WEYMOUTH -- When Jacqui Berardi was growing up, she watched the biggest boxers, including Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, fight on the grandest of stages.
Next Thursday, the Weymouth resident will have an even better view – from inside the ring.
Berardi, 34, will be fighting in an all-female charity boxing event, Belles of the Brawl V, at the House of Blues in Boston. Presenting the event is the Haymakers for Hope nonprofit organization.
The card includes 32 women who will be stepping into the ring for the first time to raise money for cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and elsewhere, and for survivorship initiatives.
“It’s (in front of) 2,000 people, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous,” Berardi said. “I’ve been trying to envision myself in the ring. I think it’s going to be, at the end of it, probably one of the best nights of my life, because it’s such a big event and for such a great cause.”
Berardi owns two restaurants, Jac’s Café and Players Sports Bar & Grille in Rockland. She is a single mother with a 3-year-old daughter.
The idea of fighting in the event was sparked when Berardi attended a Haymakers for Hope event in 2012. She has been working out at the Nonantum Boxing Club in Newton for the past six or seven years, but she began seriously training for a fight six months ago.
Next Thursday, she’ll step into the ring with Mary Kate Champagne for three three-minute rounds.
“I’ve been into weightlifting and sports my whole life. I would do the (boxing) conditioning classes, and I loved the conditioning classes, so I’ve always wanted to train for a fight,” Berardi said. “This was a great opportunity, because I got to raise money for cancer.”
Berardi has lost two cousins and a grandmother to cancer. When she was only 5, her cousin Jamie, not quite 7, died from brain cancer.
“We were always together – best friends,” Berardi said. “Going through life, graduating high school, your prom, going to college – I traveled Europe – all of these things it was always like, ‘Why isn’t she here with me?”
When Berardi was a teenager, her cousin Tracy Colwell died from cancer at 29.
“This is a personal matter to me, which is why I decided to stream 100 percent of my donations to Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana-Farber,” Berardi said.
As of Wednesday, Berardi had raised more than $42,000. Of all the other fighters on the boxing card, the one who has come closest to matching Berardi’s fundraising is nearly $10,000 behind.
“It’s definitely been fun the whole time,” Berardi said. “I’m so competitive, so some days you leave there and you feel like you’re on top of the world and some days you leave the gym and you feel like ‘Why am I even doing this? I feel like I’m terrible.’ It’s more motivation to get back in there the next day.”
To donate to Berardi, visit haymakersforhope.org/profiles/jacqui-berardi.
General admission tickets to Belles of the Brawl V cost $85 (standing room only). VIP packages are available for $150. Sponsorship packages begin at $2,500.
For more information or to buy tickets, visit haymakersforhope.org.
http://www.patriotledger.com/news/20170927/haymaker-against-cancer-weymouth-woman-taking-part-in-boxing-fundraiser
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