Fight night 2024 certainly did not disappoint: Central Hall was packed to the brim with students dressed finely in formal attire supporting their fighters. Eight fights were on the cards on the night including the main event, a heavyweight boxing bout between Hull’s Enoch Kazadi Moussonzo and York’s own Findlay Mitchell.
Fighters from the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, were also in attendance, bringing with them crowds of students all eager to support them. Three of the bouts were in K1 Kickboxing, one of which was an exhibition match, and the remaining five fights boxing matches in various weight classes; from two super lightweight bouts all the way up to the heavyweight main event.
The event host announcing the evening’s fights was Dominic Williams, a University of York Boxing Coach and the President of the York Dialectic Union. After a short delay to the start proceedings, Dominic kicked things off rousing the crowd and announcing the first fight of the evening, a K1 kickboxing exhibition match between two York students, Rory Alpert and Alekxander Ofori-Koree.
Both fighters were well-built, utilising their height and reach to their advantage. Rory threw strong teep kicks and leg kicks in an attempt to break his opponent down whilst Alekxander tried to land some big head kicks that would have certainly hurt Rory had they connected cleanly. The crowd filled Central Hall with noise, cheering the fighters on, but as all exhibition matches go, there isn’t a single winner. Both fighters were celebrated as the final bell rang, their arms raised by the referee as Dominic commended their performances.
The next fight, and the first inter-university bout was another K1 Kickboxing match between York’s Dan Harrison and the University of Manchester’s Rhys Bowley. The lean fighters eyeing each other up from across the ring just before the fight was to begin, clearly showed they were out for blood. Dan Harrison’s punching paired with his strong combination game incorporating knees and powerful kicks dropped Bowley twice in the short-lived fight, to which the crowd went ballistic. The event was in full swing by this point, one could simply tell by listening to the crowd’s reaction to the fight. Ultimately, York’s Dan Harrison took the win in a stoppage by some vicious knees in the second round.
The final K1 Kickboxing bout of the night was another high octane fight between York’s James Cuffley and the University of Manchester’s Ken Matsanugas. Immediately the fight was ferocious, with Matsanugas throwing incredible flying front flip kicks, to which the crowd on a couple of occasions misinterpreted as him being dropped, jeering each time he picked himself up off the canvas. Unfortunately, Matsanugas was the first to officially knock his opponent down, but Cuffley didn’t give up, driving forwards landing some clean and tidy combinations. By the final round stamina was low but in the final thirty seconds, both fighters put in a final push, finishing the fight strong. The fight went Matsanugas’ way, but the crowd applauded both fighters as they embraced after the fight.
Shortly following on from Cuffley vs. Matsanugas was the first boxing match of the evening, a super lightweight contest between York’s Jacob Sell and Hull’s Thomas Nash. The bout was fast paced and both fighters were nimble boxers. Throughout the rounds, there were moments where both fighters were swinging hard and landing haymakers on one another, but the fight reached its end without a KO or TKO. The fight went Hull’s way with Thomas Nash claiming victory. Nouse spoke with Jacob after the match, about how he thought the fight went. Sell said, “Nash edged the first and third rounds, but I felt I took the second.” His style was inviting and there were a few wobbly moments, but overall it was a fair decision.” Jacob Sell displayed great humility and sportsmanship with Nouse when discussing the outcome of the fight. Dominic entered the ring once again to announce a short interval of twenty minutes, allowing the crowd some time to recharge, refresh, and get ready for the second half of the event.
After the break and once everyone had returned to their seats, the next fight was announced, the only women’s bout of the night. A lightweight boxing contest between the University of York’s Lara Khaled and Manchester Metropolitan University’s Rasta Ranjbar, who was also fighting out of an external boxing gym. Ranjbar led the fight, maintaining her stamina throughout the bout and landing several punishing headshots, rocking Khaled, but not knocking her down. Khaled remained composed and stayed in the fight landing clean jabs and punches to her opponent. But her display just wasn’t quite enough to secure her the win with Ranjbar’s hand being raised after the fight had finished. Nonetheless, the crowd let Lara Khaled know who they were supporting and that she should be extremely proud of her performance.
Up next was York’s Eddie ‘Lightning’ Baah vs. Hull’s Marshall Savage, two incredibly agile and fast boxers. The super lightweight bout didn’t slow down for a single second, the punches remained calculated throughout the entirety of the fight. The crowd was in full support of Eddie with numerous chants erupting, undoubtedly keeping his morale high. The chants certainly helped, Eddie Baah’s hand was raised to the crowd’s delight, and adding to another University of York victory. The atmosphere in Central Hall was electric.
The penultimate fight of the evening was a welterweight bout between Ciaron Murphy (York) and Quintin Abbott (MMU). The crowd were hungry for some action, and they got it in this match. Both fighters hit hard and connected well, there were moments in the fight when they were both on the ropes, but Quintin Abbott was on the ropes just one too many times. Murphy kept Abbott at range and then closed in when necessary forcing him to the edge of the ring on several occasions. This was enough to swing the judges scores in his favour. Murphy took the victory and roared at the crowd next to a clearly disappointed Quintin Abbott.
All evening led up to this point, the main event of the evening, a heavyweight boxing match between Hull’s Enoch Kazadi Moussonzo and York’s own Findlay Mitchell. Mitchell intimidatingly walked out to Mobb Deep, which definitely added to the aura of the final fight of the night. Both fighters came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders, throwing huge punches and exerting a lot of energy. But Mitchell had the edge over Moussonzo who by the end of the first round was showing signs of tiredness - the York corner and crowd let Mitchell know that. Moussonzo’s arms were down by his sides, leaving his head vulnerable and Mitchell took full advantage of this, knocking him down to one knee and leaving him with a bloodied nose. Mitchell was the clear victor of the main event bout, out boxing his opponent and not tiring out to the same extent as Moussonzo. The judges recognised this, awarding him the victory and the inaugural arm raise at the end of the fight to which the crowd exploded.
And just like that an incredible evening of fighting came to a close with four York victories and eight amazing bouts taking place across the night. But before everyone left, Dom let the crowd know that the University of York Boxing Team would be beating the [insert naughty word here] out of Lancaster at Roses 2025 - the crowd certainly agreed.