In two weeks, 18 amateur Aggie boxers will duke it out at Reed Arena for charity.
Farmers Fight Night, or FFN, is set to host its inaugural high-profile charity boxing match at Texas A&M on April 4 at 6 p.m. Tickets are now on sale through the 12th Man Foundation website. General admission is $25, but reserved seats are available for $35-$50 per ticket. Pay-per-view live streaming will be available through the FFN website.
Reed Arena will be transformed for the event, and the floor will have an elevated boxing ring. Attendees can expect nine three-round matches, featuring intermission performances by the Aggie Dance Team, Aggie Wranglers and a karate demonstration from Kickstart Kids.
Additionally, businesses have donated free items to give away at the event through random seat drawings, such as a year’s supply of Community Coffee.
All profits will benefit United Way of the Brazos Valley, a Bryan-based nonprofit that assists residents with affordable housing, healthcare access, reliable transportation and education.
While still subject to change until the day of the event, the matches are as follows:
Welterweight: 147 pounds
Tom Sengphet vs Charles Villegas
Light middleweight: 156 pounds
Francis Cristal vs Frank Chiu
Angelo Castro vs Christian Chavira
Light heavyweight: 176 pounds
Jake Young vs Glenn Peacock
Will Loftin vs Eric Wilhite
AJ Baird vs Emi Sanchez
Kim Peteros vs Jake Zawaideh
Cruiserweight: 189 pounds
Stadler Kirsten vs Edward Clark
Heavyweight: 203 pounds
Kobe Mora vs Chandler Banks
Senior biological and agricultural engineer Saryn Paulsen is the vice president of marketing for FFN. While its mission is philanthropy first, its fighters just want to put on a good show.
Paulsen said the student-organized event has been in the works since 2023, when its boxers had little-to-no fighting experience in October. Undergoing four days a week of training, these fighters have been sharpening their skills with practice and sparring.
“[Our VP of training] says that just like the skill, the level of experience in the ring and their ability to have good boxing IQ is just night and day different from where they were six months ago when they first started,” Paulsen said, adding that attendees can hope for solid, technical fights.
Compared to other sports, Paulsen said training to box is like preparing for a marathon. Aside from learning technical moves, Paulsen said the fighters have been completing lots of cardio alongside monitoring their nutrition. This semester, fighters have refined their knowledge with local boxing coach Carl Perry at BCS Boxing Club.
Paulsen said FFN is a new iteration of a past, impromptu boxing event that happened on the Corps of Cadets Quad.
“Some guys in the Corps just got an idea that they were going to throw up a boxing ring in the middle of Quad, and they were gonna have people walk up, sign a waiver and step in and fight,” Paulsen said. “Obviously, the university kind of said, ‘No, you can’t do that.’”
However, the idea remained and morphed into an official event. Ironically, Paulsen said obtaining the venue was one of the easiest parts of planning.
Paulsen said hardest part has been obtaining donations to fund the event. She said FFN is still $5-10,000 short of its $30,000 goal, but local businesses have been chipping in to help.
Before the event, FFN is hosting Honor Night, an invite-only gala event and silent auction for members, family, friends and donors. Paulsen said Harley Davidson, Aggieland Outfitters, Community Coffee and more donated baskets to assist fundraising efforts.
Soon, Paulsen said FFN hopes to expand the event to include more matches and morph into the official A&M boxing club. Previously, there was a competitive boxing club, but it has remained inactive after COVID-19 restrictions. While a large part of its current membership is in the Corps, FFN hopes to recruit other high-impact groups, such as fraternities.
“Not only will we continue to do our big Fight Night, in the spring every year, but we’ll also have competitive boxers who compete on behalf of A&M,” Paulsen said.
