reported in 1956<\/a>. Interest briefly resurged , but was soon crushed the National Collegiate Athletic Association stopped sanctioning the sport in 1961. The Harvard Boxing Team was then \u201cdemoted\u201d to the Harvard Boxing Club, though members continued to train.<\/p>\nIn the decades since, the National Collegiate Boxing Association has attempted to bring college clubs back into competition. Though Harvard\u2019s club does not currently participate, under Coach Lake\u2019s leadership, they are gearing up to eventually join.<\/p>\n
Lake brings decades of experience. With 35 years training professional fighters, he has worked with world champions Sam Soloman, Dan Rosenblatt, and Mickey Ward, as well as Joe Rogan. Though he became head coach in 2024, Lake has long been at Harvard as the wrestling team\u2019s striking coach, where he worked with Olympic bronze -medalist Bekzod Abdurakhmonov in the 2010s.<\/p>\n
In 2020, boxing came to a brief halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But since then, intercollegiate boxing has again hit a resurgence. Lake thinks that this renewed interest is because, in a world where so much of life is readily available through a screen, \u201ckids want to do something hard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they want to try boxing,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s club has several fighters new to the sport. For Harvard Divinity School student Jiamin Li, Fight Night marks her first ever boxing match. She says demonstrating her mastery of the fundamentals feels like a big accomplishment. \u201cI think that\u2019s the beautiful thing about boxing, is that it\u2019s really all about mastering the fundamentals and the basics and learning how to move your body well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Li says she \u201ccame to the team and found it to be a very welcoming environment of people from all experience levels.\u201d She was introduced to the team by her friend, Hank Young, also both in the Divinity School and showcasing their skills in a Fight Night match.<\/p>\n
When Harvard fighters face their teammates in exhibition bouts, they often hug as soon as the referee calls time. Outside the ring, they cheer each other on.<\/p>\n
Beyond beginners, the club also draws experienced fighters to continue their training. Bagdasarian, the Club president and referee at Fight Night, competed for the national boxing team back home in Armenia. Trained under the Soviet-style of boxing, he says he has continued to love the sport because of \u201cthe discipline that it requires, and the amount of action and full work and brain that you have to put into the fight itself to actually succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amari Urquhart \u201927 says he lost track of his childhood passion for martial arts during the pandemic. In college, the Boxing Club offered a way back. \u201cIt was a great way for me to stay fit but get also involved with a new community and tap back into my roots a little bit,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Members say that the club brings together a uniquely diverse group of students who foster each others\u2019 success in and love for the sport. \u201cWe have people from all schools around, from all kinds of backgrounds, from all different types of different countries coming. And I think that\u2019s what makes our Club really beautiful,\u201d Bagdasarian says.<\/p>\n
For Lake, boxing teaches lessons that extend beyond the ring. He thinks that later in their careers, students will continue to be fearless by recalling their experience boxing. He hopes that they remember these matches in difficult moments down the line, as proof of what they\u2019re capable of. \u201cI actually went in there and I got physical with someone. I fought with someone, and I held my own,\u201d he says he hopes they remember.<\/p>\n
At the start of each Fight Night match, fighters express their individuality through personalized intro songs. For Li, it is 360 by Charli xcx. The emcee introduces boxers with their chosen nicknames \u2014 from \u201cThe Ace\u201d to \u201cUnemployed But Needs The Money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early in the night, many in the crowd seem unsure how to react to the intensity of the fighting. But by the final matches, the energy has shifted, and the audience shouts encouragement and reacts audibly to every throw.<\/p>\n
As Fight Night ends, fighters file out holding flowers and chatting with friends who came to watch. They shake hands with their coach as they leave and thank him for his support.<\/p>\n
Lake, after saying goodbye to a fighter, turns back to say how proud he is of everyone\u2019s performances. \u201cWe\u2019re only going to get better. And I can see the enthusiasm around the University.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Coach Lake puts it: \u201cHarvard University\u2019s Boxing Club is back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Staff writer Nelli U. Rojas-Cessa can be reached at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With 20 seconds left in the final fight, hollering spectators drown out the sound of red gloves striking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-587830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}