Stanford boxing hosts first on-campus Fight Night

In the first-ever Fight Night on The Farm, Stanford club boxers posted a 4-2 record against fighters from other colleges as it marked the program’s first major event on campus.

The event featured 10 bouts at Burnham Pavilion on Jan. 17, with six fights decided by the judges and four ending in referee stoppages.

The first two bouts of the night were Farm Games matches, featuring Stanford students fighting each other. The remaining fights were intercollegiate matchups, with boxers also participating from UC Riverside, Santa Clara University and Oxford University in England.

“I feel like us being allowed to have this event on campus is a product of our hard work and our accomplishments,” said boxing club co-president and senior Nicholas Aguirre. “It kind of means everything to us.”

The first Fight Night on The Farm gave student participants their first opportunity to compete in a fully sanctioned competition at Stanford and share their skills with the community. 

“We just want it to be a really fun night and just showcase what Stanford boxing does here on campus,” Aguirre said. The event set the stage for what boxers hope will become a more frequent tradition.

“We had a good amount of fighters beat the opposing colleges, so I think it was pretty successful and I think it’d be great if we had it again in the following year,” said Farm Games sophomore boxer Angel Pina, who won the second bout of the night early in the first round after a strong punch to the shoulder of his opponent ended the fight. 

“We are very hopeful that these events are going to become more frequent in the future,” said Aguirre, who also won his fight. 

Along with Aguirre, members of the team who secured victories in intercollegiate bouts were Master’s student Neetish Sharma, Ph.D. candidate Leonardo Aguilar and sophomore Kupa’amauloa Kekauoha. 

The club boxing members have been training since the beginning of the academic year to prepare for Fight Night on The Farm. 

“I had training every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Nearillaga. On Saturdays, we would drive out to Gladiators Boxing Gym and there we would do sparring,” said Pina. “I think it was all worth it at the end.” 

Roughly half of Burnham Pavilion’s 1,421-seat capacity was filled by observers, and the crowd was lively, with many viewers rooting for their friends. A boxing ring was temporarily installed on the main court at Burnham for the event. Strong punches often caused the crowd to gasp and react with cheers. Announcements of Stanford wins drew loud support from fans.

Attendees appreciated being able to watch their friends compete in a boxing match on campus. 

“I loved the event,” said sophomore Aime Bakundukize. “That was the best event I’ve been to all year. I had so much fun seeing Pina fight.”

Despite only being in its second year of existence, the boxing club has enjoyed significant success since its creation, with last year’s president Diego Maglione winning Stanford club athlete of the year and winning the USIBA middleweight championship. This year, Stanford fighters entered Fight Night on The Farm with a 4-0 record in intercollegiate competition.

“We feel very grateful to Stanford for helping us put this together, and we’re really excited. We have put a ton of effort and time into making this happen, and it’s just a big deal for us,” said Aguirre, who credited his co-president and senior Julio Gomez, Aguilar and Coach Tony of Gladiators Boxing Gym as being instrumental in the organization of this event.

“We’re a newer club, and I feel like we’ve just made a lot of progress in the short period of time that we’ve been operating,” Aguirre added.

Fight Night on The Farm was sanctioned by USA Boxing, the primary governing body of amateurs in the U.S. The event featured referees, judges and medical professionals. Participants were equipped with headgear and gloves. 

“We would not be holding the event if it wasn’t sanctioned by USA Boxing,” said Aguirre. “We want to make sure all of our fighters are safe. We want to make sure that we do the sport the right way.” 

The atmosphere inside Burnham Pavilion was defined throughout the night by sustained crowd noise and high energy throughout Fight Night.

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