Daddy Goes Boxing

At 63, I never imagined I’d be stepping into a boxing ring… but here we are.

My name is CHRIS GREENE, I’m a Spanish teacher here in Phuket; a husband to my wonderful wife Kadi Uma, and a very proud dad to Siska, Charlie and James.

Like many parents, I want children to feel safe, supported and hopeful about their future. That’s why I’ve signed up for this charity boxing event in Phuket - to help raise funds for orphaned and vulnerable children who need that support most.

The money will go towards the CFF (Children First Fund) which is a well-established charity based here in Phuket. The idea is to raise enough money to buy a mobile library which will then travel around the seven orphanages in Phuket offering the children the chance to read books which they would normally not have access to.

Training will take place over the next 12 weeks and promises to be tough (and humbling!), but if a few months of sore muscles and nerves can help make a real difference in many children's lives, then it’s more than worth it.

Fight night is May 9th 2026 in front of 400 people at the Angsana Hotel in Phuket.

Every donation, big or small, truly helps. Thank you for supporting the children, and for cheering on a slightly nervous 63-year-old stepping well outside his comfort zone.

Now… wish me luck. I will definitely need it!!! 

First real sparring session in the ring today. It was VERY different from what we have done so far. A REALLY tiring 2 mintues - and we have to do THREE of these on the BIG NIGHT!!

Thank you to the Alpha Health Club for agreeing to rent us the punchball machine. The kids at school loved it and altogther we made about 10,000 Baht. More money to go towards the Children's First Fund!

The final session of WEEK 7 was on the beach. An earlier start for me as the beach is another 15 minutes away from the gym where we normally train. I awoke at 5:15, had a quick shower, a cup of coffee (which I had made the night before and kept in the fridge) and a cereal bar. Then on the bike at 06:00 sharp - it was still pretty dark. The traffic was light and I got to Layan beach at about 6:45.

What a beautiful setting; right by the sea and even though the training was tough (running in the sand is HARD!), I really enjoyed that hour and it went by so quickly. We were being filmed by a professional video company so I will post the video wehn it comes out. That's 21 sessions out of 39 now!! Well over halfway!

My RING NAME has been leaked to the press!!!

Second session of WEEK 6 was quite a tough one. Andrew, our usual trainer, was away and so Jason wanted to show that he is a hard taskmaster - and he succeeded!!

I woke up at 4AM with a massive cramp all the way up and down my hamstring!!
Thanks Jason!!

Tomorrow is the 3rd and final session of WEEK 6 (18 out of 39 - nearly halfway through!)

Fake News!!! They told us we would be doing 12 weeks of traning but I just worked it out that it is actually THIRTEEN!!! Well tonight was the first session of week 6. So that is 16 sessions completed out of 39. Tonight we did quite a bit of shadow boxing plus some sparring. I think we are all trying to work out who we will fight on May 9th.

Week 5 is over. So that is 15 training sessions down and 21 to go!

We have progressed from fitness training to shadow boxing to working with the punchbags and now sparring with each other. What's next??

May I also take this opportunity to thank everyone who has donated to my fund for the charity.

I am just over 40% of the way to raising my target of 100,000 Thai baht.

My latest poster ....

That's 4 FULL weeks of training finished. I am feeling good. We are doing light sparring and lots of bag work. I know I am slow, but I have experience on my side (WHAT experience???).

The camaraderie is good and we all have that goal of raising a shed load of money for charity! 

Next week? More sparring and bag work and our second weigh-in!

Let the (light) sparring begin!!

A big "Thank you" to everyone who has donated money so far!! Almost 20% towards my ultimate target!

Training is tough on the body, but going well. We have now completed 3 out of the 12 weeks and we actually put the gloves on this Saturday and started hitting a punch bag!!!