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Bristol Student Fight Night 2024: As it happened

Epigram were at SWX to cover another evening of intense student boxing action, with eleven fights fought between UoB and UWE students. Read our live coverage to find out who came out on top.

Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night

Live Reporting: Faniki Deche, Sports Editor, Adam Mountain, Co-Deputy Sports Editor, Sean Lawrenson, Co-Deputy Sports Editor, Mihai Rosca, Co-Deputy Sports Editor, Karen Mends, Opinions Editor, and Rachel Shortall, Second Year, Philosophy and English.

Epigram returns with more live coverage of the biggest Bristol student sporting events of the year. Tonight we will be bringing you ringside coverage of Bristol Student Fight Night live from SWX. With eleven out of twenty-one bouts being fought between students of University of Bristol and University of the West of England, the stakes are higher than ever as this evening's fighters will be gunning for both personal glory and their university's bragging rights. Join us as we bring you live reporting on all fights and the latest pre- and post-fight reactions from competitors, coaches and the crowd. Please refresh the page every few minutes to load the latest updates from tonight's clashes.

22:45 - That brings us to the end of a brilliant night! Twenty-one fights, eleven of which were part of one of the biggest sporting rivalries on the planet, and yet it still went down to the final fight! University of Bristol reigns victorious, to the sheer ecstacy of the UoB fans (and us)! Epigram hopes you have enjoyed reading our coverage as much as we did writing it, and we look forward to having you join us at the next major student sporting event, but until then, good night!
22:42 - ‘Watching from Heaven’ - Hadi, the man who won it all, has said that he came into this fight with a bit of beef, ‘you can’t love the guy you’re fighting. I had to dig deep.’ Hadi cites the tragic death of his mum, who passed two days before he signed up for the fight, as his main driving force. ‘I felt my mum watching from heaven’ he says when looking back on the second round, when he looked to be in serious trouble.
Image Courtesy of Mihai Rosca
22:38 - Hadi 'The Baddy' wins it for UoB in a dramatic finale! Both fighters gave it absolutely everything and were clearly fighting through some pain in that final round. But 'The Baddy' just about pulls through with a strong final round performance and the UoB faithful have gone absolutely berserk! What an unbelieveable end to a fantastic night!
Image Courtesy of Rachel Shortall
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22:36 - UoB 6-5 UWE - University of Bristol Wins!
22:33 - This is such an evenly contested fight and suitable as the decider for tonight. It has opened up a little bit as reaction times start to wade. I would not bet my maintenance loan on it, but I would guess Tanaka just won the round; a brilliant cross being the decisive moment of the contest so far.
22:30 - The noise in here is deafening! A very competitive first round, but not all that much by way of clear striking. The tension in the room seems to be reflecting on the fighters, who need to relax.
22:27 - Fight 21: So this is it! After ten fights between UoB and UWE students, we stand drawn at 5-5. Fighting the deciding battle is Tanaka in the red for UWE, and Hadi 'The Baddy' Makhmudov in blue for UoB. No pressure whatsoever boys...
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
22:24 - ‘I’m going to give Fight Night the best K.O in its history’ - Hadi ‘The Baddy’ Makhmudov has the difficult position of being part of the last fight, where a fight can either erupt a crowd, or dampen them. Despite this, he tells Mihai he’s feeling extremely confident, and that his bad blood with opponent Tanaka will be enough to inspire him to a win.
Image Courtesy of Mihai Rosca
22:22 - 'The God of War' claims victory in the battlefield! Tonight's action is going right down to the wire! Barbulescu's heroics have pulled things all level for UWE, who were 5-1 down at one point. It was a strong performance from the Romanian boxer and in the end a comfortable unanimous decision from the judges.
'The God of War' Reigns Supreme. Image courtesy of Faniki Deche
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22:21 - UoB 5-5 UWE
22:18 - Following an accidental blow to the back of the head for Faour, the fight became a bit sloppy and lost the initial high intensity it began with. That was until it did not again! 'The God of War' burst back into life and was unlucky to not see one hook in particular knock his opponent down.
Image courtesy of Faniki Deche
22:15 - These fighters both pack quite the punch, but undoubtedly 'The God of War' has taken the first round. He's exuding confidence and this string of recent UWE victories may well have given him a second wind to win this for his university.
22:11 - Fight 20: Our penultimate fight of the night and it's the last of Paul's picks. For UWE, Ares 'The God of War' Barbulescu wears red, and for UoB, Rakan 'The Beast From The Middle East' Faour wears blue.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
22:10 - ‘The God of War’ - Ares Barbulescu hails from Romania, and speaking to Mihai, says he has been boxing for quite a while, having had a fight almost three years ago. On his opponent Rakan, Ares said ‘he has power, but I don’t think he can stop skill. We Romanians are good at sport. It’s in our blood.’
Image Courtesy of Mihai Rosca
22:07 - Technical Knockout! 'The Ghost' absolutely flattens Irwin! Our eight TKO of the night, as Morally comes flying out the blocks. He struck Irwin once, and he just about held balance. He struck him a second time in the right cheek, and Irwin came crashing down. Are UWE making a dramatic late comeback?
Image courtesy of Faniki Deche
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22:06 - UoB 5-4 UWE
22:06 - Fight 19: And here they come now. Samuel 'Ghost' Morally represents UWE in red, and UoB pool and snooker player, Harley 'Irritable' Irwin, wears blue.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
22:02 - With not long to go before he fights, Samuel ‘Ghost’ Morally spoke to Mihai, telling that he hadn’t seen much of his opponent, the ‘irritable’ Harvey Irwin, and that he likes to keep himself to himself. When push comes to shove though, Morally said he had no qualms punching Irwin in the face.
22:01 - Technical Knockout. 'The Silencer' sends his opponent crashing to the floor. As I said, there was no way these fighters could maintain that sort of intensity for the entire fight. One excellent uppercut from 'The Silencer' sends a bloody-faced Graville to the floor and the referee decides that he has seen enough to call a TKO.
Image Courtesy of Faniki Deche
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22:00 - UoB 5-3 UWE
21:57 - What a fantastic start to this contest! This is probably the bloodiest fight we have seen so far tonight with both fighters swinging at full power at lightening speed. It will only take for one of those to land in the right spot and this fight will be over.
21:54 - Fight 18: Representing UWE is Mo 'The Silencer' Hashemi in red, and for UoB is Charles 'Cup Champ' Graville. Remember, UoB only need one more win to be declared event champions.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
21:53 - ‘He hasn’t been to training much’ - Those are the words of Charles Graville, who reiterates that he’s feeling good about his fight, and plans on joining UOB’s Boxing society in the future.
21:53 - ‘Two Rounds Max’ - As the nickname 'The Silencer’ suggests, Mo Hashemi has little time for words. That being said, Faniki did manage to pin him down for a few moments, where he spoke with poise ahead of his fight, coming up in the second half of the show. ‘I know he’s a tough guy but I know I’m ready. I’ve been training, I got the stamina, I got the power for it, everything’s ready.’ His final words to Faniki demonstrates his remarkable self-belief of things to come, ‘Let’s give it two rounds max.’ Only time will tell whether Hashemi is proved right in his predictions.
21:52 - 'Astronomic'Cele' delivers an out-of-this-world final round to pull one back for UWE! It was not made easy for him by the 'Barra'cuda', but certainly the judges reached the correct decision there and 'Astronomic'Cele' celebrates wildly.
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21:51 - UoB 5-2 UWE
21:47 - The fight has opened up more now. Both competitors managed to land clean strikes into their opponent's face, and both looked quite dazzled for the majority of that second round. That being said, and while it has been tight, 'Astronomic'Cele' has been more consistently on the front foot.
21:44 - A quick start from 'Astronomic'Cele' appeared to unsettle Barra'cuda', who needs to compose himself right now before stepping back out. Could this be the start of a UWE comeback?
21:41 - Fight 17: Can UoB continue this winning streak? Njabulo 'Astronomic'Cele' wears red for UWE, while Barra'cuda' sports the blue for UoB.
Image courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night

21:40 - Felix ‘Make ‘em’ Mac-Fall didn’t have a chance to live up to his nickname of making people fall, with his fight over in less than ten seconds due to his opponents injury. However, chatting to Rachel post-match, he says he’s proud regardless, and that ‘The crowd were amazing. All my mates were in the front row. Talking about how much progress he’d made, Felix quipped ‘the first time I put on a pair of boxing gloves was in week one!’

Image Courtesy of Rachel Shortall
21:39 - 'The Bison' wins the Clash of the Titans! Probably the best fight of the night, 'The Bison' takes the win to further extend UoB's advantage. Volavola by no means had a bad fight and at times looked to swing the contest in his favour with some brilliant striking, but in the end he could not handle his beef with 'The Bison'.
Image courtesy of Karen Mends
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21:38 - UoB 5-1 UWE
21:34 - Both fighters look to have really hurt each other, but they keep pushing through. An unbelievable uppercut from 'The Bison' seemed to have won him the round, but this was then cancelled out by a brilliant drop of the shoulders and cross to the face from Volavola. It will be a tight call no doubt.
Image courtesy of Karen Mends
21:31 - As you might expect in a fight between a 6'1" rugby player and 6'5" brute who go to rival univiersities, this is some heavy hitting. Both fighters have landed very big punches and both have bloodied faces.
21:29 - Fight 16: Clash of the Titans! Here we go then, it's the fight most us will have had our eye on coming into tonight. These two fighters are absolutely huge! Red: UWE rugby player, Mike To'a Volavola. Blue: UoB's Luca 'The Bison' Scherba.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
21:27 - The Clash of Titans is imminent. Speaking to Luca ‘The Bison’ Scherba, who stands at a whopping 6’5”, he described how he was initially planned to fight two opponents, but one had to dropout as the result of a broken jaw. He also said he had a huge amount of respect for his opponent, Ismail ‘The Arabian Phantom’ Hamdy. Luca’s physical presence is bound to have an impact in this fight, whether or not it will work to his benefit or detriment, we shall soon see.
Image Courtesy of Mihai Rosca
21:26 - A shame for both fighters as Harriss walks off injured. That will go down as a UoB victory, however.
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21:25 - UoB 4-1 UWE
21:23 - 'The Hammer' has injured himself within about ten seconds, and the fight has been stopped. He is clutching at his shoulder and looks unable to continue.
21:21 - Fight 15: Now with a slight lead, there appears to be an extra impetus to go out an win for these UoB fighters. In the red corner stands UWE's Fin 'The Hammer' Harriss, and in the blue stands UoB's Felix 'Make 'em Mac-fall.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
21:19 - Technical Knockout! The 'Iron Man' extends UoB's lead! The second round carried on much the same as the first, and after multiple interventions from the referee, it seemed only a matter of time before a TKO was announced.
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21:18 - UoB 3-1 UWE
21:15 - UoB's 'Iron Man' has made a brilliant start to this, landing a massive one-two within ten seconds. UWE's 'Hitman' needs to find a way to wrestle back some control before this battle is beyond him. It may well already be.
21:12 - Fight 14: Hitman vs Iron Man! We're back with more UoB vs UWE action! Representing UWE in red is Tom 'The Hitman' Haslam, and for UoB in blue, out walks Max 'Iron Man' Irens.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
21:10 - Rachel managed to track down Max ‘Iron Man’ Irens before his fight, coming up next. He said he feels the matchup is fair, having both started boxing at the same time, but ‘my opponent is a decent guy, so I’m not sure how it will translate in the ring.’
21:09 - 'The Pharoah' rules the ring! It was another even contest, but on the whole there can't be too much argument with Mansour winning. He landed one cracker of a cross right in the face of 'The Conqueror', and looked like he knew he'd won it after that.
21:05 - The rough and tumble continues as both fighters have really got in each other's faces, and there is a lot of shoving in the ropes. In all of this 'The Conqueror' loses balance and almost falls out of the ring, much to the excitement of the crowd. This could go either way still.
21:02 - What a start! A real high-intensity fight and both fighters have come out with a real purpose here. It's all getting a bit ugly as 'The Pharoah' grabs 'The Conqueror' by the waist and launches him, which the red corner are not happy about. That being said, 'The Pharoah' looks to hold the advantage currently.
20:59 - Fight 13: Another all-UWE affair now. In the red corner, Freddie 'The Conqueror' Longmuir looks determined, and in the blue, Youssef 'The Pharoah' Mansour mirrors the energy back.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
20:58 - Moving away from the action in the ring for one moment, Mihai had the chance to speak to Lara, a member of the UWE boxing committee who is also one of the cornerman for tonight. Telling him that it was her first time she had ever done this, she said it had been interesting to coach everyone and see how they had progressed. ‘Blue corner’s doing pretty good tonight!’
Image Courtesy of Mihai Rosca
20:56 - 'JP' Pearce wins the Battle of Britain! A tough battle, but as the contest drew on 'JP' clearly held the upper hand and did well to stake out a victory from a fight which'La Brute' made quite the challenge for him.
Image courtesy of Faniki Deche
20:52 - Suddenly the fight bursts into life! Perhaps as both competitors grow more tired, neither are moving quite as fast as they were, and these punches are starting to arrive thick and fast. While not a bad showing from 'La Brute', 'JP' certainly had the better round.
20:49 - An unusual fight compared to all the others we have seen tonight. Both fighters, particuarly 'La Brute' have been very good at evading their opponents and have struggled to land much on the other. It could take just one punch to settle this.
20:47 - Fight 12: 'The Battle of Britain'. In the red corner steps out James 'JP' Pearce for UWE, while Frenchman and BIMM student, William 'La Brute' Vergonnet files into the blue corner. Both fighters look angry so I think we can expect that to show.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
20:43 - 'Batter-Your-Head-In' Ben manages just that! 'The Creeper' fought valiantly and this fight feels like another one that could have swung the other way on a different night. That being said, Ben did very well to just clinch each round one at a time.
Image Courtesy of Karen Mends
20:41 - The second round draws to a close and it is noticeable that both fighters look to be conserving energy before a big wave of attacking. Possibly too close to call in this round.
Image Courtesy of Karen Mends
20:38 - By the end of that first round, both fighters must be feeling exhausted. It has been a very energetic fight and both competitors have landed decent punches on the other, although I would guess Ben just clinched it with one particuarly robust hook.
20:35 - Fight 11: After a short interval, we are back to the action with the TE Smackdown. Friends become foes as two students on the same UWE Team Entrepreneurship course fight. Red: Luke 'The Creeper' Barker. Blue: 'Batter-Your-Head-In' Ben.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
20:25 - A hard-earned Chang victory gives UoB the lead! A fantastic fight ends in UoB triumph. 'The Notorious' Mitchell can hold his head high, having shown real determination till the end, but ultimately Chang did enough to win each round as they came.
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20:24 - UoB 2-1 UWE
Image Courtesy of Rachel Shortall
20:20 - The second round plays out much like the first: both fighters showing an ability to land some very heavy punches, but Chang looks that little bit lighter on his feet. 'The Notorious' is looking increasingly tired compared to Chang, who will want to finish his opponent off now.
20:17 - A good start from Mitchell slightly unravels as the round drew on. Chang, who is really getting some grief from the crowd, seems to be utilising this to his advantage, and by the end of the certainly held the advantage.
20:14 - Fight 10: Another heated UoB vs UWE clash up next. 'The Notorious' Ollie Mitchell waltzes in red out to the delight of most of this crowd. Bristol cricketer, Rory Chang, walks out to a cacophony of boos and takes the blue corner.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
20:12 - Karen has found UoB’s own Rory Chang, who feels incredibly confident before his fight against UWE’s Ollie Mitchell. ‘I had a muay Thai fight in Thailand and that made me want to get into boxing when I got to uni. I feel really good for my upcoming fight, don’t want to be cocky but I’m feeling quite good. I’ve sparred my opponent before but we both didn’t want to show too much but it was alright. In terms of tactics for the fight, I’m just going to throw some jabs at the start and don’t want to do anything too aggressive till later.’
20:10 - Technical Knockout! King Khoung gives us a dominant display. A comfortable fight for the blue fighter and as expected the referee ends the contest before we even reached the second round.
20:08 - This is not a great start for Sunya, who did well to not lose his balance following wave after wave of Nguyen punching. The referee will be watching this closely, but I doubt Sunya will see to the end of three rounds.
20:06 - Fight 9: Immediately onto our next fight, we have an all UWE affair. Aranku 'D.' Sunya is sporting the red gloves, while Muay Thai martial artist King Khoung Nguyen dons the blue.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
20:01 - Technical Knockout! Powerful sorcery from 'The Wizard'? Just like that, the fight has been called in the first round. 'The Wizard' looked a class above his opponent out there and did not let him get off the ropes for even one moment. A bitter pill for the 'Stinger' to swallow, but he was just schooled by 'The Wizard'.
19:58 - Fight 8: Next up we have an all UoB clash selected as one of coach Paul's pick. In the red corner, Sam 'Stinger' Hartop walks out to a swarm of boos, while Ollie 'The Wizard' Wells will be hoping to conjure up some magic in blue.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
19:55 - Mihai has just spoken to some of Iron Ayishah’s friends, who couldn’t be more proud of her efforts. “I love Aisha. Positive affirmations. I knew she was gonna win the whole time. Aisha you’re so strong. She knows who she is."
19:55 - Ayihsah is crowned winner! A brilliant fight sees Ayihsah just clinch the win, albeit by the skin of her teeth. Neither fighter left anything in the ring and Ayihsah will be delighted to take the win having worked so hard.
19:52 - Round two has been excellent as well. Both fighters showing that they will not give up here. While Ayihsah might have edged the first round, the iron fist of Nobles did require the referee to check Ayihsah was okay. All to play for in the final round.
Image courtesy of Rachel Shortall
19:48 - Both fighters saw periods of control in that round. 'Iron Fist' came out the stronger of the two landing a succession of clean strikes to the head and one particularly strong strike to the body, which might have winded Ayihsah. However, Ayisah did well to recover and landed a number of mighty crosses to the face of Nobles.
19:46 - Fight 7: We have our second and final women's fight of the night. Both waving the UoB flag, in the red corner Izzy 'Iron Fist' Nobles struts out and Iron Ayihsah follows in the blue. Both look very confident that they can win this.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night

19:44 - 'It is what it is' - Faniki has been talking to Joe McSweeney after his loss to Phil Newton-Young. He has seemingly taken the defeat with a lot of grace, saying ‘I lost but it is what it is. I’ll keep training and have more fights. He had the stamina. I didn’t have anything in me. I’m knackered but yeah he edged it and it is what it is’.

19:43 - Technical Knockout! A demolition job from Rumaldo. Just as we spoke about Chapman holding on the referee declares that enough is enough. It was thoroughly dominant from Rumaldo who ecstatically celebrates.
19:41 - This is getting ugly now and Chapman will do well to hang on in during this third round. His gameplan appears to be damage limitation at this point. Rumaldo could not be enjoying this more.
19:38 - Rumaldo is not messing about! Rumaldo comes flying out of the blocks and is simply to quick for 'The VK Viking', landing a succession of heavy strikes clean on his opponents nose. As the round continues, Rumaldo lands not one, but two, lethal crosses to send Chapman crashing down.
19:35 - Fight 6: A very pumped up Eric Rumaldo charges into the red corner while roaring. The much calmer Todd 'The VK Viking' Chapman fills the blue corner.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night

19:32 - ‘On Top of the World’ - Izzy Hood has been reflecting on her emphatic victory earlier on, and she cannot hide her joy. She told Mihai ‘I feel ecstatic, honestly, I’m on top of the world. As I was fighting I was hopeful that it was going my way, but you never know, I knew that I was doing the best I could and I knew that I was a bit bigger than Mercedes and I had that to my advantage. They called it a technical knockout early and I was standing there like wow and oh god I didn’t know. My strategy was all mentality. One of my coaches said to me, mentally you’ve got the energy. My friends were all front row and that really spurred me on. Now I’m gonna go crazy and start drinking again, it’s been so long since I’ve drank, might have a pint or five!’

Image courtesy of Mihai Rosca
19:32 - We are pausing the action for one moment as one very unhappy individual pushes his way through the crowd to use some choice language towards the referee.
19:30 - The 'Hurricane' has just blown his opponent away. UoB equalise with a brilliant final round that exploded into life. Both fighters seemed to share the mentality that they could knock their opponent out before the other, as that final round saw little by way of defending. Smith will be delighted to have narrowly edged that one (and so are we).
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19:30: UoB 1-1 UWE
19:27 - Similar stuff in the second round, and the judges won't be having fun trying to pick out a winner between these two. What initially looked like a slight advantage for the 'Hurricane' may well have diminished.
19:24 - Another competitive fight, but UoB's 'Hurricane' will be the happier of the two landing one potentially crucial hook into Luka's right cheek.
19:20 - Fight 5: Expected some seriously heavy hitting as UWE Boxer Max 'ML' Luka takes up the red corner, while UoB weightlifter, Harry 'The Hurricane' Smith stands cooly in the blue.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
19:17 - Russell Yates has been speaking to Faniki following his dominant performance against Connor Reid. ‘I always knew he was orthodox. I have the outside reach on him. He was always trying to outstep me so I made sure whilst he was stepping into position, I’d throw a punch at him.’ Yates was in complete control of that one, inflicting a serious amount of damage to Reid.
19:16 - 'Superman' wins with a heroic performance! By the narrowest of margins Newton Young reigns victorious. We are being told that the fight was very nearly a draw and certainly on another night McSweeney could have taken that victory.
19:15 - The third round draws to close and we really couldn't say who has won that one. Both fighters landed some very heavy blows.
19:13 - What a contest! A monstrous hook from the 'Fish' is met with a huge roar from the crowd, before 'Superman' responds with a brilliant one-two to keep his opponent penned in the corner for what must have felt an age for the 'Fish'. This fight will be decided in the final round.
19:10 - This is looking like our tighest fight of the night so far. Both competitors have done well to limit their opponent. If anyone, the 'Fish' came out the slightly stronger, having landed a clean cross to 'Superman's' head early in the round, but it's still all to play for.
19:07 - Fight 4: One of coach Paul's personally selected fights as the ones to watch, both representing UWE, in the red corner we have Phil 'Superman' Newton Young, and in the blue, Joe 'Fish' McSweeney.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
19:04 - Technical Knockout! 'Make 'em Dizzy' does just that! The second round continued much as the first and Izzy Hood celebrates in front of her fans. Hood ran the show from the off and eventually the referee was correct to call it an end early.
Image courtesy of Mihai Rosca
19:01 - Rampant from Hood! Izzy 'Make 'em Dizzy' enjoyed perhaps the perfect start and she has made Mer'slay'des really suffer in that opening round. This is looking like an uneven matchup.
18:57 - Izzy ‘Make ‘em’ Dizzy’ Hood has just been having a quick chat with Karen ahead of her fight against Mer'slay'des. She said she hadn’t sparred with Mercedes before, and noted her experience as a ring girl before, claiming it will make her better prepared for the atmosphere. We will find out how she gets on shortly.
Image courtesy of Mihai Rosca
18:56 - Fight 3: Our first female competitors step out into the ring. Both from UoB, we have Mer'slay'des in the red, and Izzy 'Make 'em Dizzy' Hood in the blue.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
18:54 - UWE take the lead! 'The K.O. Komrade' was excellent throughout and was a deserved winner. Despite 'The South Coast Smacker' still landing some decent crosses to his opponent, UWE fans will certainly take confidence that they can win following this.
Image courtesy of Mihai Rosca
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18:54 - UoB 0-1 UWE
18:50 - 'The South Coast Smacker' needs to be very careful to not let this get beyond his control too quickly. Tatu enjoyed another very dominant round, and the referee made sure to check the UoB student was okay. This is looking like a first UWE win.
18:47 - 'The K.O. Komrade' will certainly be the happier of the two at the end of that first round. Generally looking lighter on his feet, Tatu managed to control the tempo of the fight well and so far has not looked troubled by 'The South Coast Smacker'.
18:45 - Mihai’s also been having a chat with a few of Liam ‘The South Coast Smacker’ Catchpole’s friends, who’s on next. ‘He told me about his intention to bring the pain. Liam’s a born killer. He will make this crowd very happy tonight.’
Image courtesy of Mihai Rosca
18:44 - Fight 2: Our first fight for university pride! For UWE, out steps Darius 'The K.O. Komrade' Tatu in the red. In the blue corner, UoB's Liam 'The South Coast Smacker'.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
18:40 - A dominant display from Yates seals the win! That was rampant from Yates, who clearly sensed he had the beating of his opponent. A brilliant hook to the face knocked Reid to his feet early in the final round, and frankly looked relieved to hear the bell ring at the end.
Image courtesy of Mihai Rosca
18:36 - That was excellent from Yates, who landed a string of clean strikes right into 'The Hurricane's' face, before doing well to evade from being hit himself. 'The Hurricane' is currently bleeding quite heavily and will need to compose himself before the final round.
Connor Reid’s friend enters the ring. Image courtesy of Mihai Rosca
18:33 - A very energetic start from both fighters, who both showed very quick footwork to generally evade the other. Not much to split the two as of yet.
18:31 - The bell rings and tonight's fighting is underway!
18:29 - The noise in this place is reaching deafening levels currently. Everyone in SWX is very much up for this!
18:27 - Here we go! We begin proceedings tonight with what is sure to be a corker! Getting us underway, we have the UWE Royale, where returning champions will be battling to hold onto their title. In the red corner, Connor ‘The Harare Hurricane’ Reid steps out, and Russell ‘Dwayne’ Yates takes up his position in the blue.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
18:26 - ‘The notorious’ Ollie Mitchell spoke to Mihai, feeling quietly confident about his chances against Chang. "I won't comment on my tactics, but I slept in today, Woke up at eleven, got a good nights sleep. I’m feeling excited.’
Ollie Mitchell. Image courtesy of Mihai Rosca
18:23 - Up next the Bristo Jets take to the ring for a typically excellent performance.
18:22 - Karen has just had a quick chat with two of UoB’s fighters, Iron Ayisha and Izzy ‘Iron Fist’ Nobles, who will face off against each other later on. Ayishah was confident, declaring she was ‘mainly nervous for the walkout rather than the actual fight.’ Izzy Noble is ready for business, and is excited to walk out to ‘hey sexy’ by Sexy Redd. With Ayishah bringing friends who have only recently graduated, it’s more than just the result on the line in this one.
Image Courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
18:20 - A rivalry for the ages. Of course, half of these fighters will be feeling the additional nerves that come with representing their university. From first-hand experience, we can assure you the rivalry between UoB and UWE is not something to make light of, and the divided allegiances among this crowd are clear to see (we have no biases, of course). The tension in the room will no doubt rub off on the fighters, and how well they can cope with this is likely to prove the difference between victory and defeat.
18:19 - Out step the UWE Comets to begin tonight's entertainment in what is a very busy SWX now!
18:18 - Faniki has just caught up with Todd Chapman ahead of his fight against Eric Rumaldo later in the night, "I'm feeling good. It can go either way but I'm confident. They’ll be lots of movement, ducking, diving across the ring. It’ll be good."
Image courtesy of Faniki Deche
18:17 - Nerves? What nerves? You can forgive the fighters for maybe feeling the pressure right now. We expect SWX to be rocking tonight and all the competitors will be desperate to win after eight weeks of intensive training.
18:15 - Women in boxing. Many of you may also have noticed that there will only be four female competitors this evening. Before the action begins tonight, be sure to read Karen and Rachel’s article where they joined Mercedes, Ayishah, Izzy H and Izzy N (all of whom will be representing UoB) during one of their final sparring sessions to discuss their experiences of participating in such a male-dominated sport. You will be glad to hear that they remain unfazed and raring to go, and we can only hope that this will encourage more women to take to the ring for the next Fight Night in March.
18:13 - "I’m quite calm and excited to get into the ring. I’ll keep it cool in the first round and in the second round we’ll see what happens. I think it’s gonna be a great fight. 3rd round split decision I think I’ll take the win." - Max Luka
Image courtesy of Faniki Deche
18:08 - Cherry-picked. You will notice a selection of fights have been categorised by Bristol Student Fight Night under certain titles, which they describe as: UWE Royale – Returning UWE champions will go head to head to hold onto their winning title. Paul’s Pick – These fights have been selected by the coach Paul as the ones to watch. TE Smackdown – One Team Entrepreneurship course. Two students. There can only be one winner… Battle of Britain – One Brit and one Frenchman who will win this battle? Clash of the Titans – 6’5” v 6’1” the titans take to the ring to declare just one winner. We cannot wait for these!
"Lots of first time performers, feeling ready to kick off the show" - UWE Cheerleading team.
18:06 - Coming up tonight: This evening’s fight schedule is below, with our first contest out of twenty-one beginning at 18:30. Each fight will be 3x2 minute rounds, where the judges will decide the winner at the end provided we do not have a knockout. We will also see an opening performance from UWE Comets and Bristol Jets, while UWE Dance will keep us entertained during the interval.
Image courtesy of Bristol Student Fight Night
18:03 - We are back! Good evening all and welcome as Epigram returns with more live boxing coverage. We are at SWX for tonight’s Bristol Student Fight Night, and we hope you are excited as we are. Bringing you every bit of tonight’s action on this page is myself, Adam, and my wonderful colleague sat alongside me, Sean. We have Faniki and Karen in the dressing rooms to get the latest insights from the fighters, while Mihai and Rachel are in the centre of it all, bringing us all the reactions from this absolutely bouncing crowd.

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