Devastating reason Perth tradie Jalen Smith is gloving up to compete in this year’s Corporate Rumble

Motivated by crippling loss and will to change, Jalen Smith is one of 30 fighters who tonight, will put it all on the line.

The 25-year-old lost his mum in 2021 following a melanoma diagnosis and watched as his dad turned grief into something meaningful the following year, competing in the Perth Corporate Rumble for the Melanoma Institute Australia.

“He kind of started a snowball effect, one of good mates competed in it the next year, and then the following year, another one of my mates did it, and now I’m the fourth person,” Mr Smith said.

Four years later, the tradie is following in his dad’s footsteps and will step into the ring tonight in front of a sold-out crowd at Crown Towers.

The annual event has been running for 10 years and requires all fighters to undergo a gruelling eight week training program.

“It’s pretty brutal. I haven’t done anything like this ever in my life. It’s pretty full on, it takes a toll on your body, but I’m feeling good,” he said.

“I’ve never punched anyone in my life, so I’m putting the gloves on and having to literally punch someone in the head to win a fight. It’s next level.”

The lifestyle overhaul and social aspect of the training is something Mr Smith vows to keep up even after the event, no matter what the outcome.

“I’ve never been this fit in my life. You obviously lose a bit of weight as well and just feel better in yourself,” he said.

While fighters benefit immensely from being involved, something bigger is happening behind the scenes.

The entire function is a fundraiser for the Saba Rose Button Foundation, established in the name of a Perth girl who suffered extensive brain and organ damage after she had the Fluvax shot in 2010 as an 11-month-old.

She was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy from an acquired brain injury, spastic quadriplegia, epilepsy and respiratory weakness.

Now aged 16, she is inspiration for the fighters.

“I saw the synergy between the fighters who train for the boxing event and the little fighters that we support through the Saba Rose Button Foundation,” her mum, Kirsten Button, said.

The Buttons met Nigel Groves and Glen Austin, the directors of the Corporate Rumble, about six years ago through a mutual connection at the foundation and a special partnership was formed.

“We’re a small local charity so the money that’s raised, it just means the world to us.”

More than $300,000 has been raised so far, including $45,000 from last year’s Corporate Rumble. The event is expected to raise even more this year.

Mr Austin said the meaningful impact always touched the fighters, particularly on the first day of their training camp when the Buttons deliver a speech.

“Kirst words it well, saying, ‘you guys are in for a tough fight, but kids like Saba are in for tough fights every single day of their life’,” Mr Austin said.

“Every time she says that, there’s quite a few tears in the room, it hits a nerve with people.”

Raised funds go directly into executing about 250 events and programs each year plus therapies and equipment that isn’t offered under the National Disability Insurance Scheme.