Airdrie’s Boss Boxing held its second fight card of the year Oct. 1, with one Boss fighter taking home a win.
The event was held at the Airdrie Town and Country Centre, Oct. 1, and saw about 250 people attend to watch 12 amateur boxing bouts.
“All the gyms loved it, we even had the head (Canadian) officials come out because of the success of the last event,” said Rhys Eckardt, owner of Boss Boxing. “The numbers were smaller than last time, but we only had about half the fights.”
Fighters came from all over the province, from Edmonton, Stand Off and Calgary.
The first of three fights that featured boxers training out of Boss Boxing was a bout between Matt Murray and James Oliver from Sweet Science Boxing in Fort McMurray.
Murray took the fight on very short notice, informing Eckardt he was interested in fighting only days before the event. Having not trained in a few months, Eckardt said he was out to have some fun.
“His goal was to come in with no training and beat a boxer with his own game,” Eckardt said. “It was not what he expected at all. He did good considering his lack of training and cardio.”
Unfortunately, the referee called the fight as Murray seemed to gas out towards the end of the bout.
The second Airdrie fighter to take to the ring was Jeff Ter Mors, who fought Chris Cinnamon also fighting out of Sweet Science Boxing.
Ter Mors stepped into the ring for his first fight, and took home the unanimous win after a miscalculation by the referee, who announced Ter Mors had lost.
“I was unassuming coming to the end of it. I was hoping for the best, I didn’t know how it would turn out,” said Ter Mors. “I was disappointed, but I wasn’t crushed. I thought I got robbed a little bit there, it would have been cool for my first win to have my arm raised in the ring.”
Ter Mors trained for six months prior to the event, but said that he was dizzy towards the end of the fight from trying to maintain his cardio.
“We have been training really hard. I have a bit of a gym in my garage, and I try to run everyday,” said Ter Mors. “During the bout, I forgot to breathe a little bit, so I got a little dizzy.”
Ter Mors said he will continue training with Eckardt and entering amateur fights and maybe down the road look for some bigger fighting opportunities.
Boss Boxing’s Jeff Sluchinski was the final Airdrie fighter to take to the ring, fighting Dynamite Boxing’s Jordan Beach.
Sluchinski lost the bout in a split decision, which Eckardt was impressed with considering he entered the fight with a cracked rib.
“He was a little standoffish, he would have scored way more points without the cracked rib,” said Eckardt.
“He fought an amazing fighter. His fight was really good, considering what he had to work with.”
With the continued success of amateur boxing in Airdrie, Eckardt has set the date for the Boss Brawl 3, which will be held at the Town and Country Centre on Jan. 28, 2012, and says he will be aiming to have around 16 fights on the card.
