Twelve Bay Street professionals will put their day jobs aside this week and take the stage in unfamiliar territory as two months of intense physical training culminates in an amateur boxing match in Toronto.

The Brawl on Bay Street, presented by Counterpunch Promotions and sanctioned by the Ontario Amateur Boxing Association, is taking place in Toronto on Thursday for the fourth time in two years. The event will include six fights featuring 12 financial services professionals.

The participants have engaged in eight to 10 weeks of intense training leading up to the event, but most had no prior boxing experience, according to Mario Lechowski, the event organizer and coach.

“They’ve never fought before in their lives,” he said.

But the excitement of the event seems to get first-time boxers hooked: three of the fighters in Thursday’s event are returning participants. “Usually people come back for a second time because they love the rush, they love the excitement,” Lechowski said.

The promotional event is chance for financial services professionals to socialize, network and have fun, Lechowski said.

“It’s great exposure for the people,” he added.

William Vastis, vice-president, investment advisor and portfolio manager at RBC Dominion Securities Inc., is participating in the event for a second time. He got involved in the Brawl on Bay Street after attending the event as a spectator in November 2007. Seeking a new challenge, Vastis, 37, decided to participate himself. He agrees that the exposure has been beneficial.

“It’s actually become a very attractive way of networking,” he said, explaining that it has introduced him to a new network of financial industry players with similar interests.

But training for the event is no small challenge, Vastis warned. Although he’s played both football and hockey at a semi-professional level, in addition to a number of extreme sports, he considers boxing by far the most physically demanding.

“It was the biggest challenge of my life in terms of physical training,” Vastis said. “There’s nothing like boxing.”

Vastis has been training once or twice a day in recent weeks, juggling this time between boxing, jogging and working out to build strength. Though he broke his nose during the training process a few weeks ago, Vastis wasn’t discouraged.

He considers the benefits of training well worth the demanding nature of the sport.

“You get instant results, and it’s not just physically,” Vastis said. “You get instant results mentally.”

He added that training has been an especially effective outlet in coping with the stressful market environment of recent months.

“It has been helping me a lot in handling the industry we’re in,” Vastis said. “Training puts you in such a euphoria.”

IE