THE Police Black Tie Boxing Night tomorrow evening will return to its roots with organisors staging more novice fights involving rookie cops.

Bermuda will be taking on boxers from the New York Police Department, the Worcester Police Department and Massachusetts State Police at the swanky event at the Fairmont Southampton Princess.

And for the first time there will be fights against the New York Fire Department.

Organisor Craig Morfitt said: "The whole thing used to be Police officers ¿ it was the tradition. We have lost a lot of that in the 1990s when not so many officers were interested and it became all the amateur boxers in Bermuda, which is fine. But it is nice to have at least some police challengers in there because that is how it started back in 1969."

There's a challenge match between Bermuda Police officers Juan Looby and Darren Harvey in the Super Heavyweight. Both are novices while there are two women fights including Wpc Vanessa Furbert who is taking on Avita O'Connor in the Super Heavyweight category while in the Middleweight category prison officer Robyn Swan, who has won both her bouts, takes on Kelly Graham from the NYPD.

"It is the novices which give you some of the better scraps."

Morfitt speaks from experience ¿ he boxed himself in a dozen fights ¿ culminating in a tricky bout against the Caribbean champion. "I figured that was the end of that," he said.

Of the action tomorrow he said: "It will interesting to see how Daniel Burgess copes ¿ he has been one of the ones training hardest ¿ he started in the gym less than a year ago, lost in Fight Night in April, but trained hard after that.

"We took him away to Massaschusetts in May and he had a very convincing win. Ever since he has been training hard and improving his skills so I am looking for some good things from him."

But amid the grit there will be glamour said Morfitt who conceded often for the ladies it was the chance to dress up and enjoy a get together ¿ even if they loathed the actual boxing.

"Fight night is bleachers and T-shirts. This is the only one where you have to dress up and ¿ you are in the amphitheatre, it's a nice setting with waiter service bringing you drinks.

"It's a much more upscale way of watching the boxing. We got some feedback last year that when the boxing finished it was a case of being all dressed up and nowhere to go so they wanted something to cater to that so we have a put in a dance floor and a DJ so when the boxing finishes people can have a dance the night away to two o'clock at least."

By the time the dancing comes around there will have been plenty of real action.

Morfitt is looking forward to the Josh Smith v Will Hamilton fight. "Joshua has ten bouts and Hamilton has 15, so they are the most experience boxers and I am looking for something pretty good out of that."

Nikki Bascome, the teen tearaway who hit the headlines after turning his life around and getting his GED at the Educational Centre, had been been due to fight on the bill but is concentrating on his Bermuda College studies.

Tickets are $60 and can be purchased from English Sports Shop on Front Street.

BLACK TIE BOUTS

Female Super Heavyweight

Vanessa Furbert (0-0) (Bermuda Police Service) v Avita O'Connor (0-1) (Police Gym)

Super Heavyweight

Juan Looby (0-0) (BPS) v Darren Harvey (0-0) (BPS)

Middleweight

Daniel Burgess (1-1) (PG) v Fatmir Usseini (0-1) (NYPD)

Middleweight

Tom Healy (2-0) (Controversy Gym) v Todd Velten (0-0) (FDNY)

Heavyweight

Josh Smith (8-2) (PG) v Will Hamilton (10-15 bouts) (NYPD)

Intermission

Bermuda Sanshou Association Demonstration

Female Middleweight

Robyn Swan (2-0) (Dept of Corrections & Police Gym) v Kelly Graham (1 bout) (NYPD)

Light Heavyweight

Lamark Ingram (1-0) (CG) v Jack Kirrane (8 bouts) (FDNY)

Super Heavyweight

Reece Simpson (1-3) (CG) v Carlos Castillo (0-0) (NYPD)

Super Heavyweight

Kevin Kirrane (8 bouts) (FDNY) v John Soukas (7 bouts)