In this corner: finance's most unlikely night out

The lights drop. A thousand people lean towards the ring. Between the first round of boxing, the silent auction, and sightings of Oscar De La Hoya and Usher, year after year, this fundraising event goes the distance. Welcome to the most unexpected evening in institutional finance.

A partnership that packs a punch

Two titans enter the fight: one of industry, the other one of boxing’s most inspirational legends. Instead of going toe-to-toe, B. Riley Securities and the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation share a formidable foe: pediatric diabetes. B. Riley Securities, an investment bank and capital markets platform known for championing the companies Wall Street tends to overlook, found a kindred spirit in six-time world champion Sugar Ray Leonard, who built his entire career on fighting for the underdog. 

Since 2009, boxing gloves and big-night glamour have met annually for Big Fighters, Big Cause; a momentous night of flying fists, luxurious touches, sports legends, and world-class entertainment. This invitation-only event is unlike any other in the investment world. It draws over 1,000 guests and C-suite executives from more than 200 public and private companies. For Sugar, the fight is personal. His own father battled the devastating complications of diabetes; the hospitalizations, the financial strain, the helplessness of watching someone you love face a losing battle. This isn’t a celebrity side project; it’s a calling. With over six million dollars raised to date, no one should count this duo out.

The fight started long before the first bell

Despite the nickname, “Sugar” Ray Leonard’s story is bittersweet. His father, Cicero Leonard, dealt with serious complications from diabetes his entire life. Watching his family struggle with the diagnosis and its consequences made Sugar Ray a fighter; his decision to enter the ring to help pay for medical bills made him a boxer; winning the gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal made him a legend; the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation has made him a hero.

In 2009, Sugar Ray Leonard and his wife, Bernadette, started the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation. The Foundation supports and empowers children with type 1 and type 2 diabetes to live healthier lives through education, nutrition, and active living. With a history of standing in the underdog’s corner, a partnership with B. Riley Securities was a matter of conviction strengthened by a shared love of boxing. Together, they’ve created a platform for impact. For the past five years, Cohera has partnered with them to come out swinging.

The main event

This event just wouldn’t pack the same punch if it landed anywhere but Los Angeles. The energy here isn’t just felt; it’s seen, heard, and echoed in every moment. LA is where spectacle and substance coexist naturally, where a boxing legend and a celebrity-filled ballroom feel completely at home. A city of bright lights, unparalleled glamour, and, of course, a ballroom of over 1,000 angels gathered together to make a difference.

This is not a charity raffle in a tired hotel conference room. It’s not a showcase of corporate self-aggrandizing. This is one of the most genuinely unusual happenings in American business. Where else could you find Usher, LL Cool J, Cindy Crawford, Bernard Hopkins, and Mario Lopez gathered to support a common cause? 

When Hollywood, the boxing elite, and financiers collide, the stakes are high, but the payoff is even greater. The professional boxing bouts curated by Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya’s company, are the headline, while live and silent auctions featuring exclusive sports memorabilia and once-in-a-lifetime experiences keep the energy humming. Rubbing elbows with celebrities and sports legends alike? That’s just a bonus.

But this event doesn’t cash in on the cachet. Every dollar from the auctions, every ticket, every paddle raise goes directly to pediatric diabetes research–—no middleman, no questions. The Foundation doesn’t run multiple fundraisers; this is the one night where the magic happens, and the mission matters most. The boy who laced up his gloves to pay his father’s medical bills is now the man presiding over a room that has raised six million dollars for the same fight. Fifteen years in, the bell keeps ringing, and Sugar Ray Leonard keeps answering it with B. Riley in his corner.

Beyond the ring

Big Fighters, Big Cause doesn’t just write checks; it shows up for the community. Fifteen years in, this event has developed a conscience as big as the room it fills. These heavy-hitters aren’t content to fight just one fight.

In 2025, as Los Angeles reeled from the devastation of historic wildfires, Big Fighters, Big Cause did what it always does when something matters: it showed up. That year’s event honored the heroes of the LA fire departments; the tribute felt entirely at home in a city that had just waged its own fight for survival. For an event rooted in Los Angeles, it was a reminder that the ring extends well beyond its four corners.

The event’s Golden Glove honorees carry the same conviction. Nick Jonas and Anthony Anderson have both been recognized for their personal connection to the cause. Jonas, who has lived with type 1 diabetes since age 13, brings the Foundation’s mission into sharp, human focus. These aren’t celebrity cameos. They’re people who know what it means to go toe-to-toe with these challenges every single day.

This fight-for-what’s-right mentality is what separates Big Fighters, Big Cause from every other gala on the calendar. It doesn’t just raise money; it bears witness. And that’s exactly the kind of event worth producing.

Behind the curtain

Every great fight needs a great corner team to keep them energized and on point. At Big Fighters, Big Cause, that team is Cohera.

For five years, Cohera has been the force behind an experience unlike anything else in our portfolio. While we always deliver on the external elements that make an event extraordinary, Big Fighters, Big Cause offers the rare opportunity to go deeper. We’re not just curating the atmosphere; we’re inside the show itself.

Each year, working closely with Bernadette Leonard and the B. Riley team, Cohera reimagines the event from the ground up. Our team keeps things fresh by choosing the colors, flowers, linens, and lighting that give each year its own distinct personality. No two nights look the same. That’s intentional. In a room full of returning guests who know what to expect, the element of surprise is its own kind of magic.

But the production runs deeper than the décor. Cohera procures and coordinates the technical directors, stage managers, lighting, sound, and video technicians who bring the live show to life. The integrated DJ keeps the energy coiled between rounds, maintaining the pacing, the rhythm, and that electric sense of anticipation that makes a fight night feel like a fight night. We work hand in glove with Jennifer Wilson, Executive Director of the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation, supporting her vision through every beat of the script.

The best event production is invisible. When everything lands right, the only thing anyone in that room is thinking about is the next fight. That’s the standard Cohera holds itself to—every round, every year.

The 15th round

In boxing, going the distance is the ultimate test of conviction. Fifteen rounds. Every punch absorbed, every round survived, every moment of doubt answered with the decision to keep going. That’s what fifteen years of Big Fighters, Big Cause looks like.

On May 20, 2026, the 15th Annual Big Fighters, Big Cause returns to The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey with growing momentum. What started as a shared conviction between an investment bank and a boxing legend has become one of the most anticipated events at the intersection of finance and philanthropy. The room gets bigger. The cause gets louder. The fight goes on.

For Cohera, this is more than a program. It’s a privilege. Five years in the corner of one of the most meaningful events we’ve ever produced, and we’re still coming out swinging.

Inspired to support the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation’s mission? You can donate directly here. To learn more about the Foundation and this year’s gala, visit their website.

Some fights are worth the sweat. This is one of them. What’s yours? Tell us.