#TFGinterview: Fighting for a cause – In conversation with Austin Prakesh

FITNESS FIGHT CLUB is all set roll out the third edition of White Collor Bouts on November 19, 2016 at the Taj West End. While on paper, it might sound like just another fight night, there is a bigger story behind the whole event. But before we head into the story of the White Collor bouts, the story behind Fitness Fight Club needs to be brought to the limelight.

FFC had been making headlines all across India and founder Austin Prakesh notes that the whole thing started by accident.

Austin Prakesh: I am, for starters, a Venture Capitalist and a Singaporean national with roots in both India & Sri Lanka. I grew up in Singapore and have served in the military there, having done a couple of tours when in service. I have been a boxer since the age of 16, having competed out of Hong Kong and out of Singapore. My father was a boxer too and my brother took up Karate, so I believe my family was always kind of into the martial arts from the beginning.

The collaboration of mixed martial arts and working out, outside of India has been very common for a while now and when I came to India, as part of wanting to invest here, I would work out at the Gold's gym in Bannerghatta road. The way I worked out was different– I would start with jump rope, do some shadow boxing, hit the weights, warm down and then I'd go home- caught the attention of fellow gym goers who came up to me and that's how the whole thing started.

People would tell me that I should open up a gym, my workout methods were different and that there will be others who like it. That's how FFC was basically born.

Before opening up the gym, Austin had worked towards a noble cause of raising money for heart surgeries.

Austin Prakesh: Prior to this, I have raised money in Cambodia & Vietnam too and pretty much have an ancestral record in giving back. In Cambodia, we had raised up to a quarter of a million dollars. My plan is to get 1000 heart surgeries in India and then hit the same number in Sri Lanka, following which I want to retire having done my part.

Austin is currently on a mission to continue his plan with the White Collor Bouts. The first two editions of the event were held in 2012 and 2013 respectively, and when quizzed about what caused the delay to come up with the third edition, Austin had the following to say.

Austin Prakesh: After 2013, which got a good response, I had to leave for the military because of which I couldn't come back and do the events in 2014 & 2015 as when the military calls, you can't say no. Starting 2016, I retired from the Singapore Armed forces and started working for the European Security Union. Since I had free time on my hands, I said let's do it this year then.

Initially, in 2012 & 2013, there was a lot of skepticism around the whole concept but we kind of somehow pulled it through. But, in 2016, I have had great companies come forward and help me and they understand what I'm trying to do here. Without the companies and the people associated with it, I don't think I would be able to pull it through and I tip my hat to them. 2016 will be a much bigger event than the previous two and the whole process has taken me about six months, with the fighters training for about 3 months and for the licenses and the regulations to be taken care of.

With a string of professional fighting leagues poking up in India, Austin decided to take a completely different path with the White Collor Bouts and the reason behind this is an incident that happened back in 2009.

Austin Prakesh: Well, back in 2006 & 2007, I was fighting professionally. I had moved on from fighting professionally to fighting for charities. Then in 2009, my cousin passed away, who was someone I trained together with and honestly was a much better fighter than I was. He passed away after a fight in Australia and I went away from a fighting for a while after that, for about two years.

I literally couldn't think of putting on any sort of gloves as I was in a state of depression and was coming out of it, when I came to India. When here, I wasn't going to fight again, I am 40 years old, but I wanted to use this avenue to honor my cousin and that's what has been my driving force behind pretty much everything I do now.

As noted, White Collor Bouts is not about professional fighters and having such an event comes with its own headaches. A lot of things need to be considered but the FFC team has all of it covered.

Austin Prakesh: Since we are not bringing in pros to fight, the process is a bit longer as folks with day jobs will be the ones participating. The onus is on us to ensure they don't get hurt and are safe, but at the same time look good on fight night. We have 500 high net worth individuals sitting in as clients, wanting to be entertained who would be expecting the best fights for their value.

So, there will be eight fights in total. Each fight will be of 3 rounds of two minutes each. There will be a minute rest between the two rounds, but those will be the longest six minutes of their lives. Because, once you are in the ring, the adrenaline rush kicks in and you have to pay attention to so many things at the same time.

Plus the onus of fighting for such a large cause will bring the best out of them as they have been putting in the work in the gym for it.

All the competing fighters will be competing with 16 oz. gloves, with the Kick boxers wearing shin guards for protection too. The referees are trained professionals themselves, set to oversee the action. The scorecards are set up differently ensuring it isn't as taxing as pro fights are on the competitors, but make no mistake about it, its full-on competitive combat that would be on display.

But the biggest win of White Collor Bouts will be its contribution to enabling heart sugeries for children in need.

The proceedings from the fight night will be going to charity and this is what makes the event stand out.

Austin Prakesh: We've been a part of 438 heart surgeries in total through the Needy Heart Foundation. We've done, based on payment, 15 heart surgeries and this year we are planning to do a number which will be the biggest ever done in India. Fortis is coming in as our main sponsor, where each surgery cost about a lakh and we closed the deal where we pay 15000 per surgery and Fortis takes care of the remaining costs. So, that will be about 30 lakhs that we need to put out. The event will bring in a profit of 6-7 lakhs which will go straight to the hospital and the Needy Heart foundation will match the same amount which will bring the amount to about 15 lakhs or so. Personally, I will be matching a dollar to dollar in this effort and will be putting up the rest of the money (15 lakhs) from my own money and that's how we have closed on a good number of heart surgeries this time around.

As going for paid promotions and advertisements would result in lesser money towards the actual cause, the FFC team has relied on the word of mouth and social media as platforms for promoting the event. And with such a great cause behind the event, it deserves to brought to the limelight and for all the right reasons.

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