The Bright Future of UoB Boxing

By Yusuf Yiğit Topçu, First Year Theatre and Performance Studies

Joseph Muckle who is 6”2 and standing at 75kg with 1-1 record and Isaac Rincon(4-4) who is 5”10 and weighing 63.5kg with (4-4) record, both proudly representing the University Of Bristol Amateur Boxing Club.

Isaac competed at BUCS. Image courtesy of Isaac Rincon

Both of the fighters have said that they have started boxing at an earlier age Isaac (13) and Joseph (17) although unlike Isaac, Joseph did not have any prior fights under his belt before university and he said that it was a big goal of his to have a boxing match.

When we asked what got them into boxing, Joseph said 'it was the aspiration to be more like my dad and learn to be able to defend myself,' he also mentioned that growing up, he and his dad used to watch Rocky movies together.

In terms of their training schedules; Isaac has said that the club training is from Monday to Thursday evenings and that he does sprints almost every morning as well as strength training on the days he doesn’t have boxing training. Joseph gave a similar response but added that he spars a couple of times a week. He also explained the training at the boxing club; 'At Downend we do pad work and incorporating, getting slowly into sparring, and sometimes it's more harder sparring, simulating an actual fight, focusing more on head movement and speed.'

Boxing is definitely a sport that is unforgiving of bad habits especially at the competition level. Both guys have said that boxing helped them gain some healthy habits and get rid of other harmful ones.

Starting with unhealthy habits, Joseph has said that 'Boxing has been very good to me and got me out of smoking or vaping.' He said that smoking has a major impact on the training and that he could instantly feel the difference if he ever smokes the day before a training session.

And as for healthy habits they both mentioned the importance of scheduling, and Isaac emphasised the importance of discipline on mental strength and said that 'If you say you are going to wake up at a certain time, wake up at that time because I think if you let little things get to you, it goes against your mental strength. If you stick to doing what you say you are going to do it helps develop your mental strength.'

So how do they balance training, University work and social life? The responses to this question were rather interesting as both fighters had different approaches.

Joseph said that 'If I’m being honest, my life started revolving around the training and I’ve been going out much less. My daily routine, go to my lectures, come home, rest, eat and train.' He went on, 'I try to eat healthy Also it depends on if you are just coming up to a fight or if it is a little while beforehand. A month before I am bit more lenient with myself but when there are 2 weeks left, I won’t go out drinking because it puts you in a bad state for training.'

For Joe, it is especially difficult to balance university work with training closer to the fights as the thought of fights can become nerve wrecking and end up being all you can think about.

Isaac disagreed: 'I think training and university works well together because from Monday to Thursday, I would finish my Uni work and then go to training. I would be conscious that I need to get much work done before the training. You can still go out a couple of times a week and enjoy yourself as long as you train hard enough.'

Diets are also important. Isaac pointed out the importance of eating whole foods with a focus on beef and eggs although he also mentioned that diet is very subjective and different diets work for different people. Joe also joked

'I am not Gordon Ramsey but I can cook to a certain extent'

When I asked them about their post-fight feelings following their most recent fights their responses were again rather different to one another. For Joe 'It’s the best feeling on earth if I'm being honest. I was just so relieved… For two weeks before the fight I couldn’t think of anything else. It was my birthday a week and a half before the fight but I couldn’t enjoy anything, it was all I could think about.' Isaac echoed these sentiments: 'Pretty great, main thing is if you win, lose or draw. You have to watch the fight, analyse it and see what you did wrong and work on it. The reason boxing is so good is because it's down to you, it’s all about how bad do you want it.'

About their future aspirations within boxing, they both have said that they would like to keep competing and Isaac has emphasised his wish to compete in the National Development Championships and bring it home. One of Joseph's goal was to join the boxing society’s committee and get a boxing coach qualification. After their AGM, Joseph achieved his goal when he got voted in as Captain for 2025/26!

As for tips for freshers and people interested in joining the Boxing Society they have both spoken and given their advice. They said to get into it as early as you can at the start of the year and to go to as many sessions every week as possible depending on how serious you would like to get with it. However, the most important emphasis was made on consistency.

'I recommend it(boxing) to absolutely anybody. I definitely recommend it to anybody because aspects of discipline translate into all aspects of your life' Isaac said.

Finally, Isaac has spoken about coping with the losses and struggles of boxing. 'The culture in amateur boxing is not about winning or losing, it's all about experience. And amateur boxing is about dodgy decisions and it’s part of it. You shouldn’t be afraid of losing at all. As long as I know I boxed well enough to win that’s all that matters. Win or lose, you watch the fight, analyse it, and learn from it.'

The future of UoB Boxing looks very bright and with names like Isaac Rincon and Joseph Muckle as well as many other brilliant athletes under its wing, our faith in the UoB Amateur Boxing Club remains strong and without a doubt, we will keep seeing positive results.