Borough commander helps raise nearly £100,000
Merton police boss Darren Williams survived his charity boxing match against former
world heavyweight boxing champion, American-born "Terrible" Tim
Witherspoon.
Not only did he manage to last the allocated three rounds but the bout was
called a draw by the referee. The borough commander managed to land several good blows
before being pegged back by Witherspoon's body blows.
The two are pictured (right) during a pre-bout photocall in Wimbledon.
Mr Williams said: "I must first give praise to the people who put this
fantastic evening together, and in particular give credit to PC Graham Smith
without who none of this would have been possible.
"To have fought a two time world champion and stood my ground against him
makes all the hours of training worthwhile. I had two great trainers in Adam
Martin and John Murphy who were both in my corner on the night screaming at me
to keep my hands up.
"But what's more important is that an evening when eight former boxing world
champions came to support the event we managed to raise approaching £100,000
for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
"More than 400 spectators spent a considerable amount of money to come and
watch and I thank them for their support and the support of others.
"I would also like to thank the army and especially those from Wellington
Barracks for enabling us to use their facilities."
Items auctioned during the evening included the belt fought for when
Mohammed Ali and Leon Spinks met back in 1978 that fetched £5,000. Other
items include a robe worn by world champion Roberto Duran, who was world
champion in four different weights during the 1970s and 1980s that raised £1,000 and two backstage tickets to see and meet Madness in their forthcoming
sold out tour.
If anyone wishes to make an online donation, go to Darren Williams' Just Giving Page -
http://www.justgiving.com/Darren-Williams4.
October 17, 2012