The Fighter Returns to Bristol

By Ed Wallace, Sports Sub-Editor, and Seb McGrath, Fourth Year, French and German

Last Friday, 13th March, The Fighter’s Fight Night saw 30 previously-untrained boxers showcase what their two months of coaching had been for. Yet again, the judges were left just as awed by the talent showcased as the crowd of 1500 University of Bristol students. We spoke to the family and friends of Ciarán Kilbane to learn more about what drives him and the preparation behind his fight.

Speaking to Ciarán’s parents gave an idea of why he had put himself forward: though hockey is his prime interest, he dabbles in many different societies at the university, and boxing was one more sport to add to the list. Like any parents, they were apprehensive about this decision, with his father, who has seen his fair share of time in the ring, explaining that it is easy to take a punch, but hard to walk away with a loss. Thankfully, after three bloody rounds of high-energy boxing, Ciarán was judged unanimously to be the victor. Speaking to a friend of his, we discovered this was certainly well-earned: ‘he’s taken it very seriously’, opting not to drink during the last couple of months. The fighters attended two training sessions a week, and most used the rest of their time to improve their fitness, a non-negotiable in such a demanding sport.

It was hard to find a gap in the throng of Ciarán’s supporters to speak to him, but he was more than happy to talk to us, describing the feeling, aptly, as “electrifying’. He hadn’t felt anything like it before. Ciarán told us how he ‘looked over at [his] corner every round’, giving him ‘something to fight for’. Just as motivating was his decision to raise money for Young Lives vs Cancer, a charity that supports young people and families facing cancer, providing practical help and emotional support when it’s needed most. This is also the charity of choice for Ciarán’s upcoming Medics’ Strip Show, so it made sense to push all efforts towards reaching the fundraiser’s target of £1000, 125% of which has already been raised.

Yet for every fighter tasting victory on Friday night, there was another walking away with a loss, and one of the most compelling stories of the evening belonged to Radost Yosifova. A third-year who, by her own admission, had never thrown a serious punch in her life before January, she took on one of the night's strongest female bouts and came out on the wrong side of the judges' decision. And yet, catching up with her in the aftermath, she was grinning.

‘Honestly? I'm buzzing’ she laughed, still visibly pumped from the fight. ‘I lost and I still feel incredible.’ It's that kind of paradox that makes Fight Night what it is. Radost had signed up on something of a whim, a dare from a flatmate, she confessed, and had arrived at the first training session fully expecting to quietly drop out within a fortnight. She didn't. Instead, she found herself hooked, not just on the training, but on the identity that came with it. ‘There's something about telling people you're a boxer’, she grinned. "Even for two months. Even if you've never boxed before.’

The preparation had been brutal by her own account. While she stuck to the two weekly sessions, she'd thrown herself into supplementary running and fitness work with a commitment that surprised even her friends. ‘I think I was just too stubborn to show up underprepared’, she said. In the ring on Friday, that stubbornness was on full display, her opponent may have edged the decision, but Radost pushed her to the very last bell, drawing some of the loudest reactions of the night from a crowd that had a nose for genuine effort.

What struck us most was her attitude towards the loss itself. There was no deflection, no excuses, just a remarkably clear-eyed perspective.