Saturday 4th May saw The Palace Hotel host Formal Fight Club´s fourth White Collar Boxing event for amateur boxers keen to show their worth as one of 'The Untouchables'.

As usual, the night was in aid of FFC's partner charity, Forever Manchester with a raffle to help the wonderful cause. Amongst the strictly formally dressed guests were Coronation Street's Ryan Thomas and The Only Way Is Essex's James 'Arg' Argent. 
 

All were greeted with a champagne reception and served with a marvellous three course meal consisting of ham hock terrine to start, breast of chicken with seasonal potatoes and vegetables for main, a mascaprone and amaretto cheesecake for dessert, and divine petit fours to finish. 
 

The evening saw eight amateur pairs spar before the well-dressed crowd in The cavernous Grand Room. Victors Emma Wilkinson, editor of VIVA magazine, Neil 'Chips' Kelly, Andy 'Startin' Martin, Jonathon 'Johnny The Gun' Ward, Chris 'The Ginger Ninja' Greenhalgh of I Love Manchester dot com, and Boohoo's Umar Kamani were interspersed by two tense fights that were unanimously decided to be draws. 
 

Emma set the tone for the night by powering through her fight on the training of Bob Shannon - who is currently working with Denton Vassell - in her custom made Suzi Wong boxing ensemble, sponsored by Chris and Anthony Donnelly's new clothing brand 'Your Own'. 
 

The event was certainly not short of the adrenaline-filled drama you would expect from the sport despite two of eight pairs drawing for victory. Andy 'Startin' Martin won his fight with a first round stop that saw his opponent, Jon Atherton floor-bound with a blooded face and a call for the paramedics. Similarly, Chris Greenhalgh, clad in a conspicuous 'I heart Manchester' t-shirt, managed the only knock out of the night in his first round.

Boohoo.com and Rosso Restaurant's Umar Kamani, star of the headline fight, was greeted by a roaring crowd that stood as one to watch as he powered to victory and was consequently buried in a joyous pile on celebration.