Rory Queenan, formerly of Nashua, will be competing in this year’s Haymakers for Hope Rock ‘N Rumble at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway on May 8. Courtesy photo

Rory Queenan, formerly of Nashua, will quite literally be fighting for a cure for cancer as he steps into the boxing ring for this year’s Haymakers for Hope Rock ‘N Rumble at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway on May 8.

Despite not having any prior boxing experience, Queenan has spent the last three months training 40 hours per week at the Haverhill Downtown Boxing Club in Massachusetts.

“It’s definitely opened my eyes to the sport and the intensity of it,” said Queenan, who is 39 years old and now lives in Portsmouth. “I’m not a young man to take up a new sport, the sport is a new challenge. I’m learning things that for 39 years, I didn’t know.”

However, he said his rigorous training schedule and upcoming bout next month are merely drops in the bucket.

“This fight is miniscule compared to what other people have to go through,” he said.

Queenan also said he lost his aunt one year ago to leukemia.

“I witnessed firsthand the pain and heartbreak this disease causes, not just to those diagnosed but to their families, friends and entire communities,” he said. “We’re all one doctor’s visit away from getting news we don’t want to hear.”

Although his brother participated in Haymakers for Hope seven years ago in Denver, Queenan said he has his own trepidation about climbing in the ring.

“For sure there are nerves,” he said. “I need six good minutes on May 8.”

Anyone who would like to donate to Queenan can do so online at https://haymakersforhope.org/events/boxing/rock-n-rumble-xiii-boston-2025/fighters/rory-queenan.

Since 2011, Haymakers for Hope has raised more than $25 million for cancer research.