08/14/2017
The Sweet Science by Paul Doiron
New Brunswick boxing fans are in for a big treat come Saturday August 19th. The town of Shediac will be the site of lots of fire-works as it plays host to what may very well be the most action-packed night of pro boxing ever in the province. There will be no shortage of talent on display that night as promoters have gone all out to make sure fans get their money's worth of excitement.
Richibucto, NB's very own Dominic "Don't Blink" Babineau, St-Louis-de Kent's Annie Mazerolle (who could easily carry the moniker "A thrill a Minute"), Fredericton's Trent Moses, Elsipogtog's always-willing Stephen Clement and fan favourite Brandon "L-Jack" Brewer of our capital city, now ranked in the top 10 in the world by the National Boxing Authority, will no doubt all have fans on their feet cheering them on to victory.
Each of these boxers has built a huge fan following during their careers. Brewer fights the evening's main event when he takes on Mexico's rough and tough Fernando Silva over 8 rounds in a battle of 154-pound super-welterweights. At this point, Brewer may well be only one or two fights away from a world title challenge. He will be out to improve on his 21-0-1 record, while Silva sports a record of 15-11-3. Members of Brewer's huge fan base, known as the Plaid Army, will no doubt be on hand to once again lead their hero into the ring as they have done for a number of his fights. His last two fights in Fredericton drew crowds of some 3500 each. Brewer scored impressive wins each time.
Canadian super-middleweight champ, Shakeel Phinn of Montreal takes on Bladimir Hernandez Cazares of Mexico in a scheduled 10-rounder and he will be out to improve on his record of 14-1. Phinn has won 13 straight fights and is considered by many to be one of Canada's very best prospects. Cazares's record stands at 19-10 and the hard-punching Mexican has scored 17 of those wins by knockout.
Sydney, Nova Scotia's Ryan Rozicki will be out to collect win number 3 of his pro career when he takes on fellow Nova Scotian Shane Upshaw in a 6-round heavyweight match-up. Rozicki, a former Canadian National Team member, scored KO's in his two pro fights; he will be facing his toughest challenge to date against the always-aggressive Upshaw, who will enter the ring with a deceiving 1-1-4 record. Upshaw has been in tough during his time in the ring and any of the four draws on his record could very well have been wins. Potentially, this could be the fight of the night.
Elsipogtog's Nathan Millier will be out to get back on the winning side of things after having dropped a pair of hard-fought decisions. He lost a close one in challenge of the Canadian title in Toronto to Ontario's Tim Cronin before facing hot American prospect Charles Foster (12-0) in Massachusetts in May, losing by decision there also.
Millier turned pro with a TKO win over Josh Smith in a bout in Moncton on June 12, 2010. He later went on to score wins over Stephane Landry, Denis Martin, Robbie Cameron, Juan Sanchez, Joey Young, and Borngod Washington, while fighting to draws against Shane Upshaw on July 25th, 2015 in Halifax and the undefeated Kendrick Bell Jr. on Dec 2nd, 2016 in Lincoln, Rhode Island. He will be facing 35-fight veteran Alvaro Enriquez on the Shediac card.
The rugged Enriquez has faced the likes of Stuart McLellan, Louisbert Altidor, Ryan Ford, Artur Beterbiev, Eleider Alvarez and Shawn Estrada, so he will be a good test for Millier. (Both Alvarez and Beterbiev are ranked in the top ten in the world at the present time.)
Millier is one of those fighters who turned pro without benefit of an amateur background. He has shown improvement every time he fights and his two decision losses are only small bumps along the road. He has proved himself a winner in and out of the ring. He works with the youth in Elsipogtog helping them stay clear of substance abuse. He was recently honoured for the work he does outside the ring by the NBA, which presented him with a Community Service Award this past April. Still only 26, look for him to score an impressive win against Enriquez on the 19th!
Nova Scotia's Tyson "Prince of Hali" Cave has long been considered one of Canada's very best fighters with a record of 29-3 (12 KO's). He will be facing Aramis Solis (16-5) in a super-bantamweight bout on the 19th. Cave is a former Canadian, WBA-NABA and WBC Continental of Americas champion and on Nov. 28th, 2015 he captured the WBU World championship with a smashing 2nd round KO of Walter Rojas in a bout in Halifax. A 7th round knockout of Javier Franco on Aug. 6, 2016 earned Cave the NBA Fighter of the Year Award. The flashy boxer will be out to impress the fans with his speed and great boxing skills on the 19th.
Ranked in the top ten in the world by the WBA, Cave could well fight for the world title before the end of the year. Such a fight could take place right here in NB on a future card.
This past week saw three of the world's best fighters announcing their retirements from the Sport of Champions, as former world champions Juan Manuel Marquez, Timothy Bradley Jr., and Wladimir Klitschko all called an end to their great ring careers.
Bradley was a 5-time world champ in two different weight classes. Known as "Desert Storm, " Bradley started boxing at the age of ten and fought 140 amateur bouts. He turned pro on Aug. 20th, 2004 and went on to win WBC and WBO world super-lightweight titles. He then went on to win the WBO welterweight title on June 9th, 2012, beating Manny Pacquiao by decision. The two would face each other again on April 12, 2014 and Bradley would drop a 12-round decision. Bradley would capture two more world titles and would fight for the last time on April 9, 2016, dropping a rubber match to Pacquiao in Las Vegas. He'd end his career with a record of 33-2-1.
Marquez, born on August 23, 1973, made his pro debut on May 29, 1993, losing by disqualification to Javier Duran. He would not lose again until dropping a 12-round decision to Freddie Norwood on Sept . 11, 1999, after having won 29 straight bouts, In a career that saw him win a total of 56 of 64 total bouts (40 by KO), Marquez would beat the likes of Freddie Cruz, Sean Fletcher, Manuel Medina, Derrick Gainer and Joel Casamayor. He'd lose close decisions to Floyd Mayweather, Chris John, Manny Pacquiao, Timothy Bradley, and Freddie Norwood. In the biggest win of his Hall of Fame career, Marquez knocked Manny Pacquiao cold in Round 6 on Dec. 8, 2012, in a bout that earned him The Ring Fighter of the Year Award. In all, he'd win 7 world titles in four weight classes.
Former World Heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko retires with a record of 64-5 with 53 knockouts. During his amateur career, he'd win 134 of 140 fights (65 of those wins inside the distance). He'd win 25 of 29 world title bouts. He'd fight for the last time on April 29th of this year, losing by an 11th round TKO to the UK's Anthony Joshua with the world title on the line.
Klitschko, Bradley & Marquez: three ring greats!
