Fight Night: A dream in the making
Back in November of 2023, The Varsity interviewed Theo Sokol, co-CEO of the Victoria Pool Society (VPS), who spoke of his plans to branch the humble pool society out into the world of boxing. On March 20, 2026, three years in the making, VPS Fight Night was a success like no one would have ever believed. The reputable Queen Elizabeth Theatre served as the venue for the sold-out event, with 13 matches between 26 fighters, and drinks on location.
All promises were kept from their aggressive marketing campaign for an event that’s been on people’s radars for the whole 2025–2026 academic year.
First impressions
People stepped out in semi-formal attire — the dress code prescribed by the VPS Pinterest board, full of casual old-money apparel. VPS stayed true to their sales pitch, allowing student fighters the chance to be treated like professionals.
U of T students were ready for Fight Night, lining up in their black dresses, suits, and ties. At the entrance, three security guards searched bags and waved guests inside, setting the tone for the rest of the night.
The theatre was spacious yet humble; the red carpeting in the lobby gave the event some prestige. The concession charged $15 a beer and $10 a shot, but this was the historic fight night, and people were there ready, waving their cards in the faces of the concession workers, who happily obliged. Grabbing a drink, I was surprised not to be asked for ID at a student-dominated event that was 18+.
As I entered through the mouth of the theatre into the cheering and blaring music, Sokol stood ringside in slacks and emerald and maroon suspenders, admiring his creation. He had left The Copper Boot, their usual Thursday night pool venue, for something much grander, and grand it was.
The floor wasn’t packed at first, but people quickly filed in around 7:00 pm when the first of the fights began. The boxing announcer centred the stage and did a Michael Buffer impression; a “Let’s get ready to rumble” kind of deal.
Then began the walkouts. The fighters were introduced by team colour, Red or Blue, followed by their fighter names. On their walkout song cue, they marched into the ring. Some of them did a big, self-gratuitous prance around it, but more often, many of the fighters seemed quite sheepish as they stepped in.
When all the fanfare subsided, the ring girls stepped in and did their strut, arms in the air, wielding the great big number placard. Yet this illusion of a professional boxing event quickly subsided when the fight bell rang. Three months was not nearly enough training time, leading to haymaker after haymaker, awkward footing, and missed punches.
The refs clearly were aware of this, calling rounds early and rushing through the countdown whenever any really damaging blow landed. Short rounds were put in place to make sure all the fighters had a chance to compete. The fights went quickly, as the boxers noticeably poured every ounce of energy they possessed into pummeling the other.
When the third match concluded, Sokol climbed into the ring to give his thoughts. “That last one was a great fight, they’re only gonna get better. I’ve got my money on the Blue team, so I’m a bit disappointed so far… I spoke to the officials before, and they told me this was the largest boxing event in the history of downtown Toronto.” He paused and looked out at the audience to cue applause, and then victoriously shouted out, “LET’S GO!”
Frat fight settled in the ring
There were two balcony sections in the theatre facing opposite each other. A blue and yellow flag with a triangular logo hung off its side — it was the Delta Upsilon (DU) fraternity flag. On the opposing side of the balcony was Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI). The next fight was between two members of these fraternities.
Upon the fighters’ walkouts, the crowd erupted, shouting and echoing off of each other, “THAT’S MY BROTHER!” Once in the ring, both fighters hopped up onto the ropes, let out war cries, and pounded their chests, amping themselves up for the frat fight. From the way the audience cheered and the fighters carried themselves in the ring, it must have been some grave rivalry.
The fight was a first-round knockout. The DU fighter delivered a devastating blow to the FIJI fighter’s ribs, forcing him to move his guard from his face to his stomach, leaving him wide open for a mean right hook to the right side of his face. His head jerked to the left, only to be met with a faster and far meaner left hook.
He was finished. DU had won. He shouted out to all his brothers for being there to cheer him on as he waved the DU flag.
Intermission in the bathroom and security guards on edge
Sokol announced the 20-minute intermission and told everyone to get some more drinks, something he did throughout the night.
The bathroom was a chaotic scene. Stepping into the men’s restroom, one was met with a littered trail of wet paper towels. Following that trail, you were to be greeted by a group of young men disassembling the towel dispenser. They seemed strangely focused on it, tearing at it and emptying the whole machine. Still, they remained chatting, and one by one they would go into the stalls and shake each other’s hands.
One of the paper towel ‘repairmen’ said aloud, “Pass me the eight ball.” The other stalls were occupied, and from one came the sound of a poor person hurling his last drink into the bowl.
Leaving the bathroom, numerous attendants had stepped out to have a smoke and chat amongst their friends. Outside, Sokol was having a quick smoke himself, chatting to some women who praised him for how he was doing in the ring.
A security guard sped past me and spoke into his earpiece, saying, “Shit is crazy out here.” He kept moving steadily toward the reentrance doors, yelling, “CLOSE THE DOOR, CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!”
Sokol, who was on his way inside when the security guard yelled, came back out and spoke with the security guard out of earshot. When Sokol returned to the general smoking area, I asked him if he could make a comment for The Varsity on the night in general, to which he responded: “Yeah, I spoke to one of the officials before the event, they told me this was the largest boxing event in the history of Downtown Toronto. We’re just a group of students between the ages of 20–25, and I think what we’ve done is pretty remarkable… Hopefully, there will be another one soon. We’ve sold out, it’s pretty fucking cool, who said U of T wasn’t cool?”
Three women were thrown out of the event. When I approached the security guard who threw them out afterward, he told me the only problem of the night was underage drinking. VPS told The Varsity in an email that observers were carded at the door of the event.
One last fight for the road
Towards the end of the night, the crowd had become drunk, leading to shoving and louder, slurred rallying. The frat-occupied balconies had dispersed into the main floor. Money was being passed around a large group in the crowd. Drinks were being spilled, sunglasses and jewellery trampled, and beer cans flattened.
While all of this was going on, one fight result led to a man punting his nearly full beer can into the ground in a fit of rage. A great upset had occurred, but I hadn’t been paying attention.
Luckily, my cameraman, Oscar Zavitz, who had been in front of the ring, was snapping some shots and shared his account. According to him, one man was thrown from the back of the crowd into the front, slamming into a woman and knocking her over. This caused Zavitz and other spectators to be pressed against the glass on the ground level, where they were stomped on.
One man who was pressed into the glass shot up and punched the assailant straight in the mouth, leading to an all-out brawl. The density of the crowd prevented security from reaching the two wailing on each other, so the guards went around to the ring side of the glass barrier and yanked the two over it.
They restrained the red-faced, snarling brawlers and dragged them outside. At the time, the fight was not addressed by Sokol or any of the student staff.
After that, the crowd started to trickle out, and Sokol took to the ring one last time to announce the winner — though nobody seemed to care or notice. He then thanked the crowd for making the historic VPS Fight Night possible, and encouraged every person who attended to make their way over to the after-party that was being held at Apt200.
Editor’s note: The Varsity confirmed with VPS that they do not endorse illegal activity.
No comments to display.