Dad With One Hand Accidentally Signs Up For Charity Boxing Match

Ben decided to go forward with it after realizing his error – and soon found himself training for the big day, learning 'the basics.'

Because the father was born with only one hand, he opted to participate by duct-taping a boxing glove to his arm.

Ben, an amateur rugby player, has never done anything like this before but claimed it was something he'd always wanted to accomplish - and planned to do it in front of his young son, Evan.

(Picture: UWCB/Solent News)

The event, which was organized to raise money for Cancer Research, provided free training to anyone who participated, and Ben got right to work, preparing to fight in front of hundreds of people in just eight weeks.

Ben has expressed his gratitude for the way he was treated by the organization and the trainers, who did not discriminate against him because of his disability.

(Picture: UWCB/Solent News)

‘One trainer, in particular, helped me a lot, Andrew Fry, whose nickname is Cockles – he does quite a bit of boxing,’ Ben said.  

‘All of my sparring sessions were against him and he’s light on his feet which does test you quite a lot. He had no intention of making any training session easy even though I was born with one hand.’

‘There were no concessions for me – they treated me the same as everyone else.’

(Picture: UWCB/Solent News)

Ben claimed that the trainers pushed him hard and that they had never previously trained anyone with a disability.

‘With boxing, you would assume it’s a two-handed sport but I have managed to do it a different way,’ he said.

‘For the first four or five weeks, I was keeping the boxing glove on with duct tape but it started irritating my skin so then I wore a sleeve going over the top of my arm,’ he continued.

(Picture: UWCB/Solent News)

The dad said that, initially, he had mixed reactions from his family. ‘But once they knew I was going through the training and could see how much I was enjoying it, they started to get excited,’ he said.  

‘I learned the basics of boxing, stance, fitness, and a lot of aerobic exercises – just anything that can get you out of breath. I never left rugby training more tired physically and mentally than boxing training. It is challenging but rewarding, definitely.’

Ben competed in the fight after weeks of preparation, making his entire family proud, including his three-year-old son Evan.

Because of the vest, he wore to fight, he was nicknamed 'Benjamin - Bionic Ben Lewis.'

He had to give up in the end because his glove kept sliding off.

‘It was three two-minute rounds and I made it to the third round but the silicon kept slipping off because of the sweat,’ he explained.  

‘The referee asked if I was OK to continue but I couldn’t keep the glove on so the other guy won.’

‘He was a good fighter anyway.’

Ben has stated that while not going there to lose, he is 'proud' of himself for participating. A requirement of participating in the charity match is that you raise at least £50 for Cancer Research. The promoters, Ultra Events, have raised £23 million so far.

‘I lost three grandparents to cancer but they all died before I was born or when I was very young,’ he said. ‘I did it for everyone who at some point has been affected by cancer – anyone and everyone really who needs the help.’

Ben was so taken with the experience that he has chosen to continue boxing in the future.

On April 2, 2022, the next Ultra White Collar Boxing event will be held in Swansea.