Seeing Mike Martinez smile and how well he treats his employees and customers at Best Option Restoration, it’s hard to believe he enjoys punching people. Yet that’s what Mike did when he boxed at last year’s Haymakers for Hope charity fundraising event.
To prepare for the fight, Mike lost 18 pounds, mastered time management, and ultimately won a fight on his boxing journey. “The most fun part was getting to know the other fighters,” he says. The true winner that night was Epic Experience Beyond Cancer, the beneficiary of Mike’s fundraising efforts. He lost a close friend to cancer, and he felt compelled to help cancer survivors.
His fiancée was supportive but worried because their wedding date was just two months after the bout. “I chose to box because it made my donation more impactful, as though I was a part of it.”
That is vintage Mike—making his presence felt. Just ask his opponent that night.
Although he grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Jeff Hogan, a chiropractor at Hogan Health and Chiropractic, has lived in Colorado since 2014. An avid hockey player and admitted fitness junkie, Jeff yearned to escape his comfort zone. Introduced to Haymakers for Hope charity by a friend, Jeff decided that boxing for cancer research would do just that. He signed up for the June 13th Rumble in the Rockies IV boxing event.
The time commitment to train and fundraise is extensive. But Jeff remembers the physical and mental battles his older brother fought between 2016, when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), and his eventual remission in 2019. “He never complained, never had a negative word to say, never stopped fighting and he beat ALL.”
The money generated in the ring will go to Windsor Tough, a charity founded by his brother that raises awareness of the bone marrow donor registry. Quiet by nature, Jeff admits, “I am also excited to get in front of a few thousand people and fight someone.”