My Suzhou is a That's series when we ask a Suzhou-based somebody to tell us about their life.
A former member of the Croatian national boxing team, Goran Martinovic moved to Suzhou in 2015 to help his brother Marko set up the Suzhou Showdown white collar boxing events, and last year he opened Blacktie Boxing Academy. With training for the next Showdown starting this month, we caught up with him to find out what it is all about.
What is your background?
I was born in a sports family. My dad won the European handball championships in 1972. He started training me and my older brother Marko boxing when I was just 3 years old. I joined the Croatian national boxing team when i was 17, and I also trained in the national wrestling team. I’ve fought more than 300 fights all over the world, and taken part in more than 30 wrestling competition.
How did Suzhou Showdown come about?
Marko was coaching a group of people in a gym here. After a while, a friend of his who had fought in a white collar event before gave him the idea to organize something similar in Suzhou. He told me about it, and I came out to China to join him and help get the project going.
How many have you done so far?
This will be our fourth event in May. And this year we will put on events in other cities too. Nanjing Showdown will be the first to have event beside Suzhou, so there are exciting times ahead of us.
What can people expect on a fight night?
Really good fun and exciting fights in a five-star hotel with a fantastic lake view. We have also had more participants from China at our most recent events, and we are happy to see local citizens getting involved in this interesting sport.
Is Suzhou Showdown your full time thing, or do you have another job?
Before 2017, yes. I moved to Suzhou to prepare guys for white collar boxing events. But in 2017 I opened my own boxing gym, Blacktie Boxing Academy. I have a whole team of coaches now.
We do more than train people for the events too; we also have specially designed training programs for people who just want to use boxing as a way to keep fit - women, kids, everyone. I want to build Blacktie Boxing Academy into a chain.
Do you need boxing experience to sign up for Suzhou Showdown?
No, you just have to be prepared to train hard. You don’t even know how to put on a pair boxing gloves, we will teach you everything, starting from basics.
Training for the Suzhou Showdown starts March 5, with the event scheduled for late May. Email info@blackti
See a listing for Blacktie Boxing Academy here.
Read more My Suzhou.
0 User Comments