When the 10th annual Chattanooga Guns and Hoses – aka the Battle of the Badges – begins at 7:30 Friday night at the Chattanooga Convention Center, fireman Keith Liles will be making his 10th appearance in the heavyweight division.
“I fight 175-180 (pounds),” said the captain of Brainerd’s Squad 13. “It’s heavyweight, but on the light end. Some of my matches have panned out better than others.”
Last year was one of those that didn’t go so well. Matched against Blake Kilpatrick of the Sheriff’s Department, Liles said, “He keeps hitting you harder than you hit him.”
Yet what this event hits hardest is poverty and despair in this city. The proceeds go to the Forgotten Child Fund and YCAP, a YMCA entity that attempts to save many of Chattanooga’s disadvantaged youth through the sport of boxing.
“We raised $50,000 last year,” YCAP director Andy Smith said Tuesday. “That money was evenly split between the two programs. We had almost 3,000 people there. The mayor will be there. A lot of civic leaders. It’s really become a social event.”