There are posters all over London for an upcoming double bill of White Collar Boxing. It has nicely been posited as an East End vs West End rumble. The West End event takes place in Mayfair and is billed as “The Black Tie Brawl”, whilst the East End bout is just said to be in Bethnal Green. But hold up, this is white collar boxing. Whilther these faux pretensions at class warfare that seem to have been fed into the mix.
I have a feeling that there will not be much white collar action going down. Rather it is an opportunity for amateur boxers who were a bit tasty in their day to get together after their day job. And dressed up as some form of territorial battle. The East End and the West End, for which read Mayfair, have never been traditional rivals. No-one who lived “up west” existed in the same social world as those who lived in the East End, there was literally no crossover.
This is not the case now. Bethnal Green is full of people who work in the City. Mayfair still has many of the moneyed class that was there beforehand. Perhaps there might be more in common between both areas, perhaps not white collar but doing all right. Those living in Bethnal Green might aspire to have Mayfair lifestyles, suddenly the crossover becomes one of social aspiration vs family money. So maybe the sites make sense after all. Much like settling some strange micro-class warfare with a few rounds of Queensbury Rules. No Boxing But Class Boxing.