Around 150 boxers from all over Germany met at the University of Kassel at the beginning of November - the athletes competed against each other in nine weight classes over two days. Gracias Mananika competed in the prestigious A tournament, which was held in the classic boxing format with a fight time of 3x3 minutes.
The motto is ‘keep at it’
Sport has always been important to the student. Having started with football and weight training as a teenager, he soon switched to boxing. Gracias Mananika really appreciates this sport because of the technique required. ‘Boxing is highly technical. The stance, the movements, even little things can decide a fight - but in the end it's always the will to win that counts,’ says the student. Boxing has also taught him a lot for his studies; it has taught him perseverance and discipline. This also applies to his training: he trains five to seven days a week at BoxFit in Regensburg.
Mananika already enjoyed drawing as a schoolboy. When friends said to him at the time: ‘You're going to be an architect!’ he paid no attention. But later, when he attended vocational secondary school, it occurred to him more and more often that the idea of studying architecture was a good one. Today, he is in the fifth semester of his Bachelor's degree and he particularly enjoys the lectures and exercises in ‘Design and Construction’.
Already won several competitions
His success at the German University Championships, organised by the adh (Allgemeiner Deutscher Hochschulsportverband), is a highlight for Gracias Mananika, who has already won several competitions, including the East Bavarian Boxing Championships. He also has the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Professor Andreas Emminger, to thank for the fact that he was able to take part in the German University Championships.
