In April of this year I agreed to take part in my first white collar boxing event. When saying yes, I had no idea what was going to be involved. I only had to fight three 2 minute rounds; how hard could it be?

I thought I was fairly fit but nevertheless decided to go to the Revolution gym in Angel to properly prepare. I am glad I did. I would not have lasted 20 seconds if I had not. In fact I did not last that long in my first session with John Grim on the heavy punch bag.

During the 12 weeks that followed I was taken through some of the hardest training I have ever done, all carefully designed not just to get me fit, but the right type of fit for boxing. I had never boxed before and they taught me that too, carefully pushing me further and further.

In the last 4 weeks it took over my whole life and everyone at Revolution helped me out and supported my efforts, even down to choosing my ring name, ‘Steve The Steam Train Vullo’ (which has to be said in a long slurring southern state U.S. accent) and my entrance music.

On the night, John Grim volunteered to be my corner man and without him preparing me mentally the night would have been very different indeed.

My opponent was 6’3”, I am half Sicilian and the other half is less than 3 feet but everything came together on the night and I am now basking in the glory of having put on a really good show and fighting hard all the way through the three rounds.

The fight was on April 7th but still I see colleagues in court who rush up to talk about the night. If I had jogged a bit in the park as I originally planned to do, I would have been in big trouble. As it was, my decision to go to Revolution left me as prepared as I could possibly have been and it showed. I am massively grateful to all of them, but especially John Grim who saw me through not just the lion share of the training but the fight itself.

It has without doubt been one of the most interesting and rewarding things I have ever done. If anyone is unsure whether to give it a go, I would say do it but get professional training behind you to get the most out of it. I did”.

Stephen Vullo is 42 years old and a barrister at the Chambers of William Clegg QC at 2 Bedford Row in London. He had never boxed before.

‍