Milton Nava lit a cigarette and took a drag. Upon the exhale, standing outside of Fair Market on East Fifth Street, he looked up at the sky, still processing the night, with, a small frown forming in the corner of his mouth.
“I’m devastated,” he said with a sigh.
The software engineer from the Dallas-Fort Worth area lost his first boxing match before the bell could toll at the end of the first round. He was expecting to throw a few jabs and an overhand, but was caught off guard by his opponent going south paw — something he didn’t have much experienced with.
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In fact, no one fighting that night inside an east-side repurposed warehouse, had all that much experience. Yet hundreds showed up to “White Collar Fight Night,” a six-fight showcase of amateurs who typically work desk jobs. Each person trained for three months in the leadup to the late-October bouts.
Left: Blood drips down Milton Nava’s face during his match at White Collar Fight Night.
Top: A USA boxing referee watches a match at White Collar Fight Night.
Bottom: Audience members react as they watch a match.
Mikala Compton / Austin American-Statesman
Left: Blood drips down Milton Nava’s face during his match at White Collar Fight Night.
Top: A USA boxing referee watches a match at White Collar Fight Night.
Bottom: Audience members react as they watch a match.
Mikala Compton / Austin American-Statesman
During his fight, Nava’s clean shaven face was splattered with a bright beard of blood. When the doctor working the match couldn’t stop the bleeding, it was called before the 2-minute round ended.
Shaking his head in disappointment, Nava accepted the defeat as his opponent’s arm was raised into the air.
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“I wanted to keep going,” the 26-year-old told the American-Statesman postfight.
Tickets for the events, billed online as both an athletics competition and a networking opportunity, topped $100. The dress code was “cocktail attire,” per a digital flyer. The competitors were “founders, engineers, and sales people from Austin,” the event listing said.
Seth Zanutto, who organized the fight night, said he didn’t turn a profit after accounting for expenses, but he hopes to replicate the effort, possibly next spring.
“All sorts of stuff that amateur boxing doesn’t really provide … we wanted it to be a big production,” Zanutto said.
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Left: White collar fight night founder and boxing coach Seth Zanutto tapes up fighter Milton Nava’s hand as he trains at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Zanutto has coached boxing for at least 10 years, and created the event to encourage more adults to get into boxing.
Right: From left, Nate Johnson, Benjamin Hill, Seth Zanutto and Milton Nava talk after an evening of training at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
Mikala Compton / Austin American-Statesman
Left: White collar fight night founder and boxing coach Seth Zanutto tapes up fighter Milton Nava’s hand as he trains at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Zanutto has coached boxing for at least 10 years, and created the event to encourage more adults to get into boxing.
Right: From left, Nate Johnson, Benjamin Hill, Seth Zanutto and Milton Nava talk after an evening of training at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
Mikala Compton / Austin American-Statesman
How ‘White Collar Fight Night ‘was born
Zanutto, who owns an personal training business, has coached boxing for more than a decade. He worked with some college kids, but had an idea in March 2024 and later told a friend about it over dinner.
“Every adult I’ve ever met is like, ‘Oh, I want to box,’” Zanutto said.
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He understands the challenges — finding a coach, a gym and a training program — for a laymen learning how to box for the first time. He also understood that amateur boxing isn’t as compelling for the general public compared to watching professionals, but he had a counter for that: putting regular guys with white collar jobs into a boxing training camp. They would sell tickets to friends and family for the culminating fight night, complete with introduction videos, a VIP seating and walk-out songs.
He and Benjamin Hill, who works in event planning, created a website, posted flyers and started texting anyone they knew to get participants.
Fifty people were interested in taking the ring. Only 12 got the chance to fight Oct. 24. In total over 500 people, parents and significant others included, attended.
Left: Michael Tromba falls from a technical knockout during his match against William James at White Collar Fight Night.
Right: Lynda Maldonado, mother of fighter Eric Morford, reacts as she watches his fight during White Collar Fight Night.
Mikala Compton / Austin American-Statesman
Left: Michael Tromba falls from a technical knockout during his match against William James at White Collar Fight Night.
Right: Lynda Maldonado, mother of fighter Eric Morford, reacts as she watches his fight during White Collar Fight Night.
Mikala Compton / Austin American-Statesman
“I actually box at (Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym) and then I got into a huge yoga phase,” said William James, another boxer. “Then one of the people I followed posted this and I was like, ‘This will 100% get me back into boxing,’”
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James, a Philadelphia native, played baseball, basketball and football growing up. But the training for his bout was unlike anything he experienced.
One extra motivator kept him going on days the 30-year-old didn’t feel like working out.
“If you don’t train, you’re gonna actually get your ass kicked,” he said before his win.
William James is declared the winner of his fight against Michael Tromba as founders Seth Zanutto, left, and Benjamin Hill, right, look on at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Shawn Rapal dodges a punch from Abraham Obubo during their match at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Attendees cheer on loved ones at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Abraham Obubo receives instructions from boxing coaches Richard Lord and Nate Johnson between rounds during his match at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Truett Brinkman receives a kiss from his girlfriend, Isabella Flores, after he won his match at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Andy Allen is named champion of his match at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Andrew Eckhoff is cheered on by loved ones as he enters the ring at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Abraham Obubo takes a blow to the face during his match at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
White collar fight night founder and boxing coach Seth Zanutto hypes up the crowd before the heavyweight championship match at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Know the fighters
The competitors, according to the flyer, ranged from working at Fortune 500 companies to local startups, of which Austin has many. Not only was the work experience diverse, but so was the athletic experience.
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James was accustomed to team sports. Fighters Andrew Eckhoff and Jesse Paterson previously trained in jujutsu and muay Thai, respectively. Jujutsu is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that uses throws, joint locks, kicks and strikes to subdue opponents. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand, according to the World Thai Boxing Association, and features kicks, elbows, knees and other fighting techniques.
“In muay Thai, you are preparing for kicks, right? So you are going to raise your shins to block the kicks,” Paterson explained. “You don’t have to worry about that in boxing. You just have to minimize the surface area of the other person.”
Boxing coach Nate Johnson instructs fighters as they shadow box while training for white collar fight night at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Michael Tromba, founder of tech start up UXCanvas.ai, hits the punching bag as he trains for white collar fight night at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Twelve business professionals trained for 12 weeks to fight in actual matches.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Abraham Obubo and Andy Allen rest after hitting punching bags while training for white collar fight night at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. Obubo is a software developer and Allen is a co-founder of RePackify, a company that buys and sells used packaging supplies.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Encouraging messaging for athletes is seen at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Milton Nava and fellow fighters shadow box as they train for white collar fight night at Richard Lord’s Boxing Gym in Austin, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Paterson’s day job is related to crypto and this was the 29-year-old’s first real fight. The impact of what he was doing for the 12 weeks of training hit him during his first heavy sparring session. He was struck with a left hook “pretty dang hard” and had a headache for about a day afterward.
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“I was like ‘Damn, what did I just get myself into?’” he said.
But he had a little extra inspiration to continue.
“My grandfather grew up in an orphanage and he didn’t have a ton of money, so boxing was one of the ways that he made money when he was growing up,” said Paterson, who lost his bout.
Eckhoff, a sales manager from the Boston, heard about the event from a friend of a friend. He didn’t have any previous boxing experience.
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“I just wanted to get better technical skills and stuff,” he said. “Get faster, just learning the skills and (there was) exponential improvement for me and everybody just with the training.”
The 34-year-old fought 27-year-old Truett Brinkman.
Brinkman said he boxed for about a month nearly four years ago but lost interest. Learning about White Collar Fight Night the event and the challenge it posed enticed him.
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“How you do is dependent on you, so it’s that high pressure,” he said.
Before the fight, Brinkman said he experienced some butterflies, but didn’t really feel nervous. His poise showed in the ring.
It looked as though both boxers were evenly matched, but after a few hits from Brinkman, Eckhoff hit the canvas. Brinkman won by technical knockout.
He didn’t want to go out brawling, so Brinkman — who works in the restaurant industry — focused on his combos and “put on a good show.”
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“All the training I got to see it through. It was kind of self-evidence thing for me,” he said. “That’s kind of why I did it in the first place … to prove myself.”
Abraham Obubo cheers as he is declared the heavyweight champion at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
To fight again or not?
As the night went on and people filed into their VIP chairs around the ring or found a good place to stand and watch the fights, Fair Market got progressively hotter. What could double as a wedding venue, was suddenly an athletic arena.
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Six matches including competitors of varying skill took place, with more experienced fighters performing later.
One of those main event fighters was Abraham Obubo. He was inactive from boxing for over a year, but decided follow his passion and fight.
“I would probably do this again next year,” said Obubo, who won by decision.
For others who spoke to the American-Statesman, the decision to fight again isn’t quite as clear.
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Said Brinkman after his win: “I think I might find a new challenge. I think I feel pretty good about this and what I did here.”
Chase Bradley, left, throws a punch at Milton Nava during their match at White Collar Fight Night at Fair Market in Austin, Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Bouncing his way into the ring, Nava looked ready, as did his opponent Chase Bradley. But Bradley, an Austin native who said he’d fought at least once before, overpowered Nava into a TKO.
Still, it was a positive experience.
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“One-hundred percent I would do it again,” Nava said, cigarette in hand, now cleaned up from his match. “Maybe not ‘White Collar Fight Night,’ but I am going to fight again.”