When mechanical engineering student Tom Craig, EG ’09, and Erich Weigert, a doctoral candidate in materials science and engineering, want to unwind from hitting the books, they step into a nearby boxing club and start hitting the punching bag instead.

For these students, 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., where both are training for amateur competition in the 152-pound weight class. “A normal training session lasts about two and a half hours, starting with a run and followed by jumping rope and shadow boxing,” Weigert says, although routines vary according to competition schedules.

In April, Craig won five straight bouts, two by knockouts and three by decisions, to win the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves Central Division championship in Wilkes-Barre.

“It felt great. I knew I could do it,” he says. “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.”

Both men say amateur boxing has been a longtime interest.

“I always wanted to try the sport but never really saw an opportunity to do so when I was younger,” Weigert says. “A while ago, I was looking for the nearest boxing club to Newark, and that’s when I found out about the Lef Jab.” He started training there about two years ago and says he likes the hard-working attitude of his coach, Clif Johnson, and the many good friends he has met.
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 says. “Later, I found out about the Lef Jab and started working out there during my sophomore year in high school.”

Craig says 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.

Weigert says he probably will hang up his gloves as an active fighter after receiving his doctorate and starting his professional career.

In Craig’s case, he says he sees no reason to step 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,” he says. “I am going to compete as long as I can and see where that takes me.”