Students add Punch to WBO World Champion King Davidson

BSc Applied Sports Science and BSc Sports Coaching students got the opportunity to aid in the pre fight preparations of a world champion boxing star this week. Newly crowned WBO International Light Middleweight Champion King Davidson underwent a battery of physical performance tests at the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sport Science laboratories as he bids to successfully defend his world title in a bout scheduled for December 26^th (boxing day no less) in Nigeria.

King pictured with staff and students after his testing

Students played a full part in administering a number of tests that included: hydration status (measured through urine osmolality), body fat percentage (measured via a 9 site skinfold calliper method), peripheral vision and reaction time (measured via the BATAK lightboard), blood lactate levels (measured through a small pin prick to the finger via a lancet), and maximal aerobic capacity (measured via the V02 max test).  The video clip below shows a blood sample being taken during the VO2 Max test.

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·  Associate Lecturer in Sports Performance Analysis, Louis Langdown, has previously worked with Kings’ trainer Wayne Batten in supporting the professional boxers at his stable. Louis has extensive experience in applied strength and conditioning provision for elite sportsmen and women, having previously worked for the English Institute of Sport and several professional football clubs.  Wayne approached Louis a few years ago searching for more evidence-based guidelines and procedures he could incorporate into his training programme. Louis explains ‘in a weight-governed sport such as boxing, traditional principles of training are often influenced by the need to make weight. The battery of tests’ were aimed at providing Wayne and King with objective data that can help in the design and implementation of a structured conditioning programme that allows King to peak on fight night’.  

Associate Professor Dr Stewart Bruce-Low, BSc Applied Sport Science course leader, advocates the philosophy of providing applied experiences for the students as vital in fully preparing them for employability.  The level of staff experience in supporting elite athletes and their consequent network of contacts in sport science is fundamental to ensuring that scientific theory is complimented by exposure to the demands of real life sports science provision. To add professional boxing to Solent's long client list provides the student cohort with a varied and unrivalled access to high-level sport, and also acts to validate the excellent service Solent can deliver to the local sporting community in the pursuit of performance improvements.

The students were able to interact and discuss all things boxing and training with King, Wayne and Louis after the mornings test battery.  We are pleased to announce three 2^nd year students will now enter into an internship program with Wayne, under the tutelage of Louis, to support Southampton’s professional boxers in the areas of strength and conditioning, physiology and performance analysis for the remainder of their degree course. These invaluable experiences have no doubt contributed to the positive student feedback received that places Sport Science at Southampton Solent University as the number 1 subject area in the UK for overall student satisfaction.