USC Boxing: Bringing A Whole New Dimension To The Words “Fight On”

On Thursday November 9th boxers from the University of Southern California blew into the Windy City to compete in an Intercollegiate Boxing Show, featuring five Universities. The event was sanctioned and approved by USA Boxing and The United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association. That’s right… Trojan Boxers! Along with all its other fabled sports, boxing is alive and well at USC.

Front Row Left to Right: YC, Noah “Sting” Ng, Parker Chang, Jade Brewer

Back Row Left to Right: Coach Cesar Lopez, Assistant Coach Brian Robillard, Ring Announcer and USC Alumnus Steve Corbo, Head Coach Omar Lopez and Patrick Carbone

Together with boxers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Xavier University in Cincinnati, the University of Illinois Chicago, and the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, four USC fighters stepped into the ring to compete against some of the best collegiate boxers in the Midwest. The event took place at the magnificent Union League Club in the heart of downtown Chicago. Initially, it was hard to find anybody cheering for Cardinal and Gold. But fighting in this environment only seemed to motivate the Trojans on to victory.

First to fight for USC was Patrick Carbone. He took on Kobe Rogers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Being amateur boxing, all the bouts were scheduled for three rounds of action, with this one being in the 176-pound weight division. Carbone used his superior reach and height to dominate a very tough Rogers, who threw everything he had and never quit trying to find the key to get to Carbone. In the end it was Carbone who won on every judge’s scorecard to take home a unanimous decision victory.

USC’s Noah “Sting” Ng took on Jacob Carpenter from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in a 147-pound matchup. Carpenter came to fight and landed some clean shots to Ng. But it was not enough to keep Ng from his mission. The hard-hitting Trojan turned out the lights at 1:48 of the 2nd round, when the referee stepped in to halt the action. Another Trojan victory.

Boxing is an equal opportunity sport, and the seventh bout of the evening was in the women’s division. USC’s Jade Brewer took on Vrinda Thakur from Michigan in a 139-pound matchup. Brewer dominated her opponent to the point where the referee had to call an end to the affair. It went into the record books as a win for Brewer by way of stoppage at 1:22 of the second round.

The final bout for USC saw Peter Chang challenge Jared Jackson from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This was a war and both fighters came out hard and came to win. Jackson was rocked a couple of times but stood his ground and landed some pretty good shots of his own. For three rounds it went back and forth finally winding up in the hands of the judges. There are no draws in amateur boxing, and it was Jackson who walked away with a controversial split decision win. When announced, the decision was booed by many in the audience who seemed to be won over by the performance of Chang and his teammates.

Speaking of announcing, Professional Ring Announcer and USC Alumnus, Steve Corbo ’77, was in the ring doing the introductions. Fight On!

5 thoughts on “USC Boxing: Bringing A Whole New Dimension To The Words “Fight On”

  1. Thank you, Mr. Corbo, for the coverage of the USC Trojan Boxing Club’s performance in Chicago! It was an absolute pleasure to meet you.

    Fight On!

    Omar “El Profe” Lopez
    USC Trojan Boxing Club
    Head Coach

  2. Excellent article, Steve! As you are a USC alum, I know you had a great time. The kids were blessed to have you, a professional announcer, in the ring. What a great event!

  3. Excellent article and great to see college boxing continue beyond the armed services. These young men and women competing against the service members would make it more competitive and interesting!

  4. Mr. Gagne, these young men and women do compete against boxers from the armed services and we will get a chance to do that this spring through NCBA-sanctioned events. Certainly, boxers from the military academies are always well-prepared!

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