Sports Writer Ana Rodriguez covers the lead up to Sunday night’s boxing spectacle and what we can expect from the many KCL students fighting
After endless hours of grit and sweat over the last eight weeks of training, fighters will finally get a chance to show off their hard work this Sunday 30th November. This will be the seventh round of Wilder Fight Night London with 14 KCL students, out of the total 36, stepping into the ring with hopes of dazzling the crowd.
Since its first event at the University of Durham in November 2021, Wilder Fight Night has had great success and popularity, expanding to 16 cities across the UK. This includes the likes of Cambridge, Liverpool, Brighton and now Ireland, bringing the total to 24 locations by March 2026. ‘It’s run for students, by students’ becoming ‘Europe’s Biggest Student Led Fundraiser’ for the last two years. [What are they fundraising for? Introduce that is a charitable event from the get-go] Since its start in London in March 2023, it has swiftly become a staple event in London’s black tie scene. Its ever increasing popularity lead to many students awaiting it every year.
KCL’s Fourteen assemble
King’s put forward fourteen fighters for this December’s fight night hoping to sweep the other London Universities.
They are representing a variety of societies including:
- GKT Netball – Snigdha Singh Rathore
- KCL Netball – Chepchumba Koech and Chloe Taton
- KCL Rugby – Otto Myers and Nico Razmilovic
- KCL Women’s Football – Ayesha Hussain
- KCL Men’s Football – Arman
- KCL Women’s Tennis – Natalie Wagner
- GKT Women’s Football – Amy Davis
- GKT Men’s Football – Raian Ganatra
- KCL Badminton – Max Nolan
- Kinguistics – Jessy Sun
- Life at Kings – Ava Ansari
- KCL North African – Anis Bouakline
To support them, donate here or at their personal links. All money goes to charity for their amazing partners.
Fighters’ Inspirations
Charity and fun are at the heart of the event. Each fighter is able to fundraise individually for a charity of their choice, or to one of Wilder’s partner charities. In London, Fight Night is in collaboration with The Oddballs Foundation, raising awareness and educating people on testicular cancer. Find out more about their cause here.
Resultantly, this is the strongest motivator for many of the fighters, spurring many of them on throughout their gruelling training. Their individual motivations range from past family history of cancer to awareness on mental health, issues that touch all of us. They have been some of the biggest inspirations for fighters joining the event. [Take this line out, bit repetitive]
“I thought this was a really good way to raise money for a good cause. I also feel like it brings a lot of attention to men’s cancer in particular.” – Chloe of KCL Netball speaking to Roar
Charity even inspired a fighter to return to the event. In March 2024, Max participated in Fight Night as a “good fun uni event”, winning his fight and “never really planning on stepping back in”. However, following the tragic suicide of a close friend, Max “wanted to do something for friends and family of his, to show that he mattered a lot to us”.
“I wanted to do something for anyone that might feel in a similar sort of position, to show that these people are a lot more loved, than perhaps they consider when they make a really final choice”. – Max of KCL Badminton speaking to Roar
Max’s fundraising goes towards the suicide prevention charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably, as well as a private trust for a nature reserve in his friends honour. He plans on making a dedicated visit after the fight.
Other students describe the personal benefits of participation and impact on general wellbeing. It’s a great way to improve and incorporate fitness into your life through a different, untypical challenge. It also allows you to meet a variety of new people.
She believed the process of preparation was a “good outlet, and healthy way to let out a lot of anger”. – Ayesha of KCL Women’s Football speaking to Roar
For Ayesha, being between full-time placement, football, and training the process has been “challenging and quite full on” but “100% worth it”.
Support in Action
What’s clear from all students involved was the inspiration they took from their peers. Arielle, who represented KCL Women’s Football, exactly a year ago, is now on the executive team of Fight Night. She described the event as a “great experience”, encouraging anyone to apply.
“The executive team just made it really easy for me. I really wanted to be a part of that, and help facilitate the experience of other people who want to do Fight Night, to help shine a light on such an important cause.” – Arielle speaking to Roar News
As well as wanting to live through the exhilarating atmosphere again, it also gave Arielle experience in working in content creation. She told us it gave her a “great opportunity to explore another aspect of that”, representing the many things you can do to get involved. There are also a few more members of the executive committee that are KCL students.
All information on fighters, tickets, dress code, and entry can be found on the @fightnightldn Instagram page and ticket page. Don’t forget to follow along on Sunday and support these amazing KCL students and look out for Roar’s live coverage !
