{"id":60708,"date":"2025-08-11T05:13:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T05:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/60708\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T05:13:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T05:13:11","slug":"in-photos-we-cant-talk-about-it-or-fight-night-multimedia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/60708\/","title":{"rendered":"In Photos: We Can\u2019t Talk About It (or Fight Night) | Multimedia"},"content":{"rendered":"

In late April, the Harvard Boxing Club held their second annual fight night, delivering a series of dynamic exhibition fights to a packed crowd. Club members took to the ring to showcase months of preparation and put on a performance that had the attendees on the edge of their seats.<\/p>\n

Harvard Boxing Club, first established in 1857, brings together University affiliates from every school to train and develop their boxing skills twice a week. With open admission, it invites everyone to participate from a beginner to professional level.<\/p>\n

Throughout the year, the fighters train under the supervision of Head Coach Joseph F. Lake and Assistant Coach Bob Judge, who are old friends that originally met fighting jiu jitsu. This year of training culminates in eight exhibition matches.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Before the matches began, a steady stream of people entered the Boston Boxing & Fitness gym as fighters stretched, shadow boxed, and carefully laced up their gloves. A DJ played upbeat music and a concession stand offered snacks and drinks as the crowd settled in. Friends and family came out to support the fighters \u2014 including Danilo Mandic\u2019s son, Milos, who toddled around the gym floor, playing with an ab roller.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Carrie Hsu and Jo Donovan Match Layout 1 – <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hsu and Donovan Match Layout 2 – <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The first match of the night was between former club captain Carrie Hsu \u201824, and current club captain Johanne \u201cJo\u201d E. H. Donovan. The fast-paced fight set the tone for the rest of the evening, and the other players cheered Hsu and Donovan on, taking a break from their warm ups.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Exhibition matches are meant for boxers to showcase their skills and development without an official winner or fear of injury. The matches are shorter, capped at six minutes total with three two minute rounds. Fighters don casual uniforms with gloves and headgear that have additional padding to avoid severe injuries.<\/p>\n

While there are numerous safety precautions in place, the fighters approach each fight with intensity and discipline. Saddat T. Nazir \u201825, the then-President of the club, doesn\u2019t pull punches in his match against Hank Yang, a student at Harvard Divinity School.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Leo Barrera ’24 and Saddat Nazir ’25 – <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Boxing Club Assistant Coach Bob Judge – <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Coach Lake rests hand on Hankyeol Yang ’26 – <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Head Coach Joseph F. Lake Talks to Jo Donovan – <\/p>\n

Two cornermen stand opposite each other just outside the ring, keeping fighters hydrated and managing any injuries between rounds and during breaks. One corner was manned by Assistant Coach Judge, and the other by former Harvard Boxing Club President Leonel \u201cLeo\u201d Barrera \u201924. Barrera led the club from the 2023-2024 school year, and has since graduated \u2014 but still returns regularly to support the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in the corner tonight, just like, helping out and coaching the players. But beyond that I’m always here whenever Sadat reaches out, or Jay or any of the other captains reach out. I’m always more than willing to help out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Coach Lake refereed the matches; his two priorities were to protect his fighters and put on a show. Lake began coaching the boxing club in 2024, and has since worked to prepare his fighters not only for the ring, but to take on life beyond Harvard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I think that\u2019s going to go a long way in your life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The most heated match of the night took place between Max R. Lupoff \u201928 and Aram Bagdasarian \u201927, the incoming President of the club. Early in the bout, Lupoff landed a punch that bloodied Bagdasarian\u2019s nose. At the break, Barrera, Hsu, and Nazair rushed to Bagdasarian\u2019s corner, wiping the blood from his face and making sure he was fit to continue.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When the buzzer rang for round two, Bagdasarian stepped into the center of the ring with newfound determination. He launched a series of brutal combinations, including an uppercut to the face, forcing Lake to step in and issue a standing count to give Lupoff a moment to breathe.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fighters Joseph \u201cJoe\u201d P. Rosales and Jayanth \u201cJay\u201d S. Pratap \u201925 were the sixth match of the night. Rosales is a former captain of the club and Pratap emceed the first half of the night before preparing for his fight. Pratap and Omar M. Sotelo \u201926, the two emcees for the night, kept the crowd entertained and roaring with laughter as they introduced each fight.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The final match of the night was between two Matherites, Ejike Ike \u201825 and Joseph P. Fadule \u201826, a club captain. There was a brutal back and forth, which had Fadule lifting Ike off the ground. Unable to catch his breath, Ike conceded the rest of the match after a brief check in with Lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that’s boxing, that tells you a lot about yourself,\u201d Lake said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Harvard Boxing Club had only five members in Barrera’s freshman year. Now, the club has nearly 50 members and the success of the fight night reflects a rising interest and enthusiasm for the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s been really awesome just to see the engagement, even if you’re not stepping into the ring people are coming to practices, and coming out here and supporting,\u201d Barrera said.<\/p>\n

Lake has high expectations for the future of the club that once counted former presidents John F. Kennedy and Theodore Roosevelt among its members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m trying to get it to be back where it used to be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In late April, the Harvard Boxing Club held their second annual fight night, delivering a series of dynamic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-60708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}