Despite being best of friends, former Arsenal and England striker Wright and professional golfer Healy were encouraged by other pals to sort out their differences in the ring following their constant bickering on the golf course.
Any money raised, which looks like being between £10-15,000 once all pledges are in, would go to DEBRA, a charity which supports people affected by a painful skin blistering condition.
The task of getting a former footballer and a golfer up to scratch for getting into the ring fell to John Holland, an ex boxer who runs the Westside Gym behind the North Star pub in Whitton Road, Hounslow.
He said: “Through a mutual friend, I was asked to get Ian and Tony in shape for their fight, and I've been training them since the beginning of January, but we obviously have had to fit it around Ian's television commitments. They had never boxed before, so we were starting from scratch. They did really well in training and did everything I asked. We had them sparring with some of our talented young boxers – Shane Westlake, Reece Newcombe and Joe Acary.
“Ian had natural stamina from his footballing days, but we had him down as more of an aggressive boxer as he was carrying long term knee and ankle injuries, whereas Tony was more mobile.
“We decided to hold the bout at the Thistle Hotel in Heathrow, where we hold a lot of our shows, and we had around 300 people there, including former footballers John Salako, Paul Merson and Peter Reid. We also had former boxers Barry Jones and Colin McMillan as referee and judge.
“It was a good fight in the end. Ian was warned about going in on the head and Tony was warned about some low blows, but it was all in good fun. One judge gave it to Ian 29-28, another gave it to Tony 29-28 and the third gave it as a 29-29 draw, so it was honours even. Neither camp was happy with the decision and they are already talking about a re-match!”
