Boxers from the University of Edinburgh fought their way to victory in an eleven-bout extravaganza held at Teviot Row House last Thursday.

Hoards of ringside spectators crammed into the union's Debating Hall witnessed a night of contests between students from Edinburgh, St. Andrews and Strathclyde, and fighters from three local boxing clubs.

Tournament hosts Edinburgh won every one of their fights.

The annual Fight Night, promoted by the University of Edinburgh Amateur Boxing Club (ABC), was a sell-out for the second year running. The event saw the University of Edinburgh’s prestigious Debating Hall transformed into a boxing stadium, complete with pumping music, bikini-clad ring-girls, and hip-swinging interval entertainment from the Modern Dance Society.

A middleweight contest between Edinburgh’s Lauri Lutsar and the University of Strathclyde’s Steve Buchannan kicked off the action. Two early right hooks from Buchannan were answered by Lutsar, who took advantage of his superior stature and fought back with some strong body shots, bringing him into the lead at the end of the first round.

Despite a shaky start to the second round, in which Buchannan’s blows drew some blood, a spectacular punch from Lutsar stunned his opponent and resulted in a standing eight count.

With some strong body shots in the third round, the University of Edinburgh student dominated the remainder of the fight, leading four out of the five judges to rule the bout in Lutsar’s favour.

The most technically impressive display came from Edinburgh captain Alex Hope, whose agility and strength enabled him to win comfortably against Madison ABC’s Gareth Matterson. Hope dominated the bout from the outset with some early punches that forced Matterson back onto the ropes. This early advantage enabled the Edinburgh captain to land a series of devastating body shots.

Though Matterson showed promise with some well-executed punches at the beginning of the second round, Hope was unfazed, and drove the Madison boxer into the corner with some forceful jabs to the head.

With a successful combination of body and head punches, Hope controlled the final round to secure an easy win, deftly evading the majority of Matterson’s blows.

A bout between Edinburgh’s Mark Shotter and St. Andrews captain Feezer Kassam was easily the night’s most exhilarating fight. Wily Kassam gained an early advantage with a series of rapid-fire body shots that caught Shotter off guard and forced him into the corner.
But with admirable determination Shotter fought back, driving his opponent onto the defensive in the second round. In an exciting turn of events, Kassam swiftly recovered from the Edinburgh student’s well-executed punch to the head, and pushed Shotter in to the corner once more.

Both fighters excelled in stamina-testing volleys of spectacular punches that made for exciting viewing in the third round, but Shotter took control and went on to claim victory with a unanimous decision from the judges.

Crowd-pleaser Dave Warren had strong support from a large faction of the spectators, and continuous chants of ‘Warren! Warren!’ accompanied his exhibition against Edinburgh team mate Robin Duncan.

Despite the ten kilo weight and significant height difference between the two boxers, the bout was relatively even. Though neither fighter landed a devastating punch, Warren attacked with some strong body shots and succeeded in avoiding his taller opponent’s dangerous jabs.
Though most of the boxers survived the night with their noses in tact, Edinburgh’s Ian Mack wasn’t so lucky in his exhibition against Derek Adams of Madison ABC. After receiving a fierce punch to the nose in round two, Adams’s face was soon streaked in blood and the fight had to be temporarily paused.

Attempts to stem the flow of blood from Mack’s nose were scuppered by series of punches from Adams directed at the same area.
Despite the bloodshed Mack performed well, landing the best punches of the bout and dominating the first two rounds.

Toted to be the main event of the night, the final bout between Bathgate ABC’s Andrew McFarlane and Ali Hardie of St. Andrews kept the enthusiastic crowd entertained to the last. In the welterweight tussle McFarlane controlled the contest immediately with some effective head punches that forced his opponent to defend. Repeated jabs to the head of Hardie ensured the Bathgate star’s continued dominance into the second round.

With a combination of well-executed jabs and hooks, McFarlane commanded the final round of the night and denied his opponent the chance to attack, going on to win the bout with an impressive display of stamina and skill.