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Professor Murray Cox leads a boxing freshman seminar to teach students discipline and time management

Israel Miles | Photos Courtesy of Alec Tung

The fall semester of Freshman year is often remembered as one replete with stimulus overload. I personally remember being overwhelmed by academic and athletic clubs, new friends, and the increased workload of college classes. Without proper scheduling, freshmen can struggle to eat regularly, exercise and even sleep, let alone do well in classes. But there is help: the first-year seminar titled Boxing: The Original Greek Mental and Fitness Program offers students the opportunity to learn the sport of amateur boxing in addition to teaching them discipline and time management to help them step up to the demands of college. 

“The freshman seminars show students how to adjust to college,” Applied Mathematics Professor Murray Cox said. “What is the difference between high school and university level reasoning and expectations, and what tools do I need to succeed in college? The same tools you need to succeed in college are the ones you use in boxing.”

Dr. Cox partnered with U.S. Olympic boxer Carrie Barry to offer students training in amateur boxing at Barry’s gym, The Corner Boxing Club, located about 15 minutes from main campus. Barry is a 10 time national champion; she won the Pan American championship, Police Athletic League Nationals, the Golden Gloves; and, in her prime, she was ranked 5th in the world. Dr. Cox, an amateur boxer himself, first became involved with the sport while he was a student in college, and he now organizes the freshman seminar to give students the mentality needed to succeed at university. 

“The interval training, being on time, pushing yourself, time management, all of these things that we want you to teach for a first year seminar... well that’s boxing,” Dr. Cox said. “That’s exactly what you learn when you step into the ring. It’s going to be scary. You have to challenge yourself [but] it’s self discipline really. It’s what it comes down to—discipline.” 

I came to know Dr. Cox while he was teaching the Calculus II course I was taking through the Applied Math department. He came to know that I had a passion for martial arts, and one day during his office hours he offered me the position of teaching assistant for the freshman boxing seminar. I immediately said yes, and in the past two years, have had the privilege to see the seminar’s positive impact on students. 

“I thought it was just going to be a class where we learn about the history of boxing,” Jon Guay, a sophomore Applied Mathematics major, who took the class in Fall 2017, said. “I had no idea we would actually be boxing. We would start with a class group training session and then you would go to technical boxing training. We did everything from jumping rope to foot work to hitting the heavy bags.”

Over the duration of the course, students learned about the rules of boxing, the kinematics of the human body, and how to box themselves. They also learned the important and distinct difference between professional and amateur boxing. 

“If I said I’m going skiing this weekend and I’m going to be wearing shorts, would you think I was crazy?” Dr. Cox asked by way of explaining the distinction. “Well, there’s two kinds of skiing. There’s water skiing and there’s snow skiing. They’re vastly different. They’re both called skiing. Professional boxing and amateur boxing are nothing alike, other than that you both wear boxing gloves. Amateur boxing is very short rounds. You’re only allowed to go three rounds. It’s all about points. Professional boxing is a business, and the whole idea of being a professional boxer is trying to drum up business. The pros will just mouth off saying I’m going to crush you, and then you watch movies about Rocky where their faces are all swollen up and bleeding and it’s just not real. In amateur boxing, somebody might get a bloody lip or a bloody nose. That’s rare in this day. There is almost never ever, ever a knockout in amateur boxing. It’s like an elaborate game of tag. How many times can you touch and get a scoring point?”

To reiterate Cox’s point, in The National Safety Council’s list of sports and their injury rates, amateur boxing is ranked 23rd, safer than football, wrestling, soccer, and gymnastics. Furthermore, students in the freshman seminar class are in no way, shape, or form required to step into the ring. If students even desire to  spar with other boxers, they must be registered with U.S.A. boxing and have Coach Barry’s personal approval. 

The boxing class has a final project titled the CU Quadrivium, named after the four pillars of the Greek education. Students plan and organize their own official boxing competition, or boxing bout, with up to dozens of local amateur boxers competing in the day of the event. There is extensive planning required, and students have to figure out some of the tasks themselves. For example, they must find a venue for the event, contact licensed doctors who are registered with U.S.A. boxing, contact judges and referees, advertise, and set up the ring. There have been two CU Quadriviums to date, with the last being held at the CU Rec Center in the Fall of 2018. Guay was able to compete in the first CU Quadrivium and recounts stepping into the ring for the first time. 

“It was just crazy,” Guay said. “The months before the bout I would have dreams about boxing in the ring. When you get in there, I can’t even describe it. All of your thoughts—everything just leaves. The adrenaline rush and the chills when they ring the bell and introduce you. The walk out is sick, you feel so cool. And then after about a minute you’re so tired. The only thought on your mind is that I am so tired and I want this to end.” 

The freshman seminar class also emphasizes famous historical figures and the reverence Greeks had for boxing. Famous boxers in history include John McCain, Dwight Eisenhower, and Theodore Roosevelt. Engineering students who are familiar with Pythagoras’ Theorem should note that Pythagoras himself was a boxer. 

The Corner Boxing Club also promotes volunteering and community involvement for students. I was given the opportunity to tutor a high school student at the gym in physics in exchange for private boxing lessons. Students in the seminar are also able to boost their grades by volunteering at Barry’s Parkinson’s class on Saturday mornings. Not just that, but the Parkinson’s class shows students that boxing isn’t just for young athletic individuals, it helps people who are fighting for their very lives. 

“Boxing is one of the only sports or physical activities that reduces symptoms with Parkinson’s patients”, Barry said. “We’ve actually seen people rewind the clock in the progression of the disease, which is amazing. You put on these big gloves, you make big movements, and I make you be really loud. You’re interacting with other people, this type of outlet is really good for people affected by the disease or not.” 

The freshman boxing seminar doesn’t just introduce students to the sport of amateur boxing-- it gives students a sense of organization, self-discipline, and teaches how to be part of a community. More than 30% of college freshman dropout after their first year, and Guay states that the boxing class prevented him from taking a year off himself. 

“I lived in Will Vill my first semester and I was not having a good time,” Guay said. “I honestly attribute this boxing class and boxing in general to one of the reasons why I stayed in school. I was thinking about taking a gap semester to work because I was not having fun, and going to box every single night, that honestly kept me in it.” 

For students who want to get involved in boxing, The Corner Boxing Club offers a free intro to boxing class on Saturdays from 12 – 1 p.m. Hand wraps are provided, and all that is needed is athletic attire and running shoes. The Corner Boxing Club will also be hosting Founder Fights, which has raised over $237,000 for local charities, at the Boulder Theater May 18 at 7 p.m.