International talent will be on display at tonight's Prince George Explosion boxing card.
Four of the fighters who will duck under the ropes have been in Canada only a short time. They include: John Francis Codilla, who lives in Vancouver but hails from the Philippines; Garnet Samuel, a Vancouver resident who has roots in India; Burnaby's Phil Ryan, who is originally from Ireland; and Justin Doubosiff, a Kelowna-based boxer who comes from Poland.
Codilla will fight Revelstoke's Connor Null in the 140-pound weight class and Samuel will trade blows with Prince George's Marcus Hume, also in the 140-pound division. Ryan and Doubosiff, meanwhile, will go toe-to-toe in the 175-pound category.
In other bouts, P.G.'s Tim Galeos -- who hasn't fought in about eight years -- will shake off the rust against Kamloops product Joe Jeanson (175 pounds), Prince George pugilist Hank Lukan will meet Andrii Zhebrovskyi of Burnaby (175 pounds), local residents George Davies and Brandon Sponagle will square off (175 pounds), P.G. product Derek Ellerton will battle Connor Makarewicz of Revelstoke (160 pounds) and Morgan Littlechild of Prince George will make his boxing debut against an opponent from Kamloops.
The main event will see Thomas Speirs of the Spruce Capital Boxing Club take on Ken Huber of the Kamloops Boxing Academy (see other story).
The card has been sanctioned by the B.C. Combative Sports Association. In some of the matches, the fighters will go without protective head gear.
"I'm really excited about this," said Wayne Sponagle, the Spruce Capital coach who put the card together. "I honestly feel that this is going to be the best amateur card ever in Prince George."
