Editor’s Note: This article contains references to suicide.
The Fight Against Suicide, a boxing event promoting mental health awareness, took place April 23 at Raleigh’s Union Station, with multiple NC State students fighting for the cause.
The event focuses on teaching the importance of community and how to face difficult moments with strength. At a boxing event, the connection between physical fighting and mental health struggles is prevalent.
When gone unchecked, the toll struggles with mental health can take on a person are often damaging. These events highlight these struggles and provide resources to help overcome them.
The Fight Against Suicide is a larger organization that travels to different college campuses, hosting boxing events to promote suicide prevention. In 2025, over $875,000 was raised through five separate events.
This was the second year an event was held in Raleigh; this year’s event included nine separate matchups with various NC State students involved.
One of those students was Henry Conway, a third-year student studying electrical engineering, who, despite little boxing experience, joined the event last year.
“When I joined last year, I just thought it was a great opportunity to spread my athleticism out because I was never really a boxer, but I always wanted to try. The opportunity just kind of showed itself in front of me, so I took it,” Conway said.
Conway said the event is so special because of how it promotes awareness surrounding mental health, noting how he has seen firsthand how his friends have struggled with mental health.
“I’ve had friends of my own go through struggles with mental health, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to bring that out of them and have a conversation with them and really bring them back down to earth,” Conway said. “But why this event is special to me is because I don’t want it to go unnoticed. I want more and more guys that are closer to me to come speak out if some problems are going on.”
Conway said training for the event began about two months ago, with a gym being available to the fighters for 12 hours per day. Leading up to the event, talks about mental health awareness are given, as well as a weigh-in night and other health tests to ensure the fighters are safe.
“A week before [the fight], we had a guest speaker come out and speak to us about mental health itself and how to deal with it with the people around you. Tuesday, we had another similar meeting like that. Last night we had a weigh-in party, just to get everybody hyped about the event,” Conway said.
Conway said boxing has helped him get through tough times as well. It creates both a community within the people who train and fight, and makes a fighter follow a strict physical regimen. For Conway, this helped boost his own mental health.
“Boxing training is definitely one of the hardest and more physically demanding trainings that you have to do to become good or be able to box. I played soccer my whole life, so I’d like to say I’m conditioned, but getting in that ring is completely different,” Conway said. “Having to get into a schedule, go to trainings, get into a good physical state of mind, have a good sleep schedule, eat well and keep your body in a good spot. That alone helps with mental health.”
Razi Sayyed, a third-year student studying genetics, participates in and helped create the boxing club at NC State. Sayyed also worked as a corner during the fight, supporting fighters both mentally and physically.
Part of being a corner is reminding a fighter that they are not alone in the ring. By being a corner, he gets to help others going through mental struggles and remind them that they are not alone, Sayyed said. Even just days before the fight, Sayyed would work with fighters to make them feel more confident in themselves.
“It doesn’t mean that doing those things the day before the fight is going to change [a fighter’s] ability, but mentally it’s going to make him feel better about himself because he’s like, OK, I worked on this. I’m good. So with that, all of those skills can definitely translate into supporting a friend that’s going through a tough situation because it’s similar feelings; anxiety, fear, things like that,” Sayyed said.
Sayyed said he has always had a strong passion for mental health awareness, so when The Fight Against Suicide combined that with his passion for boxing, he knew he had to get involved.
“When they came up to me, and they kind of combined my love for boxing, and then for a good cause that I care about, it was really a no-brainer to get involved with it. The Fight Against Suicide. I mean, it’s really important,” Sayyed said.
Another fighter, who agreed with Sayyed that boxing can foster community among others, was Adnan Qureshi, a second-year student studying biology and business administration.
Qureshi said the physical struggle with those you train with creates a bond among each other.
“I think boxing creates such a strong bond because you’re physically struggling with a bunch of other people in class, and in all those boxing training sessions. You’re working as hard as you can, blood, sweat and tears with your entire boxing gym,” Qureshi said.
Even in a boxing ring, Qureshi talked about the links to mental health awareness and the greater mission of The Fight Against Suicide.
“It builds a bond that, in my opinion, does relate to mental health because it shows you that you really are never truly alone, even though boxing is, as people say, one of the loneliest sports. You really are not alone. Even that shows in mental health, there’s always someone you can talk to,” Qureshi said.
Conway and Qureshi each won their fights at the event.
If you or someone you know is having difficulty processing grief or having a mental health emergency, the Counseling Center can be reached 24 hours a day at 919-515-2423. If you are in a crisis situation and need immediate help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. In the case of a life-threatening emergency, call 911.
The Counseling Center’s website offers free online screenings, a plethora of self-help resources regarding mental health and wellness concerns and a comprehensive list of campus services available for those who need guidance. To view an exhaustive list, visit https://counseling.dasa.ncsu.edu/.
If you’re seeking professional counseling or other mental health services on campus, visit the Counseling Center’s Getting Started page at https://counseling.dasa.ncsu.edu/get-started/ to complete paperwork, set up an appointment and more.mk