Twenty eight volunteers are undergoing intensive training to see who will get to fight at the Hedge Fund Fight Nite in Hong Kong.

Twenty eight volunteers are undergoing intensive training to see who will get to fight at the Hedge Fund Fight Nite in Hong Kong.

Forty four financiers put their name forward to train for the charity event that sees hedgies battle it out against bankers at a black tie boxing event in October 2009.

Only 28 volunteers have made the first cut and will now undergo the intensive training. Over the course of five months, fitness tests will whittle down who will fight on the night. Only 12 will survive and get in the ring to an audience of 800 peers.

For the third year, potential boxers will be trained at JAB Mixed Martial Arts Studio under the instruction of Andrew Wong Kee and Australian Commonwealth Champion, Matthew Corbett.

Rob Derry, managing director of Ironmonger Events, which owns and organises Hedge Fund Fight Nite, says: 'We have been amazed with the amount of people who have volunteered; it's good to see a lot of the main banks have put people forward.

'Despite the global economic crisis, last year was a sell out success. Judging from the level of interest already and the record number of people putting their name forward we expect a lot of interest in this year's event. It is heartening to see so many that are prepared to step in the ring for charity. Our aim is to make Hedge Fund Fight Nite an institution on the corporate social calendar, now in its third year we have already begun to see a strong following for the event.'

Currently in training are volunteers from Citigroup, Calypso, MDS, Verizon Business, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Chaterhouse, HKJC Sovereign Trust, Nomura, 3a Asia, ICAP, Vision Investment Management, Macquarie, Property Investment, Credit Suisse, Henley Group, Henderson Global Investors, JP Morgan, Zurich International, Jardines and State Street Global Advisors.