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‘Frost/Nixon’ by St John’s Drama Society – Review 

By
Laurence Cooke
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Image Credit: Laurence Cooke

With my ramshackle GCSE/Wikipedia knowledge of 70’s American politics, I feared that I would struggle to follow this student adaptation of David Morgan’s 2006 work about the 1977 Nixon interviews – an unexpected choice for a student play, perhaps. Luckily, my fears were misplaced. Elspeth Rogers’ production sweeps its audience along in a tale of power, popularity, and politics. Frost/Nixon is about much more than a television exchange between ambitious media man David Frost and a President looking to come back from the wilderness. It tells the story of men obsessed with fame and driven by the attention of others. 

The play is jointly narrated by Jim Reston (Georgina Cooper), who joins Frost’s crack team to strategize on interviews that hope to nail Nixon as a criminal once and for all, and Jack Brennan (Philip Nedelev), the ex-President’s Chief of Staff who is loyal to his core. Thanks to Rei Tracks’s excellent lighting design, Reston and Brennan ‘step out’ of the narrative to provide a retrospective on events through clever spotlighting and precisely timed cues. 

Rohan Joshi is a star turn as President Nixon. His wounded gait, booming American accent, and measured pace of delivery kept the audience rapt. If Joshi was aware of the pressure of taking a difficult lead role as a fresher, it did not show. One scene worthy of particular praise is a telephone conversation between Nixon and Frost in which Joshi expertly portrays Nixon’s angst as it reaches a crescendo, lamenting his distance from the dizzying heights of Washington while effectively in exile on the Western Seaboard. Another is the final interview, specifically on Watergate, in which Frost finally strikes home with the revelation of new evidence and Nixon is shown to be a sweating, farcical demagogue, desperately asserting that ‘well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal’. 

Sol Woodroffe, in the role of Frost, delivers a powerful performance as an early television news ‘star’ at a time where the power of such globalised popular culture was only just emerging. His recklessness is brought to the fore when Frost contritely asks why nobody tried to stop him after the failure of the first three interviews to get anything interesting or compromising (and ideally both) out of Nixon. The venture is especially risky as Frost has paid Nixon $600,000 for the privilege of interviewing him, a figure negotiated up by Nixon’s greedy and seedy talent agent, ‘Swifty’ Lazar (Hasina Ibrahim). 

 After all, with the confidence to fund much of the interviews himself given a lack of backing from big networks and sponsors, Frost is a man driven by vainglorious, vaulting ambition which chafes against the other characters in a frequently humorous way. Frost spends a cringe comedic transatlantic flight with co-passenger Caroline Cushing (Freya Thomas) and his snazzy brown Italian shoes produce many a laugh in themselves as a source of much fascination from Nixon and others. 

John Birt (Blaze Pierzchniak) and Bob Zelnick (again Hasina Ibrahim) round out the cast of characters and Frost’s team. Each have their own backstories that only serve to raise the stakes surrounding the outcome of the interviews. The plot is infused with a note of nervous desperation that makes the moments of comic relief – including Nedelev’s (improvised) comment that Nixon ‘got that dawg in him’ – an enjoyable counterweight to the dynamic tension that Joshi and Woodroffe bring so expertly to the fore. 

Particularly striking is the play’s musings on the unfortunate blurring between media, stardom, and politics. Jim Reston, a man desperate to publicize Nixon’s crimes for the good of the American people, closes the show with the comment that at one of Frost’s (in)famous parties, filled with star figures from government and media alike, it was difficult to know where the showbiz ended and the politics began. In today’s Trumpian era of politics as entertainment, where even on these shores it is seemingly normal to witness Rishi Sunak take a bet with Piers Morgan, the play’s message – teased out skilfully by this student cast – continues to bear hugely on our perception of public life today.

Corpus Christi College disaffiliates from Student Union

By
Selina Chen
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Image Credit: Godot13 via Wikimedia Commons

Corpus Christi College voted overwhelmingly, with no vote against and one abstention, to disaffiliate from the Student Union at a JCR meeting on 18 February, citing the SU’s “controversies and ineffectiveness.” The disaffiliation will go into effect at Corpus’s pizza party with the SU-funded pizza they recently won.

The motion notes that “JCR presidents and JCR committees often do the work that the SU proposes to do for them” and believes that disaffiliation “will have no palpable or material impact on any of [JCR members’] lives.”

When asked about whether Corpus JCR expects any changes or additional duties, President Elias Laurent told Cherwell: “The JCR isn’t expecting any difference in its role as a result of disaffiliation.”

The motion also notes that “The SU is often marred by controversy, some of these recent instances including the current President being suspended under investigation whilst retaining a salary, recent electoral malpractice allegations, and the Vice-Chancellor’s belief that the SU does not sufficiently represent common rooms.” The opening line of the motion refers to this year’s SU elections as “a great travesty called ‘democracy’ [sarcastic]” but clarifies that disaffiliation is not a response to any of these specific controversies, but “the culmination of SU failings.”

Co-proposers Freddie Scowen and Grace Lawrence told Cherwell: “We are both in our fourth year at Oxford and have held executive positions within the JCR in the past. This motion reflects long standing apathy towards the SU, and we really hope that the SU considers why multiple common rooms have disaffiliated or are currently considering disaffiliation. Cynically, we do not believe anything will change and thus encourage other common rooms to also consider disaffiliation motions.”

Corpus’s affiliation follows the precedence of Christ Church College’s 2021 disaffiliation – known as “ChChexit” – and Brasenose College’s 2023 disaffiliation. The motion also claims that the issue of disaffiliation will soon be proposed to University College JCR “predominantly on the basis of alleged malpractice in the 2024 election.”

Chair of SU Student Council and former Corpus JCR president Isaac Chase-Rahman told Cherwell: “The SU has been a litany of failures over the past few years and things desperately need to change. Anti-SU sentiments have run deep in Corpus, with the JCR disaffiliating in 2018. I’m glad to see Corpus voices being heard and acknowledged.” In 2019, Corpus JCR voted to reaffiliate.

The motion states: “Disaffiliation is perhaps one of the strongest routes by which the JCR can express our desire for the SU to be run better, short of electing the candidate we believed could affect real change.” Corpus JCR previously endorsed Chase-Rahman for SU President.

After this week’s disaffiliation, all Corpus students will remain individual members of the SU – the motion clarifies “for those who are worried about such things” – and retain SU welfare provisions such as sexual health products. Per Corpus JCR SU delegate’s standing orders, the issue of reaffiliation will be raised every Trinity Term.

Corpus JCR SU delegate Samuel Cohen told Cherwell: “I didn’t feel that there was any substantial case to be made against it. The unanimity of support for the motion to leave goes to prove the complete apathy most people have when they think of the SU. Even as someone who was more engaged than most through the Student Council, it never felt inspiring or particularly important to have the college’s input there. I appreciate the work of many of the people at the SU and the services that it can provide but it’s obvious it feels completely detached from almost everyone I’ve spoken to.”

During the earlier SU elections, Corpus clashed with All Souls College over a £300 pizza prize promised by the SU to the college with the highest turnout. When All Souls ranked highest due to its small student body of merely eight members, an anonymous Corpus JCR member encouraged voting, posting “go and vote or eight sweaty nerds will steal all our pizza.” Corpus came in second, and SU awarded both colleges with a £300 voucher each. 

Noting this, Corpus’s disaffiliation will be “effective as of when the first bite of SU-funded pizza is consumed at our All Souls pizza party” according to the motion.

The motion wishes to “signal that Corpus JCR is a small and friendly island that should not be underestimated as a voting bloc and member of the SU… Above all, it will be funny if we disaffiliate and keep with our current reputation in the student press for causing havoc – think of the article someone can write in the Cherwell.”

Jesus JCR votes to recommend abolishing free Second Hall for committee members

By
Kyra Radley
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Image Credit: Quadrangleditor via Wikimedia Commons

At its third meeting of Hilary term, the Jesus College JCR committee passed the motion to recommend that the College abolish free second hall for JCR committee members. 

Jesus College’s current policy is that JCR committee members have weekly access to formals, or second hall. In meetings with the committee, the Department for Accomodation, Catering and Conferences (DACC) had indicated that this policy was a contributing factor toward high food prices in hall. 

A formal hall for a member of Jesus College not in the JCR is £8.20, and £13.65 for guests. Comparatively St John’s College offers a formal hall dinner to guests for £4.98.

Jesus JCR Vice-President Sam Freeman put forth the notion to be debated at the Jesus JCR meeting. He stated in his motion: “Subsidising some members of college to eat for free whilst others struggle with ever rising costs is unacceptable. The costs of running hall should be more transparent to facilitate greater accountability to the student body.”

The debate on this motion was extensive. It was countered by claims that there would be no immediate reduction of present hall food cost, meaning the removal of eligibility for free formals could be without impact. 

Further debate took issue with the reduced recognition of the JCR committee members, though this was countered by a general keenness to avoid an atmosphere of reward in the JCR for those working on the committee. 

There was further concern that removing this policy would weaken the negotiating position the JCR had with the college over reducing costs. Sam Freeman stated during the meeting, however, that the motion would serve as a demonstration of the committee’s dedication: “Here’s something from us, now something big from you.”

Before the motion went to vote it was altered from an immediate abolition of free formals to a proposal that the removal of free formals be discussed with the Director of the DACC team. After further debate the motion went to voting and was passed. 

Freeman told Cherwell: “I’m very pleased the motion has passed and has now been sent forth to the director for accommodation, catering and conferences (DACC). For too long Jesus students have had to put up with unacceptably high hall prices and we hope this can be a start point for negotiations to decrease them across the board as well as sending a message to college management about just how seriously the JCR committee are taking this issue.”

Jesus has the fifth-highest endowment per student of undergraduate colleges. The College is implementing a trial re-balance in prices between first and second hall next term, with first hall prices decreasing as formal prices increase. 

Cambridge students punished for behaviour at Michaelmas sports day swap to Balliol

By
Julia Amann
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Image Credit: Daniel Stick

Athletes from St John’s College, Cambridge were punished with over 130 hours of community service for their bad behaviour at a sports day swap at Balliol College last term. The behaviour involved verbal abuse, as well as urinating and spilling beer indoors. 

The College Dean, Dr Nick Friedman, awarded the St John’s men’s football team and croquet team over 130 hours of community service, to complete jointly. 

The students were recorded on Oxford’s CCTV causing destruction to the Balliol College Recreation Ground, off of Jowett Walk. They also reportedly left broken glass, mud, and urine in the changing rooms and trashed the College bar. Friedman was told that St John’s students had been asked to pick up rubbish left on the pitches but failed to do so.  

One Oxford student said: “College sports swaps aren’t about the sport as much as socialising at the other place,” emphasising that students often sign up to play sports they don’t have experience in just to participate in the trip. 

Friedman emailed the captains of the men’s football and croquet captains to request that they “attend an urgent meeting with the Dean” in January and told them that he had received a list of allegations made by Balliol including the above. 

The email further stated that “The security staff reported [St John’s] students drinking beer through funnels, and then sliding on beer spilt to the floor.” 

After the community service was awarded, the Balliol master said the following: “The Balliol/St John’s Sports Day is [an] annual event which all the students involved enjoy. We are grateful to St John’s for resolving an issue from a recent event and relationships with St John’s, our sister College in Cambridge, remain cordial.” 

Oxford colleges have also received complaints about student behaviour after sports day swaps to Cambridge. One source told Cherwell that, in their experience, sports days have included excessive drinking and urinating on statues at Cambridge colleges. 

Another Oxford student said the behaviour from Cambridge did not surprise him. “It’s really classic Cambridge, isn’t it.”  

Student Union to lobby University and colleges to cut ties with “unethical” companies, including Home Office

By
Selina Chen
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Image Credits: Hugh Chevallier via Wikimedia Commons

The Student Union (SU) has voted in favour of the “Divestment” motion that mandates SU Sabbatical Officers to lobby Oxford University and its colleges to sever all ties with any company or organisation meeting certain criteria – including those “which a reasonable person would believe to be involved in unethical conduct.” The SU will push Oxford to stop investing in, renting space to, accepting funding from, and collaborating through career services with such entities.

The motion – passed with 21 in favour, 6 against, and 3 abstaining – was proposed by the newly elected NUS Delegate Luca Di Bona at a 30 January Council meeting. It names the UK’s Armed Forces, Police Force, Intelligence Agencies, Home Office, and the Department for Work and Pensions as off-limits. Other criteria specify entities that are proven to take away the rights of the individual, manufacture torture equipment, or derive more than 10% of their profits from armaments, fossil fuels, et cetera.

This follows last term’s SU policy “Reform to the Ethical Code of Practice for Commercial Activities,” which restricts the companies and organisations the SU may have ties with. The SU now believes, according to the motion, that the University should also end its relationship with “organisations that the SU will not work with on ethical grounds.”

At the meeting, Di Bona was asked whether the motion applies to companies that give scholarships to students, to which they responded: “The University’s choice to work with these [arms] companies to get scholarships may reduce the time and effort it spends to achieve other scholarships from ethical backgrounds.”

A voting member of the SU who voted against the motion told Cherwell: “It was raised in the Student Council meeting that the divestment motion was extremely broad, to the extent that it seemed imprecise in its application. Divestment only represents a proper censuring of unethical business practice where it is targeted, so that businesses know why they are being divested.”

A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “All Oxford University research is academically driven, with the ultimate aim of enhancing openly available scholarship and knowledge. Donors have no influence over how Oxford academics carry out their research, and major donors are reviewed and approved by the University’s Committee to Review Donations and Research Funding, which is a robust, independent system taking legal, ethical and reputational issues into consideration before gifts are accepted.

“Much of our overseas collaborative research addresses global challenges such as climate change and major health problems where international involvement is important in delivering globally relevant solutions.”

Di Bona told Cherwell that the divestment motion has precedence in Cardiff University’s 2009 decision to cut financial ties with arms companies. They said: “I’m aware that’s going to be a long process, and it’s an iterative process, so what we’ll see is strong negotiations between the SU and University that give us small wins.”

Tesla to build permanent base in Oxfordshire

By
Álvaro de Frías
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Oxford University
Image Credits: Sidharth Bhatia

Tesla is opening its first Oxfordshire site in a technology park located south of Bicester. Albion Land’s Catalyst Park in Bicester is designed for advanced manufacturing sectors and technology, and will house Tesla’s newest outlet. With 40 stores in the UK, the Tesla store closest to Oxford up until now was in Reading. 

Tesla has already been leasing the 24,000 sq ft location, alongside a unit that will be handed over to an unnamed design and manufacturing company. The new occupants will join Evolito, an aerospace company, and Yasa, a manufacturer of electric motors owned by Mercedes Benz, at the site. There is one more building currently available and an additional two under construction, comprising a further 110,000 sq ft that will be ready to let in summer 2024. 

The business complex aims to help reduce commuting out of Bicester due to its proximity to housing, transport links and infrastructure. This would support Bicester’s population growth plans, with 10,000 new homes planned within 12 years and an increase in population from 32,000 to 50,000+ by 2031. Future planned infrastructure works are already in place to ensure the transport network will keep pace with this growth. 

Tesla had previously been expanding in Oxford, with its superchargers contributing to the opening of the Redbridge Park and Ride electric vehicle charging hub in 2022, which was claimed to be the “most powerful” in Europe. It remains one of the few supercharger stations in Oxfordshire, with 12 Tesla chargers at 250kW restricted to Tesla owners. Although the manufacture and operation of Supercharger stations do have a carbon footprint, the reduction in emissions from electric vehicles will help achieve Oxford’s proposals to move to zero emission travel in the city. 

Oxford is set to become the first UK city to introduce a zero-emission zone, an area in which only zero emission vehicles can be used without incurring a charge. The objective is to improve air quality, cut carbon emissions, and encourage the use of public transport, including Redbridge or Bicester Park and Ride. The scheme will only cover a handful of streets in the city centre, but the Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council hope to grow the zone over the coming years. 

History, philosophy, and theology top the list of most popular Oxford degrees

By
Mahima Nayak
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Image Credit: James Morrell

New data from the UCAS 2023 undergraduate application cycle show that Oxford degrees classified as historical, philosophical, and religious studies were the most popular for undergraduate study. 

Degrees in this grouping received 3,480 applications, out of a total 24,230 applications made to the University – just over 2,000 more than the number to Cambridge. 

Other highly popular subjects include physical sciences (2,610 applications), social sciences (2,575 applications), and law (2,465 applications). By contrast, the least popular were subjects involving medicine, with just 295 applications, and art/design, with 360 applications. 

There were certain subjects where Oxford attracted more applications than Cambridge and vice versa. Oxford outnumbered Cambridge in applications significantly for maths, physical sciences, history, philosophy, and religious studies. 

Conversely, subjects that were more popular at Cambridge were primarily science focused. Engineering received over double the number of applications at Cambridge compared to Oxford, with computing, geography, and psychology also all receiving more applicants.

The data, which go back to 2019, also show trends in the popularity of different subject areas. Law has seen the most growth in applications, with 580 more this year than in 2019. In contrast, the subject with the biggest drop is languages, with 275 fewer applications.

The full list of applications to Oxford is as follows:

1. Historical, philosophical, and religious studies (3,480 applications)

2. Physical sciences (2,610 applications)

3. Social sciences (2,575 applications)

4. Law (2,465 applications)

5. Mathematical sciences (2,330 applications)

6. Medicine and dentistry (1,950 applications)

7. Language and area studies (1,915 applications)

8. Biological and sports sciences (1,780 applications)

9. Engineering and technology (1,400 applications)

10. Computing (1,230 applications)

11. Business and management (770 applications)

12. Psychology (570 applications)

13. Geography, earth, and environmental studies (500 applications)

14. Design, and creative and performing arts (360 applications)

15. Subjects allied to medicine (295 applications)

All Souls College to hold open evenings targeting female, non-binary, and BAME candidates

By
Grace Kyoko Wong
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Image Credit: Francesca Tozzi

All Souls College, Oxford University’s most selective graduate college, is holding two Examination Fellowship open evenings at the end of term targeting women and gender minorities, an annual initiative since 2008, and ethnic minority students, introduced in 2019.

Students from these backgrounds remain underrepresented among candidates for All Souls’ highly competitive Examination Fellowships, which cover seven years of graduate tuition, research fees, and room and board for outstanding scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Typically, two Fellows are elected each year from a pool of over 150 candidates.

Out of the 33 Examination Fellows elected since 2006, twelve (36%) are female; the percentage of female candidates has significantly increased over this time, from 25.9% in 2006 to 48% in 2023. While All Souls has not historically tracked the ethnicity of candidates, four (33%) of its twelve current Fellows are from BAME backgrounds, and the proportion of BAME candidates exceeded 40% in 2023.

In recent years, All Souls has also taken steps to address its historical links to the Atlantic slave trade: Christopher Codrington, a former Fellow and a key benefactor of the College, was a prominent slaveholder in the Caribbean. The College Library, formerly known as the Codrington Library, was renamed in 2020 to All Souls College Library, with contextual plaques and displays subsequently installed around the Library, including a digital projection of enslaved people’s names onto the statue of Codrington inside the building.

The College now funds three All Souls Hugh Springer Scholarships each year, which cover full tuition and living expenses for Black Caribbean graduate students studying at any Oxford college, and contributes to the university-wide Black Academic Futures Programme and the Caribbean Oxford Initiative, which support graduate students of Black or Black Caribbean heritage. Moreover, the College provides annual grants to Codrington College, an Anglican theological college in Barbados founded by a bequest in Codrington’s will.

A queer exploration of new age romance: ‘Best of Five’ Review

By
Kiaya Phillips
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Watching ‘Best of Five’ felt like I was watching a combination of mine and my friends’ university experience playing out in front of me. We are given the protagonist Pip, a nineteen year old university student struggling to comprehend the complexities of his new emotions whilst dealing with those of the past. A queer exploration of new age romance in the era of dating apps, situationships and hookup culture, I felt ‘Best of Five’ put on a theatrical show that was essentially what you see and hear day to day as a young adult trying to navigate relationships and feelings in the 21st century. 

The set opened with a park bench downstage left, soft coloured lighting and streamers strung from the ceiling. The set was fairly minimal with a few items that were moved on and off stage, like blankets and tables, to indicate the changes of scenery. The space was utilised well, and a lot of the time actors would walk within the audience and along the upper side of the auditorium, with the lighting trailing their movement maintaining audience focus. This made the play feel dynamic and more natural, the playing with movement paying off well.

Some of the most dynamic scenes were when we were suddenly thrust into uni nightlife culture, the feelings of a night I’m sure i’ve lived a million times before immediately resurfacing; pounding music, sloppy drunks and people everywhere that you half know, or really don’t want to see. We see Pip struggle between several different people and situations, explaining it well himself in an earlier scene that he finds it difficult to read people and what they want from him. Thus we see him mess up time and time again in the search to find something that sticks. From someone he met on an app, to your average laddish fuck boy who is incredibly emotionally unavailble, to a guy he picks up in a club, and finally a musician he follows on instagram – met through a mutual friend. 

On the back of this we see the lighting and tech really shine in this piece, clearly having lots of thought having gone into its construction. We get loud sound effects of water being poured, people using the toilets and the turning on and off of lights, to name a few. These all worked succinctly with the lighting choices, using colours (particularly blue and red) to create different ambiances and settings depending on the scene and its set location.

The play emphasises the desperation that love can cause, especially for young adults trying to find what they see to be the “missing piece” that is love in their lives. Pip exemplifies the toxic attachment of being in a situationship and being desperate for love at any cost. He waits around all day, dressed and ready to go, moaning to his friends about this boy only to abandon all grievances for a text that comes too last minute to be acceptable. Proving that it often feels like to have something, even at the cost of one’s dignity, is better than having nothing at all. 

The idea of having Pip split into two actors, one as a current 19 year old Pip and the second as a younger 17 year old Pip, was effective. It took me a second to realise what was going on at first, but once I did I could appreciate the emotional depth this added to his characterisation. By allowing us as the audience to understand his past we could better understand the trajectory of the narrative. It worked well particularly in the final scene where Pip’s younger self hugs him tightly before exiting and leaving the older Pip to his final monologue. We see him comfort his younger self, telling him to enjoy the love he has while it’s happening rather than focussing on the idea of its future loss. He promises that there will be more love and greatness in his life to come, and I think we can all be comforted by that conclusion. The final line rang true, especially to me, that instead of stressing about how we we feel in the future and the type of love or relationships that we may or may not have, we should focus on the now, as Pip says: “Because I’m only 19 and how could you possibly know the grievances of an old man.”

Town vs Gown 2024

By
Benjamin Allwright
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Image Credit: David Seiferth

The latest iteration of ‘Town vs Gown’, hosted by the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club (OUABC), promised an adrenaline-fuelled night of thrills, ensconced in an atmosphere that was at fever pitch with anticipation. The main hall, usually frequented by students in vests, shorts, and trainers, was replete with a lavishly dressed crowd, eager to support friends and family.

The night dawned with two debutants, Monteith and Mallin; both boxers displayed grit and grace, but Monteith emerged victorious after landing the cleaner shots. Next came Mitchell, the OUABC’s Men’s captain, and Fagbemi. Mitchell sought to control the range in the early exchanges, but Fagbemi, looking more comfortable at the weight, came on strong in the latter stages and revealed his devastating power. Mitchell demonstrated great resilience, but it was Fagbemi who received the judges’ nod. Lukoseviciute and Cheng were next to grace the ring. In a titanic classic clash of power versus speed, exchanges were evenly shared in the first round. As the bout progressed however, Lukoseviciute’s strength and conditioning took centre stage as her thudding punches echoed around the hall, earning her a deserved victory. 

Following these hotly fought contests were three bouts between Oxford University and UCL. Meriggi, the OUABC Women’s captain,  was the first to take to the stage, delivering a clinical performance on UCL’s Shinde. Armed with a longer reach, Meriggi adeptly controlled the range, and weaved in and out of Shinde’s striking distance. After three full rounds, Meriggi’s arm was raised in the middle of the ring, attesting to her dominant display. Shortly after, the OUABC president, Seiferth, faced off against UCL’s Berre in a bout sponsored by Fabienne Tyler, in memory of her late father and honorary life president Terry Adams. As ever, Seiferth pushed the pace of the bout, applying the pressure on Berre. Both boxers landed some clean shots in a fight that was difficult to score, but ultimately, it was the arm of the UCL fighter that was raised, giving Berre the win.

Tan of Oxford versus Andrews of UCL was the next bout on the card. Despite Tan’s best efforts, Andrews managed to land some tidy counterpunching, which earned him a unanimous victory. The final fight welcomed an external boxer into the ring: Quintero of Oxford University versus Duis of Bristol University. Quintero demonstrated incredible speed and composure, landing often in the early exchanges. Crimson started to fall from the nose of Duis, and despite the best efforts of the ringside doctor, the bout was called off by the referee, confirming Quintero’s imperious victory.

Anderson and Ancil stepped up next in a bout sponsored by OUABC alumnus Peter W. Davies. Despite a valiant effort from Ancil, Anderson was able to land the cleaner, more impactful shots, ultimately leading to a referee’s stoppage. Shortly afterwards, Ryce and Peralta served up a pulsating contest sponsored by OUABC alumnus Chris Mack, with the conditioning of both contestants clear to see. Peralta offered great resistance, but the slick footwork of Paddy ‘Paddypower’ Ryce opened the opportunities to punish his opponent. Ryce was announced as the winner, a decision that was met with a huge cheer from his vocal support.

The latter stages of the night witnessed the heavier boxers take to the ring, and as the drinks continued to flow, the atmosphere swelled. Mehdi and Bruton served up the next spectacle, with the latter having brought a congregation of vociferous support along with him. Bruton was explosive from the outset, forcing a standing count for his opponent. However, Mehdi, who demonstrated his ability to come back from behind in his last bout, delivered a similar performance and seized control in the latter stages, forcing two standing counts of his own. In a bout that showed incredible courage from both boxers, Mehdi emerged victorious, notching up another win on his record. Gaztowtt and Tsvetkov, two men of large stature, climbed into the ring next. The impressive reach of the boxers made the ring look like the metaphorical ‘phone box’, often referred to in boxing. Both showed impressive speed, but after three rounds, Gaztowtt took the spoils.

The penultimate fight saw Willfort in a heavy-handed contest against Nebe. Willfort, sporting the longer reach, restricted Nebe’s opportunities to move within range, proffering sparse chances for the latter to land clean hits. Despite Nebe’s persistent determination to progress forward, Willfort was confirmed as the winner in the ring. Finally, in the heavyweight division, Field faced up to Orwell. Orwell’s endeavours were commendable, but the indomitable power of Field was palpable from ringside, earning him a quick stoppage to conclude the night.

As ever, ‘Town vs Gown’ presented a litany of storylines, atmosphere, and drama. It was clear that every boxer that entered the unforgiving squared circle had followed incredible discipline, a testament to their sacrifices. The celebrations that proceeded in St Vincent’s saw opponents, who hours before had been trying to render each other unconscious, share a drink and laugh over their ordeals – the values of boxing demonstrated at their best. 

The OUABC’s next fixture takes place on 8th March in Cambridge, where the club squares up against their long-term rival CUABC. If ‘Town vs Gown’  this year was anything to go by, Varsity should prove to be a similarly unforgettable night.

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