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By Alicia Doyle
Law enforcement officers and firefighters from Ventura County are training for Battle of the Badges III, a charity boxing event Saturday to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme, which serve more than 7,000 youths a year.
“What makes the Battle of the Badges unique is that it feeds on the good-natured rivalry between cops and firefighters by pitting them against each other in the boxing ring,” said Rick Shimmel, executive director of the Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association and a licensed amateur boxing promoter.
The bouts will be sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission as amateur fights. Boxers will come from the county fire and sheriff’s departments, and Oxnard and Port Hueneme police departments.
Seven or eight of the 10 bouts on the card will be male and two or three will be female, subject to change, Shimmel said.
The fights will be at Oceanview Pavilion in Port Hueneme.
The Battle of the Badges was the brainchild of firefighter Jason Hodge, now a Democratic candidate for the 19th Senate District, and Linda LeBrock, the former development director for the Boys & Girls Club, Shimmel said.
Event organizers hope to raise at least $18,000 to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard & Port Hueneme.