Battle of the Badges

Emergency responders are used to playing on the same team for the sake of helping others.

Next month, they’ll don boxing gloves and step into the ring as opponents, though the goal of helping others remains the same.

Chattanooga firefighters, police officers and Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies all will compete against each other in the city’s first Battle of the Badges on Dec. 5.

“It does lend to a good competitive spirit,” said G.A. Bennett, director of support services for the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re all public servants and we all have the same goals in mind, and that’s to protect our citizens.”

Proceeds from the event benefit the Forgotten Child Fund, run by local emergency response personnel to give toys to area children who may not receive them, and the YMCA’s YCAP, a delinquency prevention program.

Boxers began training in September, hoping to shed notions that law enforcement officials were out of shape and lazy. They’ll be matched against competitors of similar weights, heights, physical ability and experience, Mr. Bennett said.

Coaches, judges, cornermen and referees will be near the ring to ensure boxers don’t get hurt.

Lt. Shawn Reese with the Chattanooga Fire Department is a USA amateur boxing referee and never has boxed competitively, but he will participate in the Battle of the Badges. He hopes spectators will see seven to 10 bouts, he said.

He also knows a lot of police officers and some firefighters who’ve been working out at the Westside Boxing Club, getting ready for the bouts.

“It’s hard not to be competitive any time you put us together,” Lt. Reese said. “But it’s friendly. We’re not going to hurt each other.”

That doesn’t mean competitors won’t be boxing for pride.

“Firefighters just like to say that the cops are wimps, that (firefighters are) tougher and meaner and leaner,” Mr. Bennett said. “And the cops say that the firefighters, all they do is sit around all day and wait for fires.”

The event has been well received in other cities, such as Sacramento and Kansas City, and officials hope to make it an annual one for law enforcement personnel in Hamilton County and surrounding counties.

Winners have the option of advancing to a national competition in September 2010. Proceeds of that event will go to surviving spouses and families of law enforcement victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, said Joe Smith, creator of the Westside Boxing Club.

“It’s creating a lot of excitement between those (local) departments,” Mr. Smith said. “I believe we’ll have a good crowd.”