Cincinnati boxing inside the ropes

“It feels good,” said Woodruff, a first-year University of Cincinnati student. “It feels really good.”

Claiming his 10th consecutive victory en route to reaching the pinnacle of his division — the Midwest Region 119-pound Champion. 

“He’s the hardest worker on the team,” said Cincinnati Boxing Head Coach and owner of Cincinnati Fitness & Boxing Jeff Perry. “And [he’s] our best boxer.”

Winning unanimously over West Virginia’s Noah Gorospe to qualify for a spot in the National Collegiate Boxing Association (NCBA) National Tournament in Lawrenceburg, Indiana April 10-12. 

Joining Woodruff are fellow Bearcats: Sam Miranda, Jordan Evanko, Anthony DiAngelo, Michael Dempsey, Ryan Schumaker, Sebastian Duffin, Alec Gouge and Vic Basnyat.

The “freshman phenom” and current cybersecurity major took a unique path in discovering boxing, “I was a sophomore in high school, and they had an announcement on the intercom about the boxing club, so me and a couple friends decided to try it out,” said Woodruff. 

Having never boxed in his life prior, the simple announcement has ushered into an 11-1 record, a spot in nationals, and a trophy for winning Most Outstanding Boxer at the Midwest Regionals alongside Navy’s Nick Smith. An award voted for by each coach of the eight schools in the Midwest: University of Dayton, Ohio State University, Miami University, Navy, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina, West Virginia University, and of course, UC. 

Fifth-year cybersecurity student Miranda, UC Club Boxing President, found his way into the combat sport a little differently. 

“I was watching ‘Creed III’ with my dad and I was like, ‘Yeah, I wanna do that.’” 

Having never played an individual sport prior to boxing, Miranda began in spring 2023, just ahead of his junior year. 

“I just wanted to do it for the sake of trying it,” he said.” I like extreme sports. I did rock climbing for a little bit, mountain biking a little bit, and then I had a bad accident mountain biking. So, I sold all my bikes and I needed something to fulfill that adrenaline rush.” 

Miranda turned to the UC Boxing Club and has not looked back since.

Jeff Perry opened the doors of Cincinnati Fitness & Boxing to the public in 2009 with the simple goal of providing, “an authentic boxing gym in which anybody could train like a boxer,” according to its website. 

A short two-minute drive away from the main campus of the University of Cincinnati, located at 2929 Spring Grove Avenue, the boxing gym serves as the home training center to not only the UC Boxing Club, but also the Cincinnati High School Boxing Team. 

Beginning in 2011, the club began competing against other colleges in 2015 and started traveling in 2018. The team has been to tournaments across the country like New York, California, Washington, and more. 

In its 14 years of existence, the club has represented three individual national tournament champions, Nathan Todd at 147 pounds in 2019 and John Laughlin at 132 pounds in 2022 and 2023.

However, due to the NCAA’s decision in 1961 to stop supporting boxing, the club does not receive much funding from the university. 

“The school [UC] started to help more, so we have about $2,900 this semester,” explained Perry. 

This helps cover costs of rental cars and hotels but still forces boxers to pay more additional cash out of pocket. Even for those fighting non-competitively, every club member must pay an entry fee of $125 per semester or $225 for the full year. 

While Payton Woodruff and Sam Miranda are two athletes at very different points in their careers, both embody a lot of the same characteristics that make them role models. 

“Payton and Sam are the hardest workers in the gym,” said Jacob Benington, a UC student pursuing a degree in media production, who just joined the club this year. “Payton is such a strong example to look at. He’s always working to get better.” 

Benington emphasized Miranda’s empathy toward new boxers since he is not a lifelong fighter, “He makes it really relatable for everyone getting into it that you don’t have to be a born fighter, you don’t have to be raised to fight, you can just start and it’s really accessible the way he teaches.”

Fellow competitive boxer and teammate, second-year student Anthony DiAngelo, who boasts a 16-6 record, described Woodruff as, “a stud” and “someone to look up to if you are just getting into boxing.” 

DiAngelo, a native New Yorker said that above all else, Woodruff is a “super close friend.” 

While boxing is a true individual sport, as each bout is simply one person against another, DiAngelo preached the family aspect of the club and how one person changed his perception on it all.

“There wasn’t much of a social aspect or comradery aspect to it. I didn’t really feel a part of a team,” said DiAngelo. 

However, with the weather beginning to get colder and unable to ride his bike, DiAngelo was forced to find a ride.

“I needed a ride to the gym. I couldn’t take my bike to the gym anymore and that’s when I met Sam. Sam offered to give me a ride.” 

A simple gesture by the club president meant a lot more to DiAngelo and made him feel a part of something he never really had.

“What I learned from Sam was that type of community aspect that this team can bring. I never really found that too much, or at least to the extent that I have here with my teammates now.” 

A true leader, Miranda got an early jump on being the club’s leader last season.

“Last year I was interim president just because our old guys weren’t really around all that much,” said Miranda.“They were looking for somebody to just step into that place.” 

So, he did it and the transition seemed flawless.

From there, the communication began to increase and new fighters sought out Miranda for help.

Like any sport, practice and preparation is the end all, be all. Especially in a high-intensity activity like boxing, practice and working out is vital, but not every week is treated the same.

“Usually, I just follow what the class is doing until a week out of a fight,” said Miranda. “Then I’ll start doing more stuff that focuses on cardio or a technique I’m working on.” 

Then when you add balancing being a full-time student at college, you would think it would be difficult, but not for the freshman.

“I find it kind of easy because right now I don’t have a big workload,” said Woodruff. 

However, Miranda has a different point of view despite being in the same major.

“It feels like a part-time job, but thankfully I have co-ops,” said Miranda. “During my school semesters, it’s OK, definitely harder because after boxing I have to think, ‘I can’t get too tired because I have to go do some homework.’” 

As a club sport not sanctioned by the NCAA, Head Coach Jeff Perry is tasked with building the team’s schedule.

“I work and talk with the other coaches and our boxers to try and find fights that fit their schedule,” said Perry. 

Since January, he and the UC Club Boxing have gone to Seattle, Washington, the Pennsylvania State University,  and Ohio’s capital, Columbus. While mostly attending events organized by other schools, Perry also explained that his boxers will often compete in non-collegiate local gym shows, too, if they would like. 

However, just because one boxer says he wants to fight in an event does not guarantee they will be granted one. The coach that hosts the event in charge of creating the cards and pairs fighters up based on skill level, experience, and weight. 

This makes it harder for those in smaller weight classes or of higher skill to find fights, often leading to facing the same competitor multiple times. 

While Cincinnati has the privilege of being in their own boxing gym, since it is owned and run by their coach, not every show is the same. Penn State’s “Spring Show 2025” was held on Feb. 15 at a conference center in State College, Pennsylvania. 

A week later, the Ohio State University Boxing Club hosted an event at the Athletic Club of Columbus, a private social club that did not allow friends nor family of fighters to attend, but rather only members of the club, which boasts an initiation fee of $7,500. A much different crowd than the week before, but when you can get a fight, the setting is the least of your worries. 

With a season that gets underway in September, all boxers have their eyes on the Midwest Regional Tournament in the spring. 

This year, the tournament was held at UC’s home gym from March 7-9, an advantage for all Cincinnati boxers, but for another reason than you may not think of.

“I know I’m red corner every-time,” said Miranda. “I can look across at that blue corner and imagine my opponent. Every step I step in here, I just can’t wait to fight here again. This is my favorite spot to fight at.” 

After regionals is nationals — a tournament compiled of the top fighters from each region that battle it out in a bracket style format to crown a champion from each weight class. Often held in Charlotte, North Carolina, this year the venue will be in Lawrenceburg, Indiana from April 10-12. 

After both Woodruff and Miranda picked up wins at Penn State, neither fought in the next event at Columbus. Meaning both had a month off before the Midwest Tournament. 

Opening on a Friday night with 14 bouts, UC had three slated to hit the ring: Sebastian Duffin, Payton Woodruff and Sam Miranda. 

After picking up his first victory in Columbus, Duffin responded with a unanimous quarterfinals victory over Josh Callahan of North Carolina. 

“Only winners get cookies!” shouted Woodruff after picking up his first win.

Woodruff would soon follow suit with a unanimous victory in the 119 pound weight class quarterfinals over Ohio State’s Yousuf Munir, his ninth victory in a row.

“It’s fun fighting in your hometown, [you] get a big crowd. I like to think sometimes I’m the fan favorite,” said Miranda. 

He certainly was after defeating Li by way of referee abandonment — when the official stops the match due to potential risk of further injury or abuse — to complete the Cincinnati sweep.

On Saturday, things would be an even split for the club prior to Miranda and Woodruff’s championship bouts. With two or the four fights going to Cincinnati, both Ryan Schumaker and Anthony DiAngelo picked up victories in their quarterfinal fights.

After watching 17 matches beforehand, it was finally the freshman’s turn. Squaring off against West Virginia’s Noah Gorospe for the crown for 119-pound Midwest Champion. 

After a roaring ovation from the hometown crowd, Woodruff gave them another reason to celebrate with a six-minute dance of destruction en route to the crowning achievement of bantamweight Midwest champion. 

“I just felt [like] I was really relaxed in there.”

Out of all 58 boxers in the tournament, Woodruff and Nick Smith, from the United States Naval Academy Boxing Club, won the two Outstanding Fighters Awards. 

Unlike his teammate, Miranda lost by decision in his championship tilt to the Naval Academy’s Justin Kilpatrick. Despite coming up short in his final match at Perry’s gym, the season is not over yet, which caught him by surprise. 

“I didn’t know the top two per region go to the nationals. I thought I had to be the winner of the regionals to go, so it was kind of a surprise that I get to go, but I am thinking about it like I got one shot at this. This one year that I have, I am glad I at least get this chance to prove that I deserve the title.” 

Sharing similar ambitions, Payton Woodruff expressed his goal by saying, “I want to win nationals.”

Both will look to become Cincinnati’s fourth national champion.

Featured image at top: Payton Woodruff celebrates after winning his bantamweight bout in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Boxing Association Midwest Regional Championship Tournament at Cincinnati Fitness & Boxing on March 7, 2025. Photo.Aidan Leonard

This story is part of a UC journalism capstone course.