Trinity’s Law Society (Law Soc) hosted its annual Charity Boxing event on March 24th at TwentyTwo nightclub. The event consisted of two and a half hours of boxing matches featuring thirty Trinity students. According to Kitty Carlon, Law Soc’s Charities Officer, the event raised about €11,000 for the Dublin Simon Community through donations and ticket sales.
Speaking to the University Times in advance of the event, Carlon praised the charity and explained that it is a “charity that prevents and addresses homelessness in Dublin and the surrounding areas”. She said, “We’ve had four weeks of training, and tonight’s the night”. Carlon added, “It’s been a really positive experience, we’ve got 16 fights, 32 fighters..so many people [are] involved from so many different courses, not just law”. Finishing, “It’s going to be a great night”.
Speaking to the University Times, Chris Kelly, Secretary of Law Soc, said, “Kitty Carlon [has] had an amazing year as Charities Officer”, citing the “charity wedding” among other events. Kelly added, “literally everything she’s done has been amazing”.
At 8:21 pm, all participants were brought out to the ring for a “parade of champions”. The DJ then played the national anthem as green lights swept the ring.
The first fighters to take the ring were Callum “the crusher” Clune and Dexter “the slasher” Stremming. In advance of the event, all fighters submitted their strengths and weaknesses. Clune listed his strength as “taking punches” and his weakness as “taking hints”. Stremming said he was strong in “splitting the G”, with his weakness being “digestives”.
All boxing matches consisted of three 90-second rounds, and fighters were assigned “red” or “blue”. Male fighters wore 18-ounce gloves, and female fighters wore 14-ounce gloves. Fighters were matched up beforehand, roughly based on size and ability, and also sparred in advance of the fight.
After three rounds, at 8:36 PM, Stremming won in a “close contest” according to the MC. Stremming and Clune shared a hug at the end of their fight.
The second pair to take the stage was Tennessee “the terrible” Burkin and Avaania “AK47” Kapoor. Kapoor’s strength was “able to box my bestfriend”, and her weakness was “willing to box my best friend”.
After three rounds of mostly body shots, Burkin and Kapoor shared a hug. In a “split decision”, Burkin was awarded the win at 8:45 pm.
The third fight was between Leo “the badass mouse” and Tabib “T-Bomb” Haque. Their fight had some of the most audible chanting, with one side of the ring chanting “Leo” and the other chanting “Tabib”. The sound escalated through the three rounds, and the fight left Leo a little bloody. In a “split decision” after “three very close rounds”, Haque was awarded the win.
Fight four was fought between Carolan, who, for the fight, went by “Kitty ‘cut-throat’ Carolan” and Emily “linklaters” Oprisan. After three hard-fought rounds, Carolan was awarded the win at 9:00 pm.
The fifth fight was fought between Alec “the champ” Thompson and Shayrya Varma, who listed both his strength and weakness as “loving too much”. Varma packed significant power in round one, but seemed to lose steam by round three, where Thompson was able to hold stronger through the fight. Thompson was announced as the winner at 9:10 pm.
Fight six was fought between Olivia “smugarile róin” Tranguch and Emily “the smasher” Spangler. One audience member held up a sign reading “EMILY “THE SMASHER” SPANGLER”, and lifted it throughout the match. After some significant shots from Spangler in round 2, and a seemingly exhausting matchup overall, Spangler was awarded the win at 9:17 pm.
The seventh matchup was between Ben “Kirk” Taylor and Lewis “Lightning” McCarthy. The matchup consisted of some of the most contact seen at that point in the night by round 2, and by round 3, both participants were bloody. In the end, the MC said “what a fight that was” and noted that both fighters “took some beatings”. In a “painfully close decision”, the win was awarded to McCarthy.
The eighth fight was between Molly “Riot Goblin” Mullan and Sarah “mini” Murphy. One crowd member held up a sign reading “Riot Goblin”, encouraging Mullan. By round 3 of their fight, Mullan had Murphy on the ropes and was awarded the win in the end.
A theme through the first half of matchups was strong and energetic first rounds, with clear signs of exhaustion by round 3 from fighters across the board.
Joseph “the jabber” Henchion and James “Walk ‘em Down” Kenny fought in fight nine. After sharing a hug at the end of their fight, in an “extremely close decision” that was “two rounds to one”, Kenny was awarded the win.
Labhraidh “lights out” Costello, whose strength was “tralee town tough” and weakness was “drury duty”, fought Isabelle “iron belle” Farrell in fight ten. After chants of “knock her out” that were not clearly directed to either fighter in round one, in a “tight decision”, Costello was awarded the victory.
Fight eleven was fought between Oran “the killer” Kielty and Finn “the finnisher” Heffernan. The fighters notably moved faster than previous participants, making use of the entire ring and reacting quickly. The two bucked the trend of the previous fights, maintaining energy and speed through all three rounds. In the end, the fight was “very close” and “came down to the third and final round”. The winner, “by a nose”, was Kielty.
Fight twelve was fought between Niamh “Beat ‘em” Bugler and Amy “Flynner the winner” Flynn. Bugler was met with an enormous cheer and had to be told by her coach to stop raising her hands for the crowd. Through all three rounds, the crowd cheered the names of both fighters. However, because they were co-occurring, the chants sounded like a chorus of “Niamh-my”, and it was unclear who any particular person was cheering for. In round two, one onlooker loudly yelled: “Niamh, do it for the Hist!”. Like many other fights, by round three, both fighters seemed visibly exhausted. In another “razor thin” “split decision” “two rounds to one” judgment, Flynn was declared the winner. Bugler and Flynn ended by sharing a hug.
Fight thirteen was the first to feature a non-Trinity student. Trinity student Ryan “the villain” Vulgamore was paired with Dan from White Collar Boxing, the organisation that trained fighters and collaborated with Law Soc to put on the event. The MC joked that Dan was “fresh out of prison” and had “lived a life of crime” during the match, and referred to it as an “exhibition”. The fight was distinctly defensive compared to previous matches and was a strong showing for both participants. In the end, the match was declared a draw.
Fight thirteen featured Laura “the stallion” Halpenny and the other non-Trinity student of the night, Karen. One crowd member held up a sign for the match, reading “Laura ‘the stallion’ Halpenny”. Halpenny fought exceptionally well and maintained her energy and tenacity throughout all three rounds. By round three, chants of “the stallion” rang loudly through the club. In the end, the match was declared a draw, while the MC commented “what a contest”, saying it was “very hard to match Laura” because “she was so strong”. He then joked that Karen had “missed an important court date to be here”.
The penultimate fifteenth match was fought between Aubry “the felon” Poilane and Sean “unc” O’Connor. O’Connor also listed both his strength and weakness as “old”. Round one saw some good hits from O’Connor as well as solid recovery from Poilane. By round two, Poilane was able to get more hits in. By the second half of round three, however, O’Connor was able to keep the edge. O’Connor was awarded the win in another “close” decision, and the pair shared a hug at the end.
Before the final fight, Carolan gave a speech to the room. She started by thanking the audience for attending the event, and called the previous fifteen fights and fighters “amazing” and an “amazing display of strength”. She added that her “personal favourite” was “the stallion against Karen”, calling it a “truly amazing fight”. She also thanked White Collar Boxing, the MC, everyone who trained, and Dan and Karen. Carolan also thanked the Law Soc committee, including Auditor Zoya Kherani and Secretary Kelly. Carolan especially noted the members of the charities sub-committee, which includes Mairéad Quinlan, Eoghan O’Brien, Aoife Lynn, Tom Healy, James Kenny, Jane McElligot, Heather Joyce, and Aanu Talabi.
Prizes were then awarded to fighters who raised the most money for charity. A €20 Pav voucher was awarded to Ryan Vulgamore for third place, a €40 Pav voucher was awarded to Charlie O’Malley for second place, and a €50 Pav voucher and a free session at Pitch on Dawson Street was awarded to Sarah Murphy for first place. Carolan also thanked the awards sponsors.
Anticipating the final fight, Carolan told the audience they were in for a “good round”. She said, “This is a big fight”, and joked, “The lore goes back generations”.
Adding on to Carolan, the MC created hype for the next round and again joked about the previous fights, calling them “law students against criminals”.
The sixteenth fight was between Charlie “Parky” O’Malley and Ollie “the D4 stallion” Hume, who listed both his strength and weakness as “Pav Friday”. In the first round, O’Mally went down briefly while parts of the crowd chanted “Ollie!”. By the second round, chants of “Charlie” and “Ollie” mixed, reminiscent of round twelve’s “Niamh-my”. By round three, both fighters had kept their energy and remained tenacious. By the end, the MC said they had “saved the best for last”, adding, “what an effort from both boys”. The win was then awarded to Hume at 10:57 pm.
Afterwards, participants and onlookers alike shuffled out of the club, with some fighters still in bloodied t-shirts and attendees in black tie attire.
