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By Elliot Worsell
AS a chipper, ponytailed Asian girl in a blue headguard shimmied down the runway, half a dozen sozzled however neatly dressed blokes sitting at a desk waited for the drop in her ring entrance tune – ‘Don’t Wanna Know’ by Di & Shy FX & T Energy Feat. Skibadee – and used it, this cue, to move themselves to the nightclub, bouncing first with one another after which along with her.
That they had no concept who she was. They have been ready to see another person. However nonetheless these males jumped round and fist-bumped shiny new boxing gloves; nonetheless they, and 1,600 others, made this woman with the favored walkout tune, this woman extra Pokémon than pugilist, really feel particular on the evening she performed dress-up and boxed for the very first time.
“Is that this the primary time there was a function on white-collar boxing in Boxing Information?” requested Jon Leonard, the founding father of Extremely White Collar Boxing (UWCB), an hour into his firm’s newest Saturday evening present at Stepney’s Troxy. Knowledgeable that was certainly the case, he then questioned, “Why now?”
Two weeks earlier I listened to a different white-collar boxing exponent ask an analogous two-parter. In contrast to Derby-based Leonard, nevertheless, this promoter handled my introductory name with a far larger diploma of scepticism. “We all know the professional boxing lot don’t prefer it,” he mentioned. “They by no means will.”
Regardless, he agreed to be interviewed later that day and would, he promised, put all considerations about high quality and security, the presumed purpose for the decision, to mattress. However, in fact, when “later” arrived, he was once more busy. Double busy. Busier nonetheless the following day. Lastly, by the tip of the week, calls have been ignored altogether, and he resorted to hitting the block button.
As an introduction to the world of white-collar boxing, it was hardly encouraging. Proper or improper, it steered there was concern amongst these getting cash from ill-equipped novices getting within the ring and that if folks began trying too deeply into it – into its practices and motives – there is likely to be trigger for concern. He wasn’t simply troublesome or evasive, this promoter. He didn’t merely no-comment his method out of a difficult interrogation. No, he ducked and dived. He finally fled. From the outset, he gave the factor a foul title.
Suffice to say, then, the welcome prolonged to BN on the aforementioned Extremely White Collar Boxing present on December 15 was each refreshing and far wanted. Heat and honest, it indicated the savvier Leonard and his firm seen the sudden curiosity of their product not as a trigger for concern however as a substitute, and rightly, a watershed second for the white-collar boxing motion and an indication they have been doing one thing proper.
If Leonard was the headmaster, and Extremely White Collar Boxing was his faculty, BN represented Ofsted. We went in with eyes extensive open, we hoped to be impressed, and we too wished to know the reply to Leonard’s query: “Why now?”
Likelihood is, a bit like a marathon, everyone knows somebody who has both had a white-collar boxing match, contemplated doing one, or revealed it’s one thing they intend to finally examine off their bucket record. For these unaware, or these mulling it over, the method will usually go slightly one thing like this: a participant indicators as much as an eight-week coaching camp overseen by skilled coaches, and through these two months they get match, discover ways to field, and lift cash for charity. This then culminates in a single boxing match, fought over three two-minute rounds, in opposition to one other member of their gymnasium with whom they’re evenly matched. Up to now, so easy.
“From a participant’s standpoint, there’s no value in any respect,” Leonard defined. “They join, the coaching is free, we get their vests printed for them, and we pay for the trophies and insurance coverage. We anticipate them to promote some tickets, which pays for every part and is how we generate income, and we anticipate everybody to boost cash for Most cancers Analysis UK.”
UWCB, like every enterprise, will lose cash on some occasions, however the total mannequin appears an efficient one – they “destroy” the take-home cash of most lower-level professional boxing promoters, I’m instructed by a lower-level professional boxing promoter – and participation ranges are going up and up, seemingly in correlation with the rising recognition of the professional sport. Saturday’s present on the Troxy, for instance, was simply one among 20 UWCB have been internet hosting that evening alone. “From Inverness to Southampton,” Leonard mentioned, earlier than explaining that since 2009, the yr UWCB ran its first occasion at Syn nightclub in Derby, they’ve seen over 50,000 folks participate.
For some, a white-collar boxing expertise may have altered their opinion of a sport they’d in any other case have prevented had it not been packaged as accessible – one thing for everybody – by an organization like UWCB. What’s extra, most of the contributors who as soon as had zero curiosity in boxing will now, because of their white-collar second, signify a portion of the so-called ‘informal followers’ who purchase tickets to skilled exhibits and buy pay-per-view occasions on tv.
“We get individuals who stroll right into a boxing membership for the primary time and assume they’re going to get attacked,” mentioned Leonard. “However they stroll in and the trainers are like, ‘All proper, how are you doing?’ Everybody’s good and welcoming and useful. The advantage of that is it’s exposing the general public to that. I believe we’ve let Joe Public see what boxing’s all about.
“Lots of contributors add me on Fb and I see, inside three months, their timelines go from that includes nothing about boxing to seeing footage of them flying to Germany to look at Wladimir Klitschko. They’re instantly shopping for tickets and pay-per-views.”
Better of all, since they began elevating cash for Most cancers Analysis UK in 2013, the boxing department of Leonard’s firm, which hosts 400 exhibits a yr, has generated £14 million, whereas Extremely Occasions, as an entire, have hit £16.2 million. “Every little thing about it’s optimistic,” Leonard will repeat, proudly, loudly, and it’s onerous to argue. The ambiance is optimistic, the angle of the one-night-only combatants is optimistic, and the explanations for its existence usually are not solely optimistic however admirable.
Nonetheless, simply because the perks of professional boxing could be undone by an remoted incident which serves to spotlight its inherent risks, so the great work of its white-collar counterpart could be undermined by sporadic moments of darkness. In 2017, for instance, Ben Sandiford, a 20-year-old engineer, was reported to have been left combating for his life after he suffered a bleed on the mind and two coronary heart assaults following a white-collar bout in Crewe. Rushed to hospital, he had a seizure, two cardiac arrests and ended up on a ventilator in a vital care unit. He was saved in for 17 days and his household known as for white-collar boxing to be banned.
Months later, in August, Adam Smith, a 34-year-old boxing novice from Eastleigh, found the requisite eight weeks of coaching wasn’t sufficient to cease him shedding on factors to an opponent who later instructed him, in accordance with the Every day Mirror, he had been doing combined martial arts coaching for seven or eight years.
However, worse than that, some 19 days after the bout, Smith, complaining of complications, collapsed at dwelling with a stroke, and suffered a second one the next day. Upon being taken to hospital, docs discovered a ruptured artery in Smith’s neck – deemed a boxing damage – and he underwent an emergency operation to save lots of his life. He solely wished to get match and do one thing charitable however was left quickly paralysed and with out imaginative and prescient on his proper aspect.
Extremely White Collar Boxing, the leaders of their discipline, refused to just accept the accusation Smith was overmatched, and pressured the 2 boxers had been put collectively following eight weeks of coaching and evaluation. A spokesperson mentioned: “This bout was pretty matched inside UWCB’s matching pointers. They have been each of comparable means and health and each weighed 100 kilograms. Throughout our investigation, now we have confirmed it was a good bout.
“All contributors obtain a pre-bout briefing from the medics throughout which they’re given recommendation on head accidents. Along with this, contributors are given verbal recommendation on accidents in addition to being handed a head damage card following their bout.
“After the bout, each opponents posted on Fb stating that they loved their expertise and thanked UWCB for the expertise.”
As for Sandiford, he was apparently “alert and pondering clearly” throughout an evaluation by medics and struggling “no indicators of neurological deficit, so his situation was not classed as an emergency”. Leonard mentioned the household wished to make their very own method to hospital as he was standing exterior “getting some recent air” and said: “He had no ache anyplace.”
Had both of those incidents occurred on a professional boxing present, there would nonetheless have been requires the artwork of punching folks to be scrubbed from a now apparently civilised society. However as a result of they came about on a white-collar boxing present, this five-a-side soccer equal of the professional sport, the goal was a lot bigger and a lot simpler to find. It wasn’t skilled, the abolitionists screamed. It was Combat Membership for actual – not a e-book, not a movie, not one thing one must be doing for enjoyable.
With criticism coming from all angles, England Boxing, who oversee Olympic-style beginner boxing, raised considerations about security requirements at white-collar bouts, and mentioned: “The dearth of a recognised governing physique for white collar boxing means the game is successfully unlicensed with no harmonisation of guidelines and laws. This results in alarming variations in security requirements at white-collar exhibits which pose a big menace to the well being of the boxers.”
Therein lies the issue. On the one hand, growing ranges of participation helps to advertise boxing and lift hundreds of thousands for charity, but, on the opposite, an increase in participation will even invariably result in numerous cowboy firms trying to money in on the white-collar revolution, thus diluting the product and its security requirements, and blackening its fame.
Then once more, even when it’s finished proper, and no person, I’m assured, does it higher than Extremely White Collar Boxing, it will possibly nonetheless go improper. It’s boxing, in spite of everything.
“It’s all the time going to occur when punches are hitting heads, but it surely’s about making it as protected as potential,” mentioned Brian Magee, the previous WBA super-middleweight champion whose firm All Star White Collar Boxing has this yr raised £50,000 for Motion Most cancers. “I’ve an ambulance crew, two ambulances ready, and there’s some huge cash invested within the evening. You may go to another occasion, although, and there will likely be none of that in place as a result of they’ve reduce to save cash. Some are nearly getting cash.
“This implies in case you’re the final individual within the group to get matched, you’re combating her or him it doesn’t matter what. What I do, if it’s not a good struggle, is say, ‘You will get your coaching finished, however you received’t be assured a struggle on the finish of it.’ It’s all about matching talents. Should you’re proud of the match, and the boxers are blissful, all of it goes forward. If it doesn’t occur, you wait and transfer on to the following occasion to discover a extra appropriate opponent. There’s no strain on them.
“Elsewhere, folks get thrown into fights they don’t need to take and are available again complaining that they have been overmatched. They’ll come away from that have with a foul feeling about boxing. That’s the one factor I’m making an attempt to alter with the white-collar boxing. I need boxing, as a sport, to return out with its fame enhanced.”
Magee, as a former professional fighter, is blessed with a capability to not solely move on recommendation to these on his coaching programs however to additionally spot the hustlers amongst them; those who ease off in coaching within the hope of being matched in opposition to a weaker opponent on struggle evening. It’s an instinct he believes others concerned within the white-collar scene may lack.
“That’s the one factor I’m in opposition to: folks with no boxing expertise working the occasions and doing the coaching as properly,” he mentioned. “There are folks over right here who’ve perhaps finished one white-collar occasion and at the moment are calling themselves boxers and dealing with different folks. However there’s no higher instructor than an precise skilled boxer. That’s very true in the course of the coaching half as a result of the coaching is an important and harmful half.
“We prepare all people for 4 weeks earlier than they even placed on a glove. However there are different guys I do know who let folks spar of their first week. At that time they don’t know how you can defend themselves and even throw punches. It’s simply unhealthy from the beginning.
“A few of these persons are mainly coming straight from the pub following years of consuming and instantly pondering they’re going to be boxers. You need to have a sure base of conditioning, although. That’s why we begin with 4 weeks of correct conditioning and coaching. We ease them in regularly.”
Wayne Alexander, a former British and European super-welterweight champion, was one among three referees on the Troxy on December 15 and has discovered a second profession officiating white-collar exhibits up and down the nation. He, greater than anybody, is aware about the truthful struggle and mismatch ratio.
“The vast majority of the time, particularly with Extremely White Collar Boxing, it’s pretty matched,” he mentioned. “On different exhibits you do get the odd one the place you see a man has in all probability boxed earlier than and that occurs as a result of there are not any official information. Any individual may have boxed 10 years in the past and had 20 fights after which they go and do a white-collar struggle. They may solely have had 20 novice fights, however he nonetheless boxed and is aware of what he’s doing.
“That’s harmful within the white-collar scene since you don’t get mind scans or blood exams. So perhaps there are guys concerned who shouldn’t actually be concerned.
“The security in all probability isn’t as nice as a British Boxing Board of Management-regulated present, however the Board have the monetary backing, don’t they? Additionally, some promoters will solely promote a present annually. For a few of them it’s only a pastime factor.”
With regards to mind scans, Leonard mentioned: “We have now regarded into this and been suggested by the medics who assist us perform danger assessments that, resulting from radiation ranges in CT (computed tomography) scans, it might do extra hurt than good to scan 15,000 folks yearly.
“England Boxing do not need mind scans and we’re according to their procedures. We did analysis cellular mind scanners for post-bout medicals, however they have been deemed not dependable by our medical suppliers.”
“Lots of people simply need to field as soon as to say they’d a go, and you may’t anticipate them to spend a whole bunch of kilos on medicals,” Alexander added. “However you don’t play boxing.”
Although now a cliché, this closing line is a pertinent one within the case of white-collar boxing. For whereas a number of video games on the native tennis membership may comply with Wimbledon dominating our tv screens, or an encouraging however in the end disappointing World Cup run for England may result in a surge in five-a-side soccer participation, the rise in boxing’s recognition appears to have resulted in women and men exploring the virtues of an eight-week coaching camp and a three-round struggle. That’s all properly and good, in fact, however whereas most of us are ready, or no less than protected, to hit or kick a ball, far fewer are geared up to offer and take punches.
“Once you do the marathon, you join on-line, you pay, you’re posted a vest, you flip up on the day, you go for a run, and somebody offers you a medal and also you go dwelling,” mentioned Leonard, who previously labored as a warm-up coach at Race for Life occasions throughout the Midlands. “After crossing the end line on the London Marathon somebody gave me a chocolate bar and a medal. That was it. I needed to lie down on the carpark ground for 20 minutes earlier than we drove dwelling. I used to be finished in.
“When you consider it, rugby gamers flip up, put their equipment on, have a rugby match, get hit across the head, go to the pub, after which sink 16 pints. How is that protected? With struggle sports activities, we’re perpetually doing danger assessments and contemplating danger. So long as that pre- and post-fight care is there, we’re making it protected contemplating persons are punching one another.”
Lengthy earlier than recognizing the bars or DJ sales space, the very first thing one would have seen on the Troxy that Saturday was a stretcher by a wall and paramedics dotted round ringside. It wasn’t for ornamental functions, both. All UWCB occasions, the truth is, have three ready ambulances, an HCPC (Well being and Care Professions Council) registered paramedic, in addition to two Emergency Medical Care Assistants who’ve a frontline A&E ambulance with life-saving gear, together with a full drug equipment. (Of the three medics, two are completely at ringside, whereas the third carries out the post-bout medical checks.)
On one of many ringside tables, in the meantime, Leonard manned an occasion well being and security pack and was accountable for signing off the development of the boxing ring and the medics arriving on web site. After they confirmed up, they have been requested to supply their HCPC card, which proves they’re registered, and this was then matched with their photograph ID and checked on a pc to make sure it was legitimate. “We mainly examine they’re who they are saying they’re and that they’re correctly certified medics,” Leonard mentioned.
After that, the medics, in addition to the nook personnel and safety, signed varieties claiming accountability for his or her function within the occasion. This supposedly prevents anybody turning up within the improper mind set, maybe distracted for some purpose, and alerts them to the placement of the closest hospital and ringside oxygen provides. Furthermore, there have been pre-fight medical studies for all of the boxers concerned that evening and this paperwork would spotlight any difficulty – corresponding to bronchial asthma, as an illustration – and permit a medic to cope with the state of affairs accordingly.
“As quickly as an individual has boxed, the medics will actually ferry them again to the medical room for his or her post-fight medicals,” mentioned Leonard. “In the course of the post-fight medicals, the medics learn a regular script and provides all people head damage recommendation.
“I believe the rationale why boxing is so protected is due to the post-fight care. We’ve been doing post-fight medicals for years however not all boxing occasions do it. Within the amateurs, for instance, you don’t must have a post-fight medical. However it’s one thing we insist on. It’s a part of our paperwork and it’s commonplace follow.”
The struggle evening gear, too, has security in thoughts. Equipped by UWCB, to make sure it’s the identical for each struggle, every boxer wears a headguard and specially-made 16-ounce gloves which have high-density foam packed across the knuckle space. “We don’t let folks deliver their very own equipment,” Leonard mentioned. “We provide it. And all these items is generic. It’s taking place right here and it’s taking place proper now in Inverness and Southampton.”
It was all taking place that Saturday evening on the Troxy, what with 41 fights cut up throughout two rings to get by means of. Dhol drummers took to the walkway at 4.30 pm, the grasp of ceremonies known as the boxers to the 2 rings, Rihanna sang about discovering love in a hopeless place, and the boxers, all of whom wore both crimson or blue vests on which their title, nickname and sometimes a sponsor’s emblem have been printed, disguised nerves with dance strikes, selfies and waves to the group.
The group, for his or her half, tried to identify their boxer, their main purpose for coming, however have been additionally inspired to cheer for both the crimson or the blue group; a wise atmosphere-building method which aided noise ranges all through the evening. It felt, for a second, like being transported again to Saturday teatime within the nineties. Contenders prepared. Gladiators prepared.
“We very a lot attempt to work on getting the group to assist both the reds or the blues,” Leonard defined. “There are 1,600 folks in right here at present, however one boxer might solely have offered 20 tickets. If solely 20 folks cheer for him, there received’t be a lot of a noise. We actually work to attempt to get the entire crowd behind the entire boxers.”
There are various issues professional boxing promoters may study from an Extremely White Collar Boxing promotion, and the emphasis positioned on promoting the occasion, versus a single struggle or fighter, is only one of them. The thrill is constant in consequence, even when the motion inevitably dips, and seats stay occupied as a result of reality the evening’s working order is saved below wraps till the final minute. This ensures a full home for just about the period and eradicates the prospect of individuals exiting the constructing upon seeing their focal point field, as is commonly the case in professional boxing (when a working order is revealed days upfront).
“The primary struggle has to have a tremendous ambiance,” mentioned Leonard, “after which that ambiance stays for the evening. It’s truthful on everybody to have that banging ambiance. You wouldn’t need to go on first and field in entrance of fifty folks as a result of the remaining are turning up late.”
The expertise is all the higher for it. There are bums on seats and food and drinks in palms. Even the apparel of the punters separates it out of your common boxing fare. A strict sensible costume code is imposed and the rationale for this, greater than merely deterring ruffians in denims, owes to Leonard’s perception that getting dressed up would act as a stronger incentive for {couples} or teams of buddies to stay round and make an evening of it. He known as imposing it “torturous” at first, but it surely appears to have now labored.
In Belfast, in the meantime, Brian Magee goes for one thing slightly completely different however leans equally on glitz and glamour.
“I do a Vegas-style set-up,” he mentioned. “I placed on not more than 10 fights and the boxers do three one-and-a-half-minute rounds. It’s virtually like an beginner invoice. I’ll do 5 fights after which have some halftime leisure. That leisure issue is essential to me. Lots of white-collar firms simply assume, ‘Nice, we’ve bought 40 fights, blissful days, we’re making a fortune. Let’s simply have folks combating all evening lengthy.’ However that places me proper off.”
Earlier than the boxing on the Troxy bought underway, one man, Vikesh Tailor, was singled out to obtain a particular medal from the grasp of ceremonies. It was his reward for being the occasion’s prime fundraiser, a place he achieved by producing £2,585 of the £36,195 raised that evening for Most cancers Analysis UK. It was a heart-warming second. A pleasant contact. But, with out wishing to rain on Vikesh’s parade, a lady on the final Derby present – feminine participation on UWCB exhibits this yr rose to 30% – one way or the other raised a staggering £21,000 on her personal (a feat all of the extra gorgeous given £286 is the typical quantity raised per participant).
“Let the brawling start!” roared the MC and brawling was essentially the most acceptable method of describing what would quickly unfold. Fights one and two on the Troxy have been surprisingly watchable, with punches surprisingly straight, but these proved exceptions to the rule when the following two featured free-swinging novices spinning round, shirking battle, and sometimes scurrying away. Although anticipated, it was, at instances, troublesome to look at. “Cease the struggle, referee!” mentioned one punter behind me, so drained was he of seeing a person, his palms by his knees, unable to face his opponent. “What’s the purpose?”
Unbeknown to this peacemaker, there was a lady within the different ring, ring two, whose eyes have been virtually all the time closed and who appeared to hate each second of the expertise, the intention of which was to seemingly simply attain the ultimate bell (which, because of the matchmaking, she did). It’s all within the matchmaking, Leonard was fast to remind me.
“All of them begin coaching collectively however received’t get matched till every week earlier than the present,” he mentioned. “Some will prepare daily; some will prepare twice every week. I do know some folks working white-collar exhibits match them up at the beginning, which, to me, is mad. You don’t know the place somebody will likely be in eight weeks. They’ll be weighed a number of instances in the course of the course of and 4 or 5 days earlier than the struggle they’ll discover out who they’re combating.”
By bouts three and 4 viewers members had forgotten all about their loved-one’s place within the working order, a lot much less the finer factors of method, and have been cheering just for colors, cool entrance songs, ugly pirouettes or the ring card ladies and ring card boy. Sure, ring card boy; a hoop card boy whose beaming smile was reciprocated by everybody within the venue.
“With among the fights you assume the fellows have actually come out of a pub and been given gloves,” mentioned Alexander. “However I’ve seen, on the flipside, guys who’ve made me say, ‘Bloody hell, these guys are ABA-level.’ I’ve even mentioned to some after they’ve boxed, ‘Why don’t you do ABA?’ They may say they’re too outdated or not that devoted, however there are some proficient guys on the market. I’ve seen all types in white-collar.”
Which brings us to Omari Grant. In 2015, Grant boxed on an Extremely White Collar Boxing present, having by no means earlier than proven an curiosity within the sport, and did so to assist a good friend. He impressed in the course of the eight weeks of coaching, received his struggle, after which later used the expertise because the launchpad to knowledgeable boxing profession. He’s now 8-0 as a professional.
“I proved one thing to myself simply going by means of with that white-collar struggle,” he recalled. “Lots of people have been telling me to not do it. They have been speaking in regards to the risks.
“I used to be getting lots of damaging suggestions from individuals who didn’t actually know a lot about boxing. They didn’t know the way I used to be going to have the ability to study boxing in such a short while. Would I be capable of shield myself? All these issues have been related in my case.
“Ultimately, I discovered I’m mentally stronger than I assumed I’d be in that state of affairs and it was a catalyst for me to go on to larger issues. Personally, that was the most effective factor I may have finished.”
Later, Grant accepted an unlicensed struggle at two weeks’ discover. He misplaced in opposition to an ex-professional, however the aggressive nature of the bout, in addition to the actual fact he had little or no time to arrange, gave the 30-year-old the impetus to use for a professional licence.
“I’d all the time encourage folks to go down the beginner route,” he mentioned. “That’s the easiest way to study your fundamental abilities and put together your self for a correct struggle.
“Additionally, I believe there’s extra hazard within the unlicensed circuit. There are not any headguards, the gloves are lighter, and it’s a bit extra critical. With white-collar, you may have the headguards, the large gloves, and all people is a novice.
“It’s solely after they’re placing folks in who aren’t novices, who actually need to win, who aren’t doing it for a great trigger, that there’s bother. Should you had unlicensed guys shifting into white collar, that may be an issue. However I believe they display screen that and match guys accordingly.
“Principally, if you wish to do white-collar for the expertise, and for a great trigger, and you’ve got the guts to do it, I’d positively encourage it. It ignited one thing in me I didn’t assume I had.”
By Leonard’s estimation, Extremely White Collar Boxing has now been answerable for 10 boxers with professional licences. “For folks of their mid-twenties to go from having by no means boxed to being a professional boxer is mind-blowing,” he mentioned. “Someday a child will go to the Olympics and they are going to be going as a result of their mum or dad as soon as took half on this. That will likely be unbelievable.”
It’s going to, no query. However, equally, it might be mentioned the actual poster girls and boys of white-collar boxing are the next: the insecure lad in Derby who turned up nervous and fearful on day one among coaching, misplaced his struggle, however found one thing about himself within the course of and signed as much as do it once more with a distinct mind set; the overweight man in Bradford who has now misplaced 12 stone and accomplished the London marathon since utilizing a white-collar boxing match to kickstart the life change; the Asian woman in London with the show-stealing ringwalk tune who reconnected along with her opponent on the Troxy bar moments after they’d been punching one another within the face.
In the end, boxing will all the time have a proclivity to produce its personal black eyes, such is the character of the beast. It’s going to all the time self-harm. It’s going to all the time polarise. It’s going to all the time, to some, be simply punching.
But, contemplating white-collar boxing is geared in direction of funding charities fairly than egomaniacs or promoters, and is a watered-down product designed to entice fairly than dupe the lots, it’s troublesome, when finished accurately, to see an excessive amount of improper with it. It’s going to by no means be whiter than white, no, however let’s not child ourselves, neither will boxing.
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