So said former English, world heavyweight champion Franklin (“Frank”) Bruno.

Let’s combine another analogy about courtrooms also being a form of theatre, where bewigged barristers play out their roles before a judge and jury, and we could well set the scene for this story.

Imagine, if you will, a barrister with a second life devoted to the art of boxing. A bit of a stretch? Well, not really. Respected Canberra criminal barrister Jack Pappas was boxing well before he embarked on a career in law.

Fit to Fight gymnasium is tucked away in Joseland Street, Tuggeranong, and from 5.30 most weekday afternoons it’s bustling with young people gloving up and working off their excess energy, frustrations – or simply enjoying a competitive sport – under the watchful eye of Pappas and his business partner Craig Genter.

For Jack it’s not a quantum leap from the courtroom to the boxing ring.

“I came from the wrong side of the railway tracks in Orange, NSW,” he says.

“I grew up in a pretty tough area. I went to a public school. I fought my way through lower school and high school, literally.

“That’s my background. If you got punched on the nose, you didn’t go to the police station – you went to the fellow’s house and punched him back.”

He regards his early boxing prowess as something of a saviour that kept him on the straight and narrow.

“That’s just something ingrained in me,” he says. “I didn’t end up in jail. [Instead] I studied law and made a success of law as a career.”

It wasn’t the case for some of his mates back then.

Jack recalls his best friend, who lived just two doors away in Orange and who has spent “a large slab of his life” in jail for cocaine trafficking.

“I’ve acted for some horrendous criminals who have very good characteristics, but they’ve never been brought out,” he says.

“I firmly believe you can bring those things out.”

Jack was able to call on friends and business associates to help him turn his philosophy into reality, no doubt infected by his unbridled enthusiasm and his unwavering beliefs.

His good mate – and property developer – Dino Nikias and his son Dimitri helped out with an “unused hole in the wall” in Joseland Street on a generous rental arrangement.

“Craig has a heart like a marshmallow,” says Jack. “When Craig speaks, those kids pay attention.”

Add to the mix head coach, Stacey Fletcher, who started boxing 15 years ago, took out a bronze in the Arafura Games and competed in two national championships before retiring to take up coaching.

You suddenly get the picture of a very professional outfit here in the backblocks of Tuggeranong.

The Australian Institute of Sport has recently given the imprimatur for the gym to use a newly developed program that, according to Stacey, has provided an even higher level of training and development.

The “Fit to Fight” venture can undoubtedly attribute its success to the personal commitment – financial and physical – that Jack and Craig have willingly committed to ensure its future sustainability.

“Our aim is not to make money. If we can cover our overheads and provide this facility, we’ll be the happiest blokes in Canberra,” says Jack.

And that’s where Jack Pappas, eminent barrister, rests his case.