East Islip's Brendan "The Showstopper" Sweeney Puts on Gloves for Record Breaking Fight for Charity Event

Long Island Fight for Charity, one of Long Island’s most anticipated charity events, hosted its 12th Main Event on November 23 at the Hilton Long Island in Melville. Months of training came to an end when 26 business professionals turned volunteer boxers put their gloves on and stepped into the ring. In the ninth bout of the evening, Brendan “The Showstopper” Sweeney of East Islip Major Accounts & Wide Format Specialist at Doctor Print in Hauppauge entered the ring to face his opponent, Paul “The Better Chip” Bartoszewski of East Northport and Senior Operations Analyst at Sugar Foods Corporation in New York. Both boxers landed solid hits on each other in the three one-minute rounds, impressing all the judges.

“The past few months have been some of the most grueling I have ever experience. It was all worth it when I stepped into that ring in front of all the fans knowing all my efforts had paid off for the benefit of my fellow long islanders,” said Sweeney.

Over 1,200 attendees packed the ballroom at the Long Island Hilton and were treated to food and beverage donated by over 35 local restaurants and wine and spirits companies. Over several months the boxers raised hundreds of thousands of dollars accomplishing their goals by hosting individual and team fund raisers across Long Island. Sweeney and the other boxers trained for months at least twice a week to start, ramping up to almost every day in the final weeks leading up to the Main Event. In the process of training for their bouts, the boxers improved their physical stamina and, in total, lost hundreds of pounds. There is no other charity event like this anywhere else in the country where local business professionals raise money for charity and step into the boxing ring in front of a large crowd of friends and supporters.

“The long hours in the gym, the fundraising efforts by all the volunteer boxers has been truly inspiring to me, we all work together to give back to the long island community that has given us so much,” said Bartoszewski.

Proceeds from LI Fight for Charity will be donated to The Long Island Community Chest, The Genesis School and the National Foundation for Human Potential. When the final tally is complete the Long Island Fight for Charity will be over its $1 million goal.

To see great photos go to https://flic.kr/s/aHskq7Zhcd

Local businesses and professional firms sponsoring this year’s 12th Main Event include: Barnes Iaccarino & Shepherd LLP; Alure Home Improvements; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Fat Guy Media; Farrell Fritz; Saxena White P.A.; Local 1298; AmWins Brokerage of NJ; Crystal & Company; RedTree Radiology; Local 60; Local342, UMD, ILA; Carter, Deluca, Farrell & Schmidt LLP; Excavators Union Local 731; St. Hugh-St. Elizabeth Baseball League, Inc.; Local 223; Jonis Realty; UPS Foundation Inc.; Francesco’s Bakery and L. Graziose Plumbing & Heating.

For more information about this event and to volunteer as a boxer for the 13th Long Island Fight for Charity taking place on November 20, 2016 visit www.lifightforcharity.org

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Photo Caption:
Pictured is Paul “The Better Chip” Bartoszewski (left) facing off Brendan “The Showstopper” Sweeney of East Islip Major Accounts & Wide Format Specialist at Doctor Print in Hauppauge (right).