April 2021 – Rakan Stanbouly

Our Contender of The Month for April 2021 is Rakan Stanbouly. Rakan has been training at Contenders for a little over a year now. He had no previous experience in boxing, or in any other sports, but he wanted to try something new and chose boxing because it sounded like fun. He picked Contenders because Contenders was highly rated and located near him. (Thank you everyone who gave us online reviews!!) We would like to recognize his hard work, not only for the last couple months, but throughout the pandemic. No matter where we are under any restrictions, Rakan has remained focused and kept up a good work.

When we asked what he likes about boxing, he said “A mixture of feeling like I’m growing stronger, and at the same time that feeling of being competitive, working hard knowing you’ll be put to the test.” He also said that his peers and his drive to compete with them are what keep him motivated to continue training. His goal is to start sparring and hopefully compete when COVID situation calms down.

Rakan is a software engineer. When he is not working or boxing, he likes to go for long walks, go hiking and play video games. He is also an avid longboarder “despite destroying my wrist doing it”.

He said “Contenders and boxing made COVID something I could deal with. The time spent training and being part of the community made every day enjoyable, and I look forward to being able to go for drinks again with everybody in the coming months!”

We cannot wait to see Rakan (and everybody else who wants to spar) in the ring! Until then, stay safe & keep on training!