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Engineering students build boxing careers
4:13 p.m., May 3, 2006--When engineering students Tom Craig, a freshman, and Erich Weigert, a doctoral candidate, want to unwind from hitting the books, they step into a nearby boxing club and start hitting the punching bag instead, as part of their training for amateur competition in the 152-pound weight class. For Craig and Weigert, learning the “sweet science” of boxing requires a lot of enthusiasm and four training sessions per week at the Lef Jab Boxing Club in West Grove, Pa. “A normal training session lasts about two and a half hours, starting with a run and followed by jumping rope and shadow boxing,” Weigert said. “After warming up, we do an extensive abs routine and then more cardiopulmonary exercises or else gear up for sparring.” When the training focuses on cardiopulmonary exercises, routines might include under the rope, mountain climbers, clap-pushups, bag drills, passing a medicine ball and frog hops. Sparring sessions focus on ring work, and usually take up the remainder of a workout, Craig said. While training routines may differ depending on individual competition schedules, both men say amateur boxing is something they have wanted to do from a fairly early age. “I always wanted to try the sport, but never really saw an opportunity to do so when I was younger,” Weigert said. “A while ago, I was looking for the nearest boxing club to Newark, and that's when I found out about the Lef Jab.” Weigert said that he started training there about a year and a half ago, and likes the hard-working attitude of his coach, Clif Johnson, and the many good friends he has met at the Lef Jab. Part of the training requires keeping busy, and that is just what Craig did on Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23, when he won five straight bouts, two by knockouts and three by decisions, to win the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Central Division championship in Wilkes-Barre.
Craig said that he believes all the training at the Lef Jab and all the support he received from family and friends paid off handsomely in beating the competition in Wilkes-Barre. “It felt great. I knew I could do it,” Craig said. “I went to the fight to win the state championship, and I wasn't even thinking about the possibility of losing. I trained hard for the competition and felt it was mine to win.” For Craig, whose 10 bouts as a novice means that he moves up to the “open” class, the interest in boxing began as youngster, when he would watch fights on television with his dad, Thomas Craig Jr., a carpenter in Facilities-Building Maintenance and Operations Structure Services Department at UD. “I didn't start boxing until after I received a set of gloves for Christmas when I was 12 or 13 years old,” Craig said. “Later, I found out about the Lef Jab and started working out there during my sophomore year in high school.” Craig said that while his parents and his friends support him in his pugilistic pursuits, it took some time for his mother to warm up to the idea of seeing her son in the ring. “My parents are very proud of me. My dad supports me 100 percent, and hopes I will go on with the sport,” Craig said. “At first, my mom feared that I would get hurt, but she is doing much better with this now and enjoys the fights because she sees how much concern there is among amateur fighters for safety in the ring.” Plans for Craig including more training and a series of upcoming bouts in “open” class matches in the Keystone State. “I will be competing in Golden Glove competition in July and plan to continue this competition in 2007,” Craig said. “I'm not sure what will happen between now and then, but I'm sure I will keep busy.” Weigert said that while his parents support him in all he does, they naturally don't want him to get hurt, so he works hard in practice to make sure that does not happen. Although his fiancée remains skeptical, Weigert said the odds are he will probably hang up his gloves as an active fighter after receiving his doctorate and starting his professional career.
On the more immediate boxing horizon, Weigert will compete in a May 20 bout in Lancaster. “I'm excited about this because I've heard that this competition is very challenging and features very skilled fighters,” Weigert said. “Following that, there also is the summer Golden Gloves competition in July.” For Craig, there are no plans on the horizon that would call for his stepping out of the ring after graduation. “I really don't plan on leaving the sport. It is such a big part of my life, and I enjoy it,” Craig said. “I am going to compete as long as I can and see where that takes me.” While Craig and Weigert may have slightly different ideas about the direction their amateur boxing careers will take upon graduating, they are unanimous in naming welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. as their favorite fighter. “His speed is incredible,” Weigert said. “I love watching clips of the old fighters, like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier and Sugar Ray Leonard,” Craig said, “ but pound-for-pound, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the best guy out there right now.” Article by Jerry Rhodes
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