Review: Episode 1 of new boxing reality show White Collar DXB

The attention paid to revealing the personoalities of this year’s hopefuls suggests the show will be about people as much as blood, sweat and fighting.

A scene from White Collar DXB. The only stipulation was that entrants must have no previous experience in a boxing ring. Courtesy White Collar DXB

OSN's new reality show White Collar DXB premiered on OSN Sports 4 on Wednesday, September 16 – and it was pretty promising by reality TV standards.

The first episode detailed the process of whittling down the initial applicants to just 24 contestants who will compete in two teams to be Dubai's white-collar boxing champion. If you're unfamiliar with the terminology, white collar boxing is a fairly recent phenomena (perhaps inspired in part by David Fincher's 1999 movie Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton) which sees everyday lawyers, bankers and, in White Collar DXB's case, art curators train up to be their office's version of Rocky Bilbao, pulverising each other in the ring for charity, fun or exercise during their down time.

The episode was well put together, flitting between atmospheric shots of punch bags swinging in deserted gyms, vox pops with our hopefuls, segments shot in applicants’ homes or offices, and featuring interviews with their friends, family and colleagues.

The attention paid to revealing the personalities of this year’s hopefuls suggests the show will be about people and personalities as much as blood, sweat and fighting.

There’s an ominous warning for competitors right at the start of the show, though, when Chris Miller, the show’s conditioning coach and co-owner of Dubai’s strength gym opines: “Do the contestants have any idea how hard it’s going to be? Absolutely not.”

A total of 34 nationalities applied to take part in the show – the only stipulation was that entrants must have no previous experience in a boxing ring.

The show certainly seems to have attracted applicants that don’t fit into the typical gym bunny demographic, from a man who lost 45kg through weight-loss surgery last year and now wants to tone up as a gift to his fiancée (he didn’t make it to the last 24), to the chef that admits he turned up a bit the worse for wear after “a heavy night”, to the 18-year-old Emirati who’s just finished his national service and wants to use the show “as a continuation of his journey to manhood”.

It's early days for White Collar DXB, but on initial evidence it looks like you don't need to be a fan of boxing – or reality TV – to enjoy a peek into the lives of a cross-section of Dubai's multinational population.