As the world economy falls through the ropes, Hong Kong’s moneymen slug it out for charity
BANKS ARE COLLAPSING, pension funds imploding and homeowners are slipping into negative equity or declaring bankruptcy. Time to punch a banker or broker on the nose? Hold that impulse: some of Hong Kong’s financiers have surprisingly feisty hooks and jabs.
For the second annual Hedge Fund Fight Nite, an evening of amateur pugilism for local Masters of the Universe, 35 guys trained for most of the year to put on the gloves and try out some power punches. After being tested for speed, fitness and ability, 12 were selected to pair off and slug it out in a temporary ring while being cheered by 800 formally attired guests. It was a charity event sponsored by property investment firm IP Global for Operation Smile China, a group that operates on mainland children born with cleft palates, and Operation Breakthrough, a youth charity run by the Hong Kong Police Force.
Tables cost HK$20,000 to $60,000; last year’s event raised more than $1 million.
There’s already a crowd in the outdoor cocktail area. “At least I got my bonus this year,” one young banker says as he downs a glass of wine that obviously isn’t his first for the evening. Dinner at 8pm includes foie gras, seared tuna with wasabi mayonnaise, Australian lamb shank and orange panna cotta with ginger strawberry. We may be in a tent on the grounds of the Indian Recreation Club in the middle of the worst financial crisis since 1929, but the food is very good.
The lights dim and flat-screen TVs come to life with a video of legendary boxing manager Don King, who promoted “The Rumble in The Jungle” in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in 1974, and countless other fights and boxers since. King was taped especially for the event.
The fights are three rounds of two minutes each. The first is between Nissim “The Miracle” Tse of RAB Capital (Asia) and James “Headhunter” Carrs of Hudson. Tse is 48 and enjoys martial arts. Carrs is a former personal trainer, originally from England. The program says Tse, like several of the 35 Fight Nite hopefuls, endured black eyes, sore ribs and head butts during the six months of training at Andrew Wong Kee’s JAB boxing and martial arts gym in Central. Carrs takes the fight with a technical knockout (TKO) in the second round. Unlike professional boxers, the fighters wear headgear to avoid injuries. Tse appears disappointed, but isn’t hurt.
The second fight goes the distance and the ringside judges from the Hong Kong Police Force award the victory to Tom “Bid Hitter” Taw from Instinet Pacific. The program says that loser Hugh “Pile” Driver of Macquarie Capital Advisers shunned sports as a youth in favor of chess and debate teams. “It was only on his arrival at Macquarie Capital’s Hong Kong office in 2005 that he discovered he liked hitting people and, within a few years, Hugh began training in boxing in an effort to channel his violent passions,” his blurb reads. (Hope he has an office way in the back.)
The first half ends with another Macquarie fighter, James “Squeeze” McCaughey, taking on Graham “The Real Deal” McNeill from EC Harris. McCaughey is kidded about his height in the program (“this plucky fighter might have the reach of a Smart car windscreen wiper”) and he ends up getting TKO’d, but manages to walk out of the ring unaided.
The half-time break is an auction of a limited-edition Andrew Macpherson photo of Ali, a racing helmet painted by British artist Piers Dowell and signed by Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton (which fetched $140,000 to make it the night’s top seller), a 12-night trip to India with Banyan Tours, a visit to Urumqi to see Operation Smile’s efforts there, a provocative artwork by Adam Bricusse and a day of pheasant shooting in China.
The fourth fight pits Steve “Spit n’ Sawdust” Pengelly from Control Risk against Frank “The Reaper” Reed of HBK Capital Management. Pengelly, 40, a giant of a man who recently retired from competitive rugby, says he “needed a fresh challenge.” He flattens the much shorter Reed quite spectacularly before winning with a TKO in the third round. Reed seems OK and gets back on his feet to applause.
The penultimate match has Rich “The Lion Heart” Le-Gallez of HSBC taking on Alex “The Baby Faced Assassin” Bellingham of The Henley Group. Bellingham loses in a judges’ decision. As the clock approaches midnight, Ben “The Bomb” Worthington from Zurich International takes on Elliot “The Machine Gun” Odell of Qantex Capital Markets. This one also goes the distance and the judges give the decision to Odell.
Some of the boxers are enjoying a post-fight drink in the bar as the marquee empties. They’re still wearing their boxing kits, minus the gloves and headgear, and sharing stories from the ring. They all say they want to keep training and fight again next year. Tim Murphy, managing director of IP Global, tells me his company spent upwards of $500,000 to sponsor the event.
“For me, it isn’t just about boxing,” he says. “[There is] the whole aspect of voyeurism. People like to see their colleagues and friends, normal people, in a situation like that. I think it’s a bit of an extension of this whole reality TV thing. People are far more engaged when it’s normal people doing things and not the usual professional boxers or whatever.”
He’s hoping “at least one, maybe two guys” in his office will train for the next Fight Nite. And Murphy is confident that IP Global will be involved again.
“We’ve pretty much made a decision already. We haven’t signed anything yet, but we love the event. It’s very well run. There are a lot of pretenders to the throne in this market trying to run events, but this thing is done really well.
Money really goes to charity – decent amounts of money not pretend amounts.”
What Hong Kong’s bankers and fund managers showed is that they may be bruised – both in the ring and on their balance sheets – but they’re willing to put up a good fight.
