Jabs of a different kind: Nurses to slug it out at charity boxing event #BRC001

SINGAPORE – By day, they are caregivers who tenderly nurse patients back to health. But for one evening on Nov 12, male nurses Amirul Aiman and Haziq Aman will be looking for the knockout punch against each other in the ring.

The duo will feature in at Boardroom Combat’s #BRC001, a white-collar charity boxing event at the *SCAPE Ground Theatre that will see 26 working professionals split into red and blue teams for 13 bouts across three weight divisions. To prepare for their fights, they went through a 120-day training camp to get their fitness up to speed, before they learnt boxing fundamentals and started sparring.

For both nurses, who stand at 1.71m and are competing in the 86kg category, the event is an opportunity for them to put into practice what they have learnt from a sport they have grown to love as they juggle both identities, and also to give back to society by helping to raise funds for the Lutheran Community Care Services (LCCS).

In the blue corner, Amirul, who works in the gastroenterology and hepatology ward at Sengkang General Hospital, has combat sport background – his father was a recreational boxer who trained at the old Farrer Park Boxing Gym and installed a punching bag at home which his son played around with.

However, the 29-year-old, who played sepak takraw in his youth, first ventured into combat sport with muay thai before switching to boxing after snapping a vein in a fight in 2020.

Nicknamed Bad Boy, Amirul said: “At work, I’m a nurse and I behave like one. I need to show control when there’s tough times dealing with patients and families. I’m a different character when I’m boxing, where I need to show my killer instincts, but also stay calm to execute my strategy.

“Boxing is a beautiful art, where we use a lot of our core muscle, muscle memory and reaction. It’s about how you pivot, defend, and counter based on the skills you’ve learnt.”

He has had to relearn fundamentals in terms of movement and footwork, as he had stopped boxing in 2023 following the birth of the first of his two daughters. His weight ballooned to 120kg due to the inactivity too.

Now a trimmer 89kg after donning gloves again and “training like a madman” six days a week since February, Amirul said he is driven by family.

He added: “It was a rough journey and I almost gave up many times. But I realised I need this fitness to take care of my children.

“My wife has been supportive although understandably, she is also scared. But I also want to make sure I finish what I started.”

Delicate v Masculine

Meanwhile, in the red corner, Haziq is fighting in remembrance of his late niece, who died a stillborn in 2021.

The 25-year-old, who works in Singapore General Hospital’s anaesthesia unit, said: “It’s tough because while I can help others in my line of work, I felt like I couldn’t save my own family. I feel like I owe it to her and that’s why I continue nursing. Now, every life I touch and every bout I fight, I dedicate it to her.”

Unlike his opponent, Haziq began boxing only in 2025. Previously, he played schools rugby and went to the gym before he itched for a more intensive cardiovascular activity. Of all the combat sports, he picked boxing because by his own admission he “can’t kick for nuts”.

Similarly intrigued by the skills and strategy involved in the sport, he said: “Nursing is a delicate job, so boxing helps give me a balance to practise my masculine side.”

Whatever he lacks in experience, Haziq makes up for it with determination and enthusiasm, as he also trains up to six times a week.

He signed up for a fight in April and despite suffering harsh abrasions from a motorbike accident four weeks before the event, he started training just two weeks following the crash and competed, although he was eventually disqualified after he was deemed to have knocked out his rival after the bell had rung.

“I learned a lot from the process and it piqued my interest in boxing a lot,” said Haziq, who is nicknamed the Sleep Specialist.

“I believe fighting and boxing are two very different things, so for this upcoming fight, I would like to show people attending or watching what boxing really is.”

While Amirul and Haziq both train at Brothers Boxing Academy, they were strangers until they signed up for #BRC001. But over the course of the boot camp, they have become friends who go for meals together before or after training.

Asked for some fighting talk, Amirul said: “It’s going to be strictly business in the ring and he won’t be a friend to me. But after the fight, we are brothers, no matter what.”

Haziq laughed and responded: “We are friendly outside, but inside the ring, I will drag him into deep waters and we shall see who comes out on top.”

Above all, the safety of all competitors is paramount for Boardroom Combat founder Jake Foo, who shared that the event is sanctioned by the Singapore Boxing Federation and held in partnership with the Mixed Martial Arts Association of Singapore. There will also be an ambulance, a doctor and paramedics on the ground as precaution.

The 30-year-old said: “We are more cautious with white-collar events. When the referees see that the fighters are tired and not able to defend themselves, they will stop the fight.”

Foo said he was heartened by the response to #BRC001 as there were more than 110 sign-ups before he and his partners decided on the match-ups based on gender, weight and experience.

The event is made more significant for him as he was an at-risk youth with LCCS when he was 13, and its executive director Justin Mui was his former youth worker.

Foo said: “This is a good way to bring more people into combat sports, and personally, it feels more meaningful than doing my professional fights because LCCS helped me grow.”

Tickets priced at $68 for the six-hour charity event are available at https://www.boardroomcombat.com/brc001 and sponsorships and donations will go to LCCS.