Tom “The Tank Engine” Tremewan lives up to his name. An aura of childlike mischievousness cascading through a tight, streamlined body of pure mechanical engineering. Much like his fictional counterpart, his tank wasn’t built overnight, but rather through a labour of love for last year’s OUSA Charity Fight Night. Tom not only won his fight, but also raised $2,700 for his chosen charity Rape Crisis NZ. The overall event last year raised $26,000 for various charities.
At first glance, OUSA Charity Fight Night is just another OUSA BBQ; there’s sausage but no substance. But Charity Fight Night is one of the true exceptions to the rule. Tom and his other contestants underwent 12 weeks of boot camp in the lead up to the fight, training for two hours a day, six days a week. He described the time fondly, saying that he and his fellow fighters “became like a little family in the gym”. Nice.
I forgot to ask Tom if he was single, but I did uncover a sweet nugget of information with the boxer revealing that he felt “really, really good” about winning. Serotonin who? In all seriousness though, Tom described his win as “one of those moments you get to have some guilt-free pride about yourself. You’ve done a huge physical and mental challenge and you’ve raised money for charity.” He chose Rape Crisis as his charity after concerns of underfunding, and notes that “victims of sexual violence and abuse are particularly prevalent on university campuses. More needs to be done.”
Life after the fight has only seen The Tank Engine go from strength to strength. “I stayed with the programme I’d been boxing with since that fight; I entered into another charity fight, I won that, and then the coaches encouraged me to start boxing as an amateur boxer, so I registered as an amateur boxer and had some more fights, and just kept going.” It all sounded very impressive, but bare in mind that Tom works for Radio One so honestly, his life isn’t all roses. Take a moment of silence, if you will.
Tom isn’t boxing this year, probably to give his opponents a fighting chance, but rest assured, he will be in the crowd. “No cheeky bets, but there are a few fighters that look really good. Some people might surprise you in the ring.” While The Tank Engine may be choo-choosing to sit this fight out, bigger fights will no doubt be awaiting our young champion. Perhaps the biggest charitable notion of the night is OUSA’s gift of a newfound hobby and possible career to a young, adrift radio presenter.
This year’s Fight Night is gearing up to be the biggest yet, and Tom encourages everyone to go along and support the troops. Charitable giving can be hard work, especially if you’re a committed practitioner of oral sex. I still have on my fridge a photo of my parents’ World Vision child from 2007 as a reminder of what an incredible and loving person I am. OUSA takes the hard work out of the whole thing and, dare I say it, puts the fun in fundraising. They put the Cha, from the Cha Cha slide, in Charity.
The 2019 OUSA Charity Fight Night is on July 12. Tickets on sale now.