Zuzana Kucerova reports on her progress ahead of her fight at Vanda Promotion’s IFS White Collar Boxing event in Singapore on 17 September.

I joined Vanda gym in November last year with the intention of taking up some personal training sessions in boxing in order to boost my fitness and do something “different”. Doing UFIT (an outdoor bootcamp-style exercise) twice a week, running and playing tennis at weekends didn’t seem to exhaust me enough.

My personal training coincided with the white collar boxers preparing for their April 2010 fights, so I got to see all their hard workouts, discipline and dedication.

My coach Michelle had approached me a few times asking if I’d like to become a white collar boxer myself, but I didn’t consider it until I saw the event in April. The combination of the adrenaline and atmosphere on the night pulled the trigger in me and the next thing I knew, I was signed up.

I don’t know about the guys, but I must admit that as a girl I have been going through a lot of emotions over the past three months.

Don’t get me wrong, training has been great. I have trained pretty much every day – combining boxing group training, personal training, UFIT and jogging – and I have never felt fitter in my life. I have completely stopped smoking and have never been so disciplined about drinking, which, I think, are great achievements. I love the overall challenge.

The slightly “emotional” part of this whole process is my sparring experience. OMG! The first sparring session was a bit of a shock to me. Hitting a bag or doing pad work is one thing, but putting on headgear and a mouth guard, and standing in the ring facing a live person is a completely different story.

My first two sparring sessions felt quite weird. My nose got a couple of unpleasant straight punches and might need some “reshaping” after the event, but I guess it’s all worth it. Now, three weeks before the fight, even standing in the ring feels natural and it’s become a part of my daily routine.

So I guess keeping up the fitness and enjoying the training is all that matters for the next three weeks.