Boxing Champion

## Overview

**Boxing Champion** was an American robot which competed in *King of Bots II*, joining the series deep into the competition as part of Di Yang's team. It made an impressive debut, defeating Earth Shovel, Storm Cut and Dragon King in three consecutive battles, without even leaving the arena for repairs, although it suffered its first loss after being flipped over by Vulcan, and was ultimately cut from the team after becoming stuck in the arena floor while fighting Spectre.

Boxing Champion was created by the same team behind the *BattleBots* competitor Tantrum and inspired Tantrum's 2019 design.

## Design

   Boxing Champion is a white robot with a red disc/drum spinner connected to a punching mechanism, which slides forwards quickly to bring its 7500rpm spinner into opponents for maximum bite and momentum. This innovative weapon was first seen on TV with the team's *BattleBots* competitor, Tantrum - although Boxing Champion was designed and planned before the team built this version of Tantrum. Boxing Champion's weapon was reasonably potent, boasting good power and catching robot's armor well, at the cost of limited reach. The robot was also complimented by its powerful drive system, and thick armor, particularly when equipped with its primary thick wedge, although this could be exchanged for protruding forks when needed. However, Boxing Champion has a critical weakness in that it cannot self-right.

## Robot History

### King of Bots II

Boxing Champion made its first appearance in Episode 7, joining the competition as a 'challenger', allowing Aren Hill to pitch his robot to the celebrity captains for a place on their team. Five of the six celebrities had space for Boxing Champion, of which two were willing to select it for their teams. Left with a choice between Tao Shen and Di Yang, Aren Hill opted to join Di Yang's team for the remainder of the competition.

Boxing Champion would first represent Di Yang, alongside temporary allies Zhu Zheng Ting and Huang Jian Xiang, in the 'Attrition War'. This saw Boxing Champion enter the arena as the second representative of its celebrity captains, in an effort to regain a lead over Emma Dumont, Tu Ziya and Tao Shen. In its debut battle, Boxing Champion fought against Earth Shovel.

"*Going into the fight against [Earth Shovel], we were very lucky that our teammate had done some decent damage to them, so it was a lot easier for us to get underneath them.*"
— Aren Hill

Boxing Champion went into this battle equipped with its forks, and made the first contact, wedging under Earth Shovel after the first ten seconds had passed. After having sufficient time to charge up its spinner to full speed, Boxing Champion used its punching mechanism to push its spinner directly under the side armor of Earth Shovel, connecting with maximum bite on its opponent's flipper to throw Earth Shovel completely onto its back. Earth Shovel immediately fired its flipper in an effort to self-right, but landed directly on its front end with the flipper still open. Earth Shovel could not retract its flipper from this position, and Boxing Champion waited for it to be counted out, securing its first victory.

"*We were very excited to be able to line up the perfect hit and do it in one shot, and everything else worked beyond great.*"
— Aren Hill
With such a quick win under its belt, Aren Hill was happy for Boxing Champion to remain in the arena and fight another opponent only minutes later, with no repairs being made to the machine, with even the batteries being left uncharged. Nevertheless, Boxing Champion made quick work of Storm Cut.

"*Yang Di seems to respect the input of his team members, he had our backs the entire time. We were very happy to fight for him.*"
— Aren Hill

The battle between Boxing Champion and Storm Cut proved to be the fastest of the season so far, as Boxing Champion - which had not been repaired inbetween fights - wasted no time charging into Storm Cut in the first five seconds of the match. Storm Cut's blade caught the forks atop the wedge of Boxing Champion awkwardly, and caused the whole robot to flip itself over, sliding into a Grinder. Storm Cut had no method of self-righting, and Boxing Champion retreated, having earned the quickest knockout of the series so far.

After a second consecutive win, the celebrity managers thought it best to withdraw Boxing Champion ahead of its next battle, due to its presumed low battery power and lasting damage. However, Aren Hill convinced Di Yang and the other managers that Boxing Champion would be fit to fight a third consecutive battle, and fought a fellow American entry, Dragon King.

"*Really really antsy to fight, and did not want to stop! We were on a roll, wanted to keep right on through.*"
— Aren Hill after convincing Di Yang that Boxing Champion could fight again

Both robots met in the center of the arena and circled around each other until Boxing Champion wedged underneath Dragon King and brought its spinner straight into the right drive pod of the tracked machine. Nevertheless Dragon King continued to work, and after a series of bumps, found a grip on Boxing Champion and pushed it around the arena while biting its opponent, also bringing its saws down on Boxing Champion to throw sparks, while driving it into the Grinder. However, Boxing Champion retaliated by pushing back Dragon King, which was still holding on firmly and cutting into Boxing Champion using its saws, to ram it into the arena wall.

A gust of smoke seemed to emerge from Dragon King, but both robots engaged in an even contest, with Boxing Champion firing its disc into its opponent while Dragon King tilted its drive pods as an escape method, and continued to use its saws for cutting damage. When the two robots separated, Boxing Champion drove straight under the front of Dragon King and came out on the other side, delivering a hit with its spinner along the way. Dragon King seemed hindered by this, and Boxing Champion edged it backwards, despite being briefly lifted by the floor flipper in the process. Dragon King lowered its saws towards Boxing Champion, and both robots pushed each other back and forth, with Dragon King generally coming out ahead on pushing power until it rode up the front of Boxing Champion.

This ground clearance advantage allowed Aren Hill to drive Dragon King across the arena and into the Grinder. This thrusted Jerome Miles' machine into the air and chipped one of its saws. Boxing Champion continued its assault, landing a light blow with its spinner, although its next attack was more decisive. With a strong punch, Boxing Champion brought its spinner straight into the bottom jaw of Dragon King and completely broke the grabbing weapon apart. Dragon King's head fell limply onto the top of Boxing Champion, and so the punching spinner moved in to rip away the dragon head completely. In the final ten seconds, Boxing Champion used its wedge shape to overturn Dragon King and press it against the floor flipper, until the end of the two-minute battle.

"*In the fight against Dragon King, with the back-and-forth pushes, we were a bit worried at some points in time, and we actually managed to punch the saw blade once, and we removed the head of the dragon!*"
— Aren Hill
The Judges unanimously awarded the victory to Boxing Champion, its third victory in a row. After this fight, Aren Hill was happy to admit that his robot was ready to withdraw, and it exited the arena. Di Yang's team went on to win the Attrition War, securing Boxing Champion's place in the next round. There, it faced Vulcan of Huang Jian Xiang's team.

Both robots came together in the center of the arena, and Boxing Champion initially seemed to have the lower wedge, forcing its opponent to try and slip around the sides. It was initially unsuccessful, breaching only under a single wedgelet of Boxing Champion, and misfiring up with no target on its flipper. Boxing Champion responded by charging straight into Vulcan, but rode up its wedge and was forced to retreat. Vulcan followed this up by sliding under Boxing Champion and tossing it across the arena, causing it to bump into the Grinder upon its rough landing. Regardless, Boxing Champion turned in place to deliver its weapon into the side of Vulcan when the British machine caught up, also lightly connecting with the lip of Vulcan's flipper while it misfired again.

Boxing Champion edged Vulcan back across the arena, and Vulcan once again fired its flipper largely at thin air, throwing itself over while only briefly lifting its opponent. This forced Vulcan to self-right, which it did by powerfully launching itself across the arena, making a relatively clean getaway. However, Boxing Champion remained in control, pressuring Vulcan into yet another missed flip while it was also raised by the floor flipper. Despite this, even when it drove directly under the front of Vulcan, Boxing Champion could not bring its weapon into play. The two fought tentatively, unable to use their weapons until Vulcan finally completed its second successful flip of the match. Boxing Champion landed right-side up, but did not escape in time, and Vulcan tossed it over. Unable to self-right, Boxing Champion was counted out, taking damage from the arena saws in the process, and lost the battle to Vulcan.

"*I'm really sad that we ended that fight against one of the best robots here. I really wanted it to end with one or both robots broken or damaged in a true battle to the end, but luck had the best of us.*"
— Aren Hill
Fighting to defend Di Yang's team from further defeat, Boxing Champion next took on the Season 1 champion Spectre.

"*I'm very excited to get the opportunity to face Spectre. They're one of the best robots here. They're very, very, very hard to beat. But I hope we can at least punch off a tooth!*"
— Aren Hill

Boxing Champion entered the battle with very lengthy forks, but Spectre planned out its approach and breached straight under the forks by turning into them sideways. The robots separated and circled around each other, scheming out how to win the ground clearance game again, but upon Spectre's approach, Boxing Champion fired its punching disc and tore away Spectre's single tooth from its crusher. This left Spectre purely as a grabber, with limited damage output. Spectre was still able to ram Boxing Champion into the arena wall, where the hammer fell down, but struck Spectre instead. Unfazed, Spectre drove back under the side of Boxing Champion and clamped down, then rammed the American machine into the Grinder.

After this, Spectre maintained its grip and rammed Boxing Champion into opposing arena walls, for a high level of impact ramming damage. With Boxing Champion making its escape, Spectre caught it almost instantly, and swerved it over the housing for the arena saws. Boxing Champion's lengthy forks slotted right down the arena hazard, and pinned it in place, with its wheels positioned high off the arena floor. This completed the game plan that Spectre had conceptualised from the beginning of the match, with Boxing Champion's wedge modifications backfiring drastically. Spectre backed off and the referee counted Boxing Champion out, awarding the win to Ye Hong Li's team.

"*We knew that we had to outdrive them, we couldn't go head-to-head. One of the key things we noticed is that with the really long forks, we could try to use that to our advantage, we could try and get them jammed down there. I think it was a big mistake to use the long forks, because we did exactly that.*"
— Grant Cooper
This unfortunate loss at the hands of the arena floor forced Di Yang to cut one robot from his team, and in the interest of fairness, he opted to cut the loser of the battle, Boxing Champion. This eliminated Aren Hill and his robot from the competition, with the rest of Di Yang's team following upon Cracked Sword losing to Megabyte.

"*This has been my first ever trip to China, and I have been treated amazingly. I'm very excited and happy about the fact that I got to join Yang Di's team. I could not have asked for better teammates. I joined late, I was able to fight for him, did well. But then, I got the opportunity to face two of the greatest robots here. Made it a good fight, but not quite there yet.*"
— Aren Hill, following Boxing Champion's elimination
Nevertheless, Boxing Champion's unusual weapon mechanism earnt it the 'Technical Innovation Award' for *King of Bots II*, issued by the *King of Bots* Organizing Committee some time after the season's initial airing.

## Results

 Episode 9
 Episode 11

* Wins: 3
* Losses: 2

## References

1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/KOBCHINA/posts/750373105491984