Shephard and Lemar to put on the gloves for Sport Relief by Kevin Taylor Feb 12th 2008

UK soul star Lemar and GMTV presenter Ben Shephard will be facing each other in the ring for Sport Relief Celebrity Boxing, which will be broadcast on BBC One as part of Sport Relief Weekend on Friday 14 March. The pair have begun an intensive training programme under the watchful eye of some of British boxing's best trainers. Both will be pounding the punch bag for two hours a day, three days a week for six weeks, before coming together for three rounds of power-packed pugilism. Lemar is under the guidance of former European Featherweight Champion and world renowned trainer Jim McDonnell along with his mentor, Olympic medallist and Lightweight boxing star Amir Khan. Coaching Shephard is legendary trainer and promoter Frank Maloney who will be working to ensure his protégé goes into the ring in the shape of his life. Completing the Shephard camp is Ricky Hatton, widely regarded as one of the best pound for pound boxers in the world. Lemar, 29, said: “The fact I've just had a baby inspires me during the boxing, every punch and every block is a little bit more loaded. I don't want to show her a video of me lying down at the end of the fight! I intend to win and I wanna tell her 'yeah, Daddy's a champ'!”. In the opposing corner is his opponent Shephard: “I've never been allowed to have a fight before but Sport Relief have given me a great excuse to connect with my Inner Essex Boy. Its a fantastic cause to be involved with and, when it comes down to it, he might be taller than me, he might have a longer reach than me but that just means he's got further to fall”. The fighter's statistics: Lemar Age: 29 Height: 6'1” Weight (pre-training): 13st/83kg Ben Shephard Age: 32 Height 5'10” Weight (pre-training): 13st/83kg The cameras will be with the pair every step of the way as they shed blood, sweat and tears in their quest to emerge as champion for Sport Relief. Keep an eye on their progress at www.bbc.co.uk/sportrelief and www.sportrelief.com, and see all the action as part of Sport Relief's big night of TV on Friday 14 March, BBC ONE from 7pm. Other highlights include a special edition of Strictly Come Dancing, A Question of Sport Relief and Jonathan Ross's All-Star Celebrity Tennis. Previous Sport Relief Celebrity boxing bouts have included: 2002: Bob Mortimer beat Les Dennis 2004: Ben Fogle beat Sid Owen 2006: Jack Osbourne beat Bradley McIntosh Lemar and Ben Shephard join other celebrities rising to the challenge for Sport Relief, including Adrian Chiles and Alan Shearer who will cycle from Newcastle to London in two days, and James Cracknell who is undertaking a challenge to travel from the UK to Africa completely under his own steam. Sport Relief Weekend takes place 14 – 16 March 2008. Sport Relief harnesses the power and passion of sport to change lives for the better. Comic Relief spends the money raised to help vulnerable people living incredibly tough lives both at home in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.

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