Fighting his fears
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By Don Descoteau
News staff
Apr 27 2007
TV cameraman will find out how tough he is May 5 at Bear Mountain Arena
Sweat trickles down the forehead of Gerry Reimer as he pounds a heavy bag with authority.
An electronic timer rings across the room and trainer Pete Patterson grants the small group assembled for a Monday night boxing/fitness class at Olson’s Martial Arts Centre in Colwood a minute or so rest before they go at it again.
For Reimer, a 47-year-old television shooter with A Channel in Victoria, these workouts are part of his preparation for Occupational Wars VI, promoter Ken “Hurricane” Himes’s amateur tough guy/tough gal competition.
“Every day I wake up thinking how the hell did I get mixed up in this and how can I get out,” Reimer says. “But the closer it gets, I know I’ve got to do it. People bought tickets to watch me fight.”
Coming to the gym three or four times a week and being put through the ringer is giving him a sense of what professional fighters go through. While he’s smart enough to realize he’s not about to launch an amateur boxing career – “This is a one-shot deal, I’m retiring after this” – the five-foot-six, 155-pound cameraman is enjoying the fact he’s in better shape than he was 20 years ago.
His weekly training includes hours of cardio-related workouts, the kind that will help him last two 90-second rounds and up to three fights on the night. Then there’s the inevitable sparring sessions.
“I dread coming to spar. My stomach turns into a knot about 3-o’clock at work and by the time I get here I’m a ball of nerves knowing that I’ve got to get in the ring,” he says.
Once he gets in the ring and touches gloves with his partner, he goes with the flow and adrenaline takes over. Through working with experienced trainers, he has learned to fight the urge to get angry in the ring after getting hit.
“I know that getting hit’s part of the game, and you don’t want to get angry you just want to return the favour,” he says.
Reimer is one of three Olson’s-trained entrants and dozens of would-be fighters – all but five are men – putting their bodies and egos on the line May 5 at Bear Mountain Arena.
The occupations listed next to entrants’ names – former New York Mets prospect, roofer, disc jockey, carpenter and stay-at-home dad, to name a few – offer few clues to the toughness or skill level of each individual. Such uncertainty promotes a modicum of fear, Reimer says.
“It takes a lot of courage (to climb in the ring), especially for a 60-year-old man like Gerry,” says gym co-owner Allan Olson, poking good-natured fun at Reimer. “Just the training alone is brutal. If you want to build your cardio and your upper body strength, it takes a lot of work. It’s something you can’t do in a couple of months.”
With years of experience training young fighters and even some who took up the sport relatively late, Olson acknowledged that what Reimer has learned is “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Past tough guy shows in Greater Victoria have been popular with participants and spectators alike for providing a venue for people to legally slug out their frustrations on another human.
While that is still the case for many entrants, Himes says, safety continues to be paramount. When accepting applications for the event, he has made it clear experience in the ring is not appropriate, but taking boxing lessons of some sort is.
Olson agrees.
“We wouldn’t let them go unless we felt confident and show that they could get in there and compete,” he says.
Tickets for the next Saturday’s show (7 p.m. start) range from $22.50 each to $52.50 for ringside. They’re available at Sports Traders locations and at www.beafan.com or toll free at 1-866-537-9769.
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Fighting his fears: from www.oakbaynews.com
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