What we do is bring something unexpected to people in our industry through boxing, something people never thought they could be good at; that ultimately makes a truly profound impact on their lives in the every day. BBO disrupts unhealthy emotional/physical cycles by implementing positive coping mechanisms, structure, systems of accountability, camaraderie, and of course, physical conditioning. Together, these elements contribute to mental and physical fitness, and give the fighters the tools they need to succeed not only in the ring and in the gym, but also behind the bar, at home, in their relationships, and so on and so forth.
Tommy and I traveled a lot again in 2019, and during the spells where I was too exhausted or busy to exercise, I found myself feeling flat, stressed and generally low. It reminded me all over again just how important boxing is to me, and how it positively changed my life many years ago.
It brings me so much joy to know that we provide an opportunity for people in our industry to focus on and improve their ‘sense of purpose’ and ‘self-worth’.
In 2019, we supported and executed a new sub brand of boxing under the BBO banner for Tequila Cazadores called Bar Spar, and we are excited to continue this relationship in 2020, bringing more industry people into Boxing.
There are so many shining examples of change to share from 2019, but here are some of our personal highlights:
Being a charity, I was so pleased that we could raise funds for mental health in Australia and dedicate that event to our brother that we lost last year, Ben Carlotto.
On behalf of Tequila Cazadores – our primary NAM long term sponsor – BBO will donate $50K between 2019/20.
In Australia, Daniel Hilton comes to mind, someone who bravely shares his struggles with depression, and how he was able to turn things around having applied and gone through 12-weeks of training with BBO.
One of the fights of the year for me in 2019, was between Steve McDermott and Sam Egerton in Sydney, who both went all out as the main event.
There honestly are far too many stories to highlight or profile on this blog, but a shout out to some of my favorite fighters last year, and great examples of really positive change were:
- Hannah Schwartz from NYC, who is becoming a personal trainer post our program
- Dustin Keating from Toronto is now 3-0 since leaving the program as an amateur
- Jason Lane, an old boy party animal who made so much change to his lifestyle and embraced the training, not to mention had an epic battle on fight night in Chicago
- Erin Jones from Portland lost 40 pounds, and in her ‘first’ year of boxing went from timid to a national Amateur USA Boxing Golden Gloves champ in the Masters Division. In her first year of training!
- My boy Adam DelGiudice has dedicated much of his life to the industry and is a huge boxing fan. It was great seeing his dedication to the program and his achivening an important dream of fighting. Oh, and he lost some 30 pounds to boot!
It was great to see that Kevin Dietrich from San Francisco has continued to exercise at 3rd St Boxing with groups of local bartenders, since the BBO program.
In 2020, Bartender Boxing will be back in Australia and launching in London for our long-awaited debut. Other opportunities are also on the cards, so stay tuned!
We will be initiating new programming in the States, which will include the official launch of ‘Battle of the Brand Ambassadors’.
We will also continue to work closely with our long-term sponsor Tequila Cazadores, and oversee and run their Bar Spar program.
Stay tuned, stay healthy, and as always, please reach out to us if you need our help or support!
Best,
BBO Founder
