figured he was tough.

Then he stepped into the boxing ring.

"It was one of the most exhausting things I've ever done,'' Harvey laughed yesterday. "Moving around, getting hit. I'll tell you, I have a lot more respect for people who get in there.'' That was a few years ago during Teachers Rugby Football Club's annual "Fite Nite.'' He still plays rugby -- this is his last season with the national team -- but when it comes to boxing, he's now in the promotion end of things.

He's not the only rugby player to shy away from fisticuffs as a new breed of boxer takes over for tomorrow night's "Fite Nite 1998'' at Number One Shed.

Only five rugby players have signed up for the ten-bout card, which, Harvey says, isn't necessarily a bad thing. As boxing tries to make a comeback after a decade of decline, it's time to turn it over to the youngsters, Harvey said.

Allan (Forty) Rego and Kevin (Mannix) Simmons have something to do with that.

The two have recently begun unofficial training programmes for youngsters in the sweet science and Simmons was last month elected new president of the Bermuda Amateur Boxing Association.

"Forty and I got together and thought it would be a good idea to include (youngsters),'' said Harvey. "We want to help them out as much as we can.'' As a result, a handful of kids, armed only with instructions from Simmons and Rego, will be stepping into the ring for the first time. But then, so will many of the others, a lot of them curious adults.

"It's amateur boxing at its most infant stage,'' said Harvey. "It's a chance for them to be Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield and find out what it's all about.'' But not all of them are novices.

One bout features David Hope, a veteran Island competitor, going against Red Johnson in a heavyweight clash. It would be the main event if not for the fact the two will largely be just sparring.

While the fighters are amateur and it's largely "a fun night'', Harvey says Teachers try to put on a professional production.

They have secured proper equipment, music, trophies and official BABA judges; altogether spending about $10,000. Boxers wear regulation headgear and gloves and fight three, two-minute rounds.

Tickets cost $15.

A percentage of the money coming in goes to charity. Last year, Teachers donated $900 to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Bermuda, Harvey said.

FIGHT CARD 1 Red Johnson v David Hope 2 Jeff Sangster v Johnny Darrell 3 George Spurling v Andrew Ahern 4 Torrie Russell v Quincy Arorash 5 Brent Palmer v Ronald Gibbons 6 Jerome Caines v Tim O'Leary 7 Mike Sutton v Hal Kempe 8 Karlton Simmons v Russell Matthews 9 Devin Stowe v Lamont Williams 10 Paul Sofianas v Manny Fariera PUT 'EM UP -- Brent Palmer (left) will make his debut on an amateur boxing card tomorrow night. But his recent sparring partner at Allan (Forty) Rego's makeshift Warwick gym, Jeff Barron (right), can't make it.