than 700 of the fighters' industry peers turned up to a black-tie dinner in support of their efforts to raise money for Operation Smile and Operation Breakthrough. For hedge fund managers, mauled and maligned during the global financial crisis, this was one way of giving back to the underprivileged and getting into the good books of investors.
In its third year, the event is fast becoming popular with fund managers and raised HK$850,000, all of which went to charities.
For the previous five months these 12 contenders survived an intense training regime at JAB Mixed Martial Arts Studio to make it to the final fight night. The routine combined almost daily sessions of weight training, cardio exercise, sparring and contact in the ring, the latter overseen by JAB managing director Andrew Wong Kee and Commonwealth Games boxing gold medallist Matthew Corbett from Australia. 'Matthew's experience was a lot of help this year and it showed in the skill level of the guys,' Wong says. 'Technically, they were all more accomplished than those participating in previous years.'
Fitness was key, and quickly ruled out some contenders at the beginning of training, with the initial 44 entries cut down to 20, then 16 and to the final 12 a week or so before the big night.