Max Rist, left, and Matt Runyon square up in the ring. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
When they’re not landing deals, they’re landing punches.
That was the case Thursday night when real estate professionals took to the ring in a six-bout boxing extravaganza in RiNo’s ReelWorks event space. It was the 11th annual “Fight Night” held by NAIOP Colorado, the local professional association.
“It is the single largest event on the commercial real estate calendar,” Brandon Kramer, broker at Marcus & Millichap and Fight Night chair.
It was a who’s who of the real estate scene, sponsored by industry giants Ten-X, CoStar and LoopNet. The USA theme was clear: women in red dresses and men in blue suits mingled over food and drinks or eyed the Ferrari (another sponsor) on display.
But the main attraction for most was to watch their coworkers and colleagues throw (or take) a few punches. Fighting was intense and competitive, with the results — two draws and two wins by decision — underscoring that fact.
“We don’t want people to get hurt, obviously, but we do like it when there’s a clear winner and loser … I can’t remember a time we’ve had draws in the past. I’m sure we have, but never two in a night,” Kramer said.
About 600 people were in attendance – a sold-out crowd – to watch the action, which started with two professional fights. The first was a knockout just 27 seconds into the first round, one of the quickest bouts in Fight Night history. Paramedics had to assist the fighter out of the ring, wheeling him out on a stretcher.
As the crowd waited for the scene to be cleared up, the event’s leaders began asking attendees to buy raffle tickets for the chance to win $20,000 worth of big prizes. These ticket proceeds benefit the Denver Children’s Foundation, a nonprofit group that raises money for disadvantaged and at-risk youth. Preliminary estimates put the total money raised for the foundation at $30,000, and nearly $400,000 all-time since the event began 11 years ago, Kramer said.
Mercedes Morales approaches the ring. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
When the real estate “ringers” fights began, though, is when the house started rocking.
“I’m not gonna get punched in the face, let’s not get confused there,” said Kellan “Cash Money” Register on Wednesday before the fight.
Register, preconstruction manager at Catamount Constructors, participated in the only female bout of the night. It was arguably the most tense part of the evening. Her opponent, Mercedes Morales of PMG Construction, stared down Register without breaking eye contact from her first step out of the locker room until the fight began.
Register won by split decision.
But perhaps the most physical fight of the evening came at the end, when heavyweight Matt Runyon of Monfort Cos. squared off with Max Rist of Marcus & Millichap. Runyon came out swinging, badly bloodying Rist’s face. In the second round, Rist hit back, knocking Runyon to the ground for several seconds.
The fight ended in a “majority draw,” with two judges ruling the bout as a draw and another scoring it in Rist’s favor by a single point.
The crowd responded by cheering for another round.
Supporters of Justin Gregory of SRS Real Estate Partners cheer him on. (Matt Geiger/BusinessDen)
The results of the bouts:
Justin “Commissions Due” Gregory, vice president of SRS Real Estate Partners, beat Nathan “The Ox” Oxman, loan officer at Synergy One Lending, by unanimous decision.
Tony “Silent But Deadly” Gervasini, associate at Halaby Capital, drew “Harvard’s Own” Logan Kirby, senior associate at Homebound.
Kellan “Cash Money” Register, preconstruction manager at Catamount Constructors, beat Mercedes Morales, project estimator at PMG Construction, by split decision.
Matt “The Bull” Runyon, development partner at Monfort Cos., drew Max “The Hammer” Rist, broker with Marcus & Millichap.
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