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16/02/2009
Historic rivals in Varsity clash
The 102nd annual Varsity Boxing Match between Oxford and Cambridge takes place this year on Tuesday March 10th. For the first time, the venue will be the magnificent 1,500-seat Old Billingsgate Market on the Thames Embankment opposite HMS Belfast - at the pulsing heart of the City of London.
The Varsity Match consists of nine bouts, from featherweight to heavyweight, and is the oldest inter-club boxing fixture in the world. With partisan support and fanatical effort by the boxers, it's also unquestionably the most exciting. Two years ago, when the Match was last held in London, the 1,200 seat York Hall was jammed to capacity. There will also be a supporting women's match of three contests.
Some history...
Excepting the world war years, Oxford and Cambridge have contested the Match every year since 1897, but Cambridge University has been entwined with the sport of boxing since Georgian times. Captain Robert Barclay (Trinity, 1797) was the patron and trainer of famed bare-knuckle England champion Tom Cribb. The Queensberry Rules - which drew the foundations for competitive gloved boxing - were devised by John Graham Chambers (Trinity) and the Marquis of Queensberry (Magdalene) while they were undergraduates.
In 1920, heavyweight Ronald Rawson (Trinity, 1911) became the first Cambridge boxing Blue to win an Olympic gold medal, while Eddie Eagan of Oxford won the light-heavyweight gold.
The two squads from which the contestants are selected train intensely for four months in advance and are at the peak of fitness. This season, Cambridge have had successful preparatory matches against the British Army's 49 Brigade, Bray ABC in County Wicklow, the Metropolitan Police and a Town v Gown match, plus a week's training with the Army Boxing Squad at Aldershot.
With Cambridge now leading the series 49-48, with four draws, Oxford will be aiming to draw level - Cambridge, to bag an historic 50th win.
For tickets, see www.cuabc.org or phone 01223-308030.
