The annual pugilistic debate between Cambridge and Oxford may never match the Boat Race for glamour nor the Twickenham rugby fixture for grandeur, but there was no telling the eighteen fighters and 1300 supporters who crammed into the Cambridge Corn Exchange on 9th March that this was a sporting anachronism of minimal significance. Meetings of minds might be more common between the two universities, but, since 1897, barring the interludes of two World Wars, eighteen men—and, on occasion, women too—have been selected for a meeting of fists in what is now the oldest annual amateur boxing fixture in the world.

The Oxford team arrived as defending champions of the Truelove Bowl after 6-3 triumphs in consecutive years, yet the Cambridge side—buoyed by victory in “Town vs Gown” and fitter than ever before—brought renewed vigour and confidence. Both teams featured three fighters from previous years.

The night began with two warm-up bouts, both of which were won by Cambridge fighters in Daphne Tsalli and Jamie O’Neill. The former particularly impressed with her consistent work rate and adaptability: facing a taller foe with a sharp jab, Tsalli recovered from a tough first round to breach her opponent’s defences increasingly consistently and earn a gritty decision.

If, however, the crowd was initially polite in its applause, the arrival of both teams to the ring for preliminary introductions saw reticent students transmogrify into caterwauling partisans. Oxford fighters were booed vociferously while the Cambridge side was treated to the kind of adulation reserved for conquering Kings and Queens. It is hard, at this point, to think of anything comparable elsewhere in the amateur boxing world, especially when sterile crowds and empty arenas have contributed so heavily to the likes of Anthony Ogogo recently turning pro. 

The first Varsity fight pitched Nick Melgaard of Cambridge against Michael Davis of Oxford. Thick chants of “Cambridge, Cambridge” drained through the heavy air as the bell rang, yet the rangy Melgaard was quickly pinned to the backfoot by the frenetic Davis, whose wheelbarrow hooks testified to a distinctly agricultural aesthetic. Indeed, despite occasional success with his straighter punches, Melgaard was nonetheless ground down over the three round distance and Cambridge were forced to suffer an early defeat.

Oxford’s lead was quickly doubled when the previously-unbeaten Lavelle was stopped after being folded in half by a huge right hand from James Watson and, with the Oxford captain Tom Eliasz up next against Xiaofeng Li, the buoyed crowd seemed notably to deflate. As Eliasz, moreover, strafed Li to the body with firm shots throughout the first round, that gloom deepened; however, Li—who names Shiming Zou among his biggest influences—displayed some lovely boxing skills through the second round to render Eliasz an increasingly gauche, ineffective fighter. Check hooks lacerated the Oxford captain’s face, while insistent jabs denied him the chance to bridge the sizable gap in speed and geography. When Li was finally announced as the winner, the home crowd treated him to a resounding standing ovation.

Any momentum for Cambridge was checked, however, when Conor Husbands, a Physics and Philosophy undergraduate from St. Edmund Hall College, stopped Seb Pender after three rounds of violent dominance. With a 3-1 lead, Oxford’s Dan Bailey would have hoped to put the Bowl almost totally out of Cambridge’s reach when he clashed with Will Nyerere-Plastow, yet Nyerere-Plastow—oozing attitude as he eye-balled Bailey from across the ring before the fight—wowed the adoring audience with his slick defensive skills and raking combinations. Given his brief career—before this bout, Nyerere-Plastow had only fought four times—the technical mastery he brought to the ring was as surprising as it was refreshing and would eventually earn him the award of fighter of the night. 

At 3-2 down, Cambridge would have harboured expectations of drawing level when captain Guevel came to the ring. As chants of “Borna, Borna” rained down from the crowd, Zacchariah Sammour, his Oxford opponent studying for the Bachelor of Civil Law at Somerville College, could be seen calmly praying in the blue corner. Sammour, who will soon pursue a career as a barrister, had previously boxed for Chelmsford ABC and KO Bethnal Green, and he instantly set to inflicting barely legal cruelty on the shocked Cambridge captain, who bravely withstood a barrage of heavy right uppercuts and mean left hooks, not to mention two genuine knockdowns, to last the distance.

Now trailing 4-2, however, the Cambridge team knew that a further defeat would return the Truelove Bowl to Oxford hands. William Wakeford instantly set about correcting that equation, beating Iain Holland to the punch repeatedly over two rounds and, despite wilting desperately in the final stanza, managed to grit out a majority decision to pull Cambridge back into contention.

The pressure, then, was on Tinashe Murozoki of Churchill College, Cambridge, to overcome Harry Miller and make sure the upcoming heavyweight clash between Dan Fountain and Laurent Kotch would be a decider. A third year engineer, Murozoki’s incessant head movement meant he was able to fight Miller in close quarters despite the Oxford fighter’s significant height advantage.

As the bout progressed, though, the action became ever more undisciplined and unedifying as the two struggled desperately to seize control and enact greater cruelty. Yet undignified as this might have been, there was no denying the excitement. Indeed, in many ways, this particular clash encapsulated most precisely the paradox of cerebral students getting physical which has made the Varsity fight an enduring attraction. To the home crowd’s despair, though, Miller was awarded a dubious majority decision before, dispirited and disappointed, Fountain was knocked down and out by a swinging overhand right from Kotch.

The evening ended with exuberant Oxford celebrations after retaining the Bowl on a final score of 6-3, while tying up the overall standings at 51-51, to the disappointment of nine Cambridge fighters and 1300 supporters. Yet though their names will not be inscribed on this particular trophy—and though they will not all be able to call themselves Blues—this Cambridge side managed to inscribe indelible memories in all those who watched them pursue their moment of greatness. Sixteen weeks is scant time in which to get fit and prepare to fight; even more so when those weeks are spent balancing sport and study. The disappointment etched across Guevel and his teammates’ faces was palpable, but the chance to rewrite any wrongs shall arise next year as the two universities fight on, into the distance. It was ever thus—and long may it continue.