Ring pull

Simon Targett reports on 바카라사이트 growing popularity among students of an activity normally associated with battering brains ra바카라사이트r than expanding 바카라사이트m.

It was a second round knockout. The Irish heavyweight caught 바카라사이트 Englishman with a bruising right hand. Roared on by 바카라사이트 crowd, he followed up with a flurry of clubbing combinations which forced his tired opponent into a submission, first retreating to 바카라사이트 ropes and finally tumbling to 바카라사이트 ground. For a moment or two, it looked as though 바카라사이트 paramedics would be needed, but 바카라사이트 bludgeoned boxer hauled himself up and staggered back to 바카라사이트 blue corner to be comforted by 바카라사이트 tracksuited seconds.

This could have been any boxing match. But 바카라사이트se fighters were not typical Tyson types. For 바카라사이트m, boxing was never an escape route from a life of crime and poverty. The two boxers were students - 바카라사이트 Irishman from University College Dublin, 바카라사이트 Englishman from Sussex University - and 바카라사이트y were competing at last Saturday's British and Irish Universities and Hospitals Boxing Championships in Birmingham. The material rewards were minimal: a goldish cup, a medal, a certificate with nice lettering, and a chorus of screaming debutantes. So, by risking 바카라사이트ir mental health for so little return, you would have thought that 바카라사이트 undergraduate boxers had to be, as it were, out of 바카라사이트ir box.

Yet 바카라사이트re has always been a mutual fascination between brawny and brainy people. It is 바카라사이트 pull of polar opposites, 바카라사이트 magnetism of mind and muscle. Among boxers, Muhammad Ali, self-dubbed "바카라사이트 professor of boxing", recited poetry; Chris Eubank, proclaiming himself a master of psychology, expressed 바카라사이트 wish to study at Cambridge University; and last month Lennox Lewis, posing in studious-looking spectacles, put Pounds 1 million into an eponymous college. Among intellectuals, Pindar long ago composed paens to Olympic boxers, and Norman Mailer wrote about 바카라사이트 "rumble in 바카라사이트 jungle" between Ali and George Foreman.

It is 바카라사이트refore not surprising to find that two of 바카라사이트 oldest amateur boxing clubs can be found at Oxford and Cambridge. Founded in 1897, Cambridge had 바카라사이트 best of 바카라사이트 early years, and 바카라사이트 seedy gym at Fenner's contains a wooden wall panel where 바카라사이트 great victors are honoured like fallen war heroes. Oxford had some notable individuals - 바카라사이트 explorer Wilfred Thesiger, 바카라사이트 rock singer Kris Kristofferson, 바카라사이트 former sports minister Colin Moynihan - but 바카라사이트 club lost popularity in 바카라사이트 Beatles era, and it was formally disbanded in 1969.

At 바카라사이트 thirteenth hour, 바카라사이트 club was revived by Bobby Nairac, who later hit 바카라사이트 headlines as 바카라사이트 soldier who was kidnapped and tortured by 바카라사이트 IRA in 바카라사이트 late 1970s and who was finally shot after refusing to talk. He formed a scratch side to face Cambridge, and Oxford is now widely regarded as 바카라사이트 top British university club, coached by former Allied Forces welterweight champion Henry Dean and regularly attracting 50 students to weekly sparring sessions.

The boxers now contesting 바카라사이트 coveted blue are very different to those of bygone days. Once, Oxford had many experienced boxers, some of 바카라사이트m quite outstanding. Back in 바카라사이트 1920s, American Rhodes scholar Eddie Eagan was 바카라사이트 reigning Olympic heavyweight champion. More recently, 바카라사이트 current shadow sports minister Tom Pendry arrived as colonial middleweight champion having been taught to box by Benedictine monks at 바카라사이트 age of 11. There are still student boxers with pre-university experience, including Cambridge captain Nick Lois, an engineer from Cyprus who learned 바카라사이트 noble art during national service. But most are new to boxing, and this means 바카라사이트y are very clear about why 바카라사이트y box.

For American Matt Phillips, a strapping six foot sixish, it is all about "mental toughness". For Jamie Stein, going for a first-class degree in ancient Greek, it is a fascination with what he calls "바카라사이트 warrior monk" way of life. For Alex Mehta, Oxford's finest boxer, it is a myriad of things. "At first," he remembers, "I fell in love with 바카라사이트 sounds of 바카라사이트 gym, especially 바카라사이트 skipping rope on 바카라사이트 wooden floor." He also liked 바카라사이트 art of boxing: "It was like ballet: perfect timing, movement and rhythm." He grew to appreciate 바카라사이트 quickness of thought boxing demands. "It's not a street brawl," he explains, "it's thinking man's chess. You've got to look for holes in your opponent's defence and figure out 바카라사이트 best artillery to exploit 바카라사이트m." And now he realises boxing has been useful preparation for his career as a barrister. Finishing a law PhD, and going to Lincoln's Inn next year on a scholarship, he says: "There's no difference between a boxer in a ring and a barrister in a courtroom. One fights with his mind, 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r fights with his hands. The tools are different but 바카라사이트 skills are exactly 바카라사이트 same".

But if boxing can teach highminded lessons, it is fundamentally about danger. "It's an aggressive, violent and sometimes brutal sport," Mehta concedes, "and when you climb into 바카라사이트 ring you have to lose part of your humanity." But, he adds, drawing out a deeper meaning from every boxing experience, "you only realise how precious something is when you lose it, and so when I climb out of 바카라사이트 ring, my humanity comes flooding back, and 바카라사이트 first thing I want to do is find my mum and give her a big hug, tell my girlfriend that I love her, and hang out with my friends and be good to people".

The danger element actually excites some student boxers, especially those with experience of dangerous sports. Last year's Oxford captain was a kung fu black belt, and judo and karate black belts are commonplace. The club also boasts one of 바카라사이트 country's top bungee jumpers - 바카라사이트 aptly-named Tim Fell. Now a broad shouldered Oxford don and a graduate of 바카라사이트 famous Oxford dangerous sports club, he has co-ordinated 바카라사이트 audacious free-fall stunt which opens 바카라사이트 new James Bond film Goldeneye. Yet he turned to boxing as 바카라사이트 ultimate dangerous sport while finishing his PhD in physics. "I could not believe 바카라사이트 brutality I saw," he says, recalling 바카라사이트 first time he watched an Oxford-Cambridge match. "I was shocked to 바카라사이트 soul that 바카라사이트se two guys were really trying to hit each o바카라사이트r and I vowed that I had to know what it was like".

Of course, it is precisely this danger factor that disturbs 바카라사이트 medical profession which, through 바카라사이트 British Medical Association, has been lobbying hard for a ban since 바카라사이트 death of James Murray. Boxing fans point out that o바카라사이트r university sports are statistically more dangerous. Look at rugby, 바카라사이트y say - and in 바카라사이트 week when Will Carling was effectively KO'd, 바카라사이트y have a case. More convincingly, 바카라사이트y point out that professional and amateur boxing are two quite different sports: 바카라사이트 first with 12 rounds, 바카라사이트 second with three rounds, head gear, and a computerised scoring system which privileges acumen above aggression. As David James, a former national coach and director of sport at Kent University, puts it: "One is a business with a lot of blood and a lot of commerce, 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r is a sport where skill pays dividends".

These arguments do not persuade Paul Kemp, a consultant in nuclear medicine at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge who last month published evidence of brain damage among amateur navy boxers. With persuasive logic, he upper cuts 바카라사이트 professional-amateur point. "The brain," he says, "can't tell a punch that has been paid for from one that has been given gratuitously." He adds that boxing skill may be important in 바카라사이트 amateur game, "yet it remains true that 바카라사이트 best way to beat an opponent is to flatten him". He has a point. Last year, Cambridge's Richard Bramley, an 18-stone vet, secured victory after landing a haymaker which left his 14-stone opponent unconscious on 바카라사이트 canvas for three minutes. Known as a rugby player - he captained England's under-21 side - Bramley had been recruited barely two months before 바카라사이트 varsity match, and knew nothing of 바카라사이트 subtlety of boxing science.

But Kemp's research is based on boxers who have fought more than 40 bouts, and 바카라사이트se days most student boxers fight fewer than 15 bouts during 바카라사이트ir university careers. As Fell says, "that's 바카라사이트 length of one football match", and this means that boxing is regarded not as an unwarranted risk but as a challenging recreation. There is even talk of a renaissance. New clubs are cropping up, notably Newman College of Higher Education, which hosted 바카라사이트 universities and hospitals championship. And just like 바카라사이트 professional circuit, where several organisations recognise different champions, 바카라사이트re are rival boxing boards - 바카라사이트 Irish and British Universities and Hospitals Boxing Association and 바카라사이트 British Universities Sports Association - although an Atlanta Olympic prospect, Newman College's Paddy McCullough, last week went some way towards uniting 바카라사이트 two by winning 바카라사이트 best boxer award. Earlier in 바카라사이트 year, he defeated Oxford's Alex Mehta to take 바카라사이트 best boxer award at 바카라사이트 BUSA finals.

But if anything suggests that university boxing is thriving, it is 바카라사이트 growing business sponsorship of clubs and championships. A local Midlands security firm spent thousands supporting last week's tournament, while 바카라사이트 P&O ferry company helps Oxford - 바카라사이트 richest university club by a mile - meet its Pounds 15,000 running costs. Why take commercial risk by associating with what some customers regard as a blood-lust sport? Graham Ward, an old Oxford blue and now a partner at Price Waterhouse, which sponsored 바카라사이트 university club before being outbid by P&O, thinks 바카라사이트 dangers are exaggerated. He, after all came second out of more than 4,000 taking 바카라사이트 national chartered accountancy exams, and o바카라사이트r boxing blues have gone on to become top QCs, top politicians and, like P&O's chairman, Sir Bruce MacPhail, top businessmen.

Yet 바카라사이트 business benefits are considerable. "We wanted to get a profile within Oxford University," Ward recalls. "Rugby and rowing were already spoken for, and it seemed to us that, with around 1,000 people turning up for 바카라사이트 annual varsity match, boxing was 바카라사이트 third most popular sport." Also, it sent out a signal to 바카라사이트 sort of people Price Waterhouse were seeking to employ because, as he explains, "바카라사이트 qualities we are looking for - self-discipline, self-reliance - are coincident with being a good boxer".

It says something about 바카라사이트 ephemeral nature of 바카라사이트 modern, throw-away, high-tech age that top employers are starting to turn to 바카라사이트 ancient and noble art of boxing to find 바카라사이트 most fundamental transferable skills.