With this year’s Varsity well underway and the scores in favour of Uni Of with a 7-2 lead over Hallam, the highly anticipated boxing event attracted fans from both respective universities tonight.
The event was one of great entertainment, professional coverage and a showcase of excellent boxing skills with all fighters showing incredible bravery and confidence in the ring. Here’s how the night went down:
Emily Evans V Andrea Szolbroda
Whilst both students were representing Uni Of, Emily was fighting out of Hallam’s corner to create some sense of rivalry. It was an all-out war in the first with both fighters giving it their all and landing a series of significant strikes in a round that was too close to call. Both fighters had to improve their defence if they were to get the edge. Into the second round and Andrea landed a beautiful combination halfway through causing a countdown for Emily. Emily responded well however and ended the round strong after connecting with multiple clean jabs and hooks. With both Emily and Andrea tiring in the third, shots became more laboured but still connected and both fighters can be proud of their efforts as they left it all out there in the ring. Whilst the bout was very tight, Andrea was victorious with a unanimous decision.
Winner: Andrea (Unanimous)
Daniel Charlton V Stephan Fleming
Early energetic sparring between the two yet Stephan had great movement bobbing and weaving the majority of Daniels’s shots. Stephan showed great boxing skills to pick his shots smartly and dodge oncoming attacks to impress the judges after round one. Despite Daniel’s best efforts, Stephan picked up from where he left off, avoiding every shot and attacking Daniel with force. Two impressive combos scored Stephan two countdowns on his opponent in round two. Early in the 3rd, Stephan chose his jab well and was able to finish his rival off scoring his third and final countdown. The fight was a highlight of Stephan’s boxing ability and he looks to have a bright future in boxing.
Winner: Stephan (Stoppage in 3rd)
Adam Mason V Andrea Zhang
Adam and Andrea looked calm and collected as they headed into the first. Both were quick out the blocks trading blow for blow but it was Hallam’s Adam Mason who unleashed a plethora of hard-hitting shots. The flurry of shots was too much for Andrea who tried to hold on but after two countdowns, the fight was stopped in the first. It was a quick and effective display from Adam who has some power behind him. That took the scores to 2-1 to Uni Of.
Winner: Adam (Stoppage in 1st)
Tom Ryan V Matt Weaver
Yet again both fighters were bouncing on their feet looking confident ahead of their bout. Great uppercuts by Tom in the clinch were a theme of the first round but Matt responded excellently with an assault of hooks which bloodied Tom’s nose. That series of shots inflicted two countdowns on Tom who did well to see through the round. Matt proceeded to strike the shot of the night so far with a fierce left hook which left the ref no choice but to call the fight. A great competitive fight but Matt showed his class, defending well and showing the killer instinct to cause the stoppage. 3-1 Uni Of.
Winner: Matt (Stoppage in 2nd)
Gavin Ramchelawon V Chamika Perera
Gavin looked to be the more at ease of the two as he was jeering up the crowd with confidence. Two similar fighters who were looking to use their reach to their advantage which caused a very even opening round. Gavin did land a neat combo on Chamika in the second round causing him to fall, but the ref ruled it a slip and not a knockdown. With both fighters slipping around the ring, it was Chamika who started to come into his own slipping Gav’s punches well and landing a few significant blows to Gav’s chin. Still all to fight for heading into the third. Gavin, knowing he had a point deduction due to three back-of-the-head violations, put on a great display in the third causing a countdown for his opponent and generally dominating the round from start to finish. Despite his great last round, the deduction proved too costly for Gavin as Chamika came out victorious after another war of a fight. 4-1 Uni Of.
Winner: Chamika (Unanimous)
Alex Gittens V Igor Kolasa
Igor looked to have previous experience as he had Sheffield City boxing gym in his corner for this bout. Both fighters clearly had boxing skills but it was Igor who looked to have more as he put on a great display in the first, showing great movement and shot selection culminating in the first countdown for Alex. Alex did well to impose himself on the fight in the second, growing in confidence and edging the round in terms of performance. Yet he was unlucky to be caught with a great overhand right by Igor which caused the 2nd countdown to end the round. In an exhausting last round for the fighters, it was Alex who took the front foot landing great shot after great shot and clearly winning the round to result in a very close fight indeed. The tight affair was reflected in the result with a split decision in favour of Uni Of in a bout that really could have gone either way. 5-1 Uni Of.
Winner: Igor (Split decision)
Pransheel Madhukar V Yuui Heya
Pransheel came out to the classic boxing tune of Eye of the Tiger paired with some shadow boxing to appeal to the crowd. Yuui responded with a great walkout song choice of Man Don’t Care. Yuui showed huge amounts of boxing experience in the first, mostly dominating the round with clean combinations throughout. However, Pransheel did end the round with a few clean shots. Yuui picked up where he left off in the second, boxing with an immense amount of confidence and showing the levels between him and his opponent. He eventually scored a countdown as he struck Pransheel with a clean one-two. Pransheel showed grit and heart in the third but it wasn’t to be as Yuui rounded off his professional performance with another successful round of boxing. 6-1 Uni Of.
Winner: Yuui (Unanimous)
Vanda Sandhu V Rosie Shalpley
There was not much to write home about in the first with both fighters opting for a cautious approach to feel each other out for the later rounds. The second round was where the fight took off with both coming out much more aggressive. However, it was Vanda who edged the round after landing shot after shot which got the Hallam crowd off of their feet in support. Knowing she was down in the rounds, Rosie came out in full force in the last round hitting Vanda with multiple jabs to the point where she scored a countdown to edge the bout in her favour. 7-1 Uni Of.
Winner: Rosie (Unanimous)
Shadrak Osungbesan V Chris Barrett
Shadrak entered with a strong walkout choosing Kanye West’s Power as his song whilst his opponent, Chris opted for Carry on Wayward Son for his song. Plenty of clinches and aimless swings from both fighters were present to start the fight but it was Chris who seemed to be the more precise. Despite this, Shadrak was able to connect on a mean right hook at the end of the round to cause a countdown for his opponent. As both fighters tired, the clinches continued but the Hallam fighter was in the ascendancy and dominated Chris in the second round causing two countdowns. The ref saw that to be enough to eventually call the fight. 7-2 Uni Of.
Winner: Shadrak (Stoppage in 2nd)
Ed Brown V Reuban Hothersall
Ed was clearly a fan favourite as the whole Hallam side was on their feet for his walkout to Country Road. Reuben enters to an equally crowd-pleasing song of Till I Collapse by Eminem. Ed spurred on by his support, looked to take the fight to the Uni Of fighter but Reuban was more than up for the challenge as both fighters engaged in a thrilling slug-fest of a first round. Reuben certainly upped his levels in the second round as he hit Ed with a flurry of strikes that would’ve gained him valuable points on the judges’ scorecards. In what can be best described as an all-out war, this was easily the fight of the night with both Ed and Reuben getting spectators off their seats with a battle of hard-hitting shots every few seconds. It was a tough one to call the winner but Ed just edged it to his strikes being more significant. 7-3 Uni Of.
Winner: Ed (Unanimous)
Louis Deveroux V Esam Yourani
Louis bounced out to I Predict A Riot whilst Esam enters to Rizzle Kicks’ Skip To The Good Bit. It was a tight and competitive affair between the two with Louis using his height and reach advantage well, but Esam had the better movement and landed the bigger blows winning him round one. Esam went into the second showcasing some amazing head movement to avoid the majority of the shots coming from Louis and even hitting the Hallam fighter with the better strikes yet again. In the third, Louis came into his own landing a lot of damaging hooks to Esam in a bid to even up the scores. As a result, Louis did enough for the victory as he claimed a win by split decision in one of the tightest fights of the night. 7-4 Uni Of.
Winner: Louis (Split decision)
Hakeem Niwaz V Conrad Griffiths
This was a much more measured start to the bout compared to previous fights in the night with both fighters engaging in some early sparring. Yet Hakeem would have to be the happier of the two as he was calm and collected in the first round, picking his shots well and executing flawlessly. A tighter second round followed with very little to split the two fighters who went blow for blow in search of points. A draw seemed to be likely for round two. In a rather subdued final round where both fighters were clearly tired, neither landed any shots of significance but Hakeem finished stronger with a neat combination. Rather unsurprisingly, it was Hakeem who took home the win after securing a unanimous decision from the judges. It was this victory which sparked hopes of a Hallam comeback on the night as it took the scores to 7-5 to Uni Of.
Winner: Hakeem (Unanimous)
Jack Kipling V Alastair Babbington
Due to the height advantage of Jack, Alastair opted for a low stance which proved to be very effective in the first round as the Hallam fighter was unable to land anything of significance due to the covered frame of Alastair. On the other hand, the Uni Of fighter chose his shots well and landed more shots to win round one. Two very tired fighters entered round two and nothing of note happened as both seemed to be conserving energy for the finale where the winner takes all. In the third, both fighters struggled with the height difference resulting in a lack of significant blows and combinations making this a fight where the defence was the key factor. But it was Alastair who took home the spoils which turned out to be the win that gave Uni Of the overall victory on the night. 8-5 Uni Of.
Winner: Alastair (Unanimous)
Richard Naylor V Kenneth Anigboro
This was it, the main event and a fight for the Yorkshire Development Belt. The favourite, Richard came out to She’s So Lovely whilst Kenneth marched out to his war song of Thunderstruck. For the vacant Yorkshire Class B Challange Belt at 92kg, this fight promised to be a spectacle. And a spectacle it was in some ways as, after some early professional sparring, Kenneth unleashed a devastating hook that seemed to knock out Richard and end the fighter in swift fashion. Upon further inspection, however, Richard’s knee gave way under him which unfortunately ruled him out of the fight on medical grounds. As a result, Kenneth was crowned the new Yorkshire Class B Challenge Champion as well as rounding off the last win for Uni Of in a thrilling night of boxing. Final score Uni Of – 9, Hallam – 5.
Winner: Kenneth (Stoppage in 1st)
