Former international cricketers Simon Doull and Chris Cairns stepped onto some pretty big sporting stages during their combined 92 tests for New Zealand.



None of them however prompted more nerves than they feel at the moment as they contemplate taking on each other in the boxing ring in the Fight for Life event in Auckland on December 14.



The former international cricketers spent a couple of hours in Invercargill yesterday as part of the promotion for the Fight for Life event before they head north to Dunedin where they will commentate the New Zealand-West Indies, which starts today.



Both admitted the thought of stepping into the boxing ring was daunting and didn't expect any favours despite the fact they are good mates.



"I was close enough to get invited to two of his four weddings," Doull said with a smile yesterday.



"People might look at it and think they are not going to try but we're both competitive guys and nobody takes this on to lose," he said.



"We'll be fine beforehand and we'll be fine afterwards but for six minutes on Saturday, December 14 we'll be enemies. We owe that to the people who are watching and supporting the charity."



Cairns had been roped in 10 weeks ago by promoters Duco Events while Doull has been a late callup just a matter of three weeks ago when they struggled to get a suitable opponent for Cairns.



"Doully and I don't have an axe to grind, not as much as much as Mark Richardson, him and I both want to fight Mark Richardson and smash him in the face," Cairns joked yesterday.



"There's no real axe to grind with Doully but he's a bogan from Northern Districts so that's good enough for someone I want to take on. We'll bash the crap out of each other and then at the end of the day we'll have a beer."



Both Doull and Cairns concede they are nervous about just what might unfold.



"It's possibly the loneliness platform in world sport I reckon. There's nowhere to go and you've just got to front up. What's really amazed me is how technical it is. It's an amazing sport on so many levels, physically, mentally and technically," Cairns said.



Doull had the similar thinking.



"It's foreign, that's the scary thing about it, it's the unknown. Cricket for the most of it I could control what I was doing."