As an amateur boxer, Marcus Hume was getting as lonely as the Maytag repairman.
Just two fights in the space of a year was barely enough to keep the cobwebs from gathering on his gloves.
At 24, the Spruce Capital Warriors Boxing Club veteran came to the decision it's time to step into the professional ring, and on Sept. 12 in Edmonton he'll do just that in a lightweight bout against Mike McWilliams of Edmonton.
"It's what I've wanted to do since I was 16 years old and started boxing and it's now or never," said Hume. "It's a little depressing, training all the time and not being able to get fights [as an amateur]. Why join the sport if you're not going to fight?"
Hume last fought in January at the Clash of the Cascades fight card in Langley, where he scored a unanimous win over Abbas Shah of Saskatoon.
"Marcus has been trained like a pro, he's a mature fighter and his abilities are better for the pro game," said Spruce Capital coach Wayne Sponagle, who will be in Hume's corner on Sept. 12. "Amateur boxing is for kids. Marcus is 24 now and he's improved so much, he's gotten into a different mindset now that he's going to be a pro."
Originally from Ontario, McWilliams already has two wins in two pro fights. At 140 pounds he's five pounds heavier and few inches taller than the five-foot-seven Hume. Another strike against Hume is McWilliams is a house fighter under contract for KO Boxing of Edmonton, which is promoting the fight at the Edmonton Conference Centre. Hume realizes he won't likely get any favours from the judges if the fight is close.
"We watched his fights [on YouTube] and we know what to do," said Hume. "I usually fight taller guys anyway. I don't think he totally uses his reach to his advantage when he fights. I think it's good match-up for us. We have a good game plan and I know I can win this fight."
Pro referees tend to let either boxer take more punishment than if it was an amateur bout and those eight-ounce gloves sting more than the 10-ounce gloves used by amateurs. They also don't use head gear in the pros, a rule Hume has grown accustomed to the past two years as an amateur affiliated with ComSport (now known as World Boxing Council Canada).
Sponagle has been training pro boxers since the late 1960s, when he started coaching his brother Barry, who went 29-23-1 in a nine-year pro career as a lightweight.
"Marcus is a throwback to Barry," said Sponagle. "The tougher a fight gets, the tougher Marcus gets and I've always admired him for that. He's just a real gutsy kid and I feel very fortunate to have Marcus and Thomas fighting for me."
Thomas Speirs of Spruce Capital (0-0-1) will also fight on the card, taking on Ilies Aini of Montreal, who is also making his pro debut. A year ago in his first pro fight Speirs fought to a draw with Gary Kopas of Edmonton.
Speirs and Hume started boxing around the same time and are good friends as well as sparring partners. At 175 pounds, Speirs is 40 pounds heavier and five inches taller than Hume. Although he bought 20-ounce sparring gloves to use in the ring against Hume to soften his blows, Speirs still packs plenty of wallop in his punches and has the speed of a lightweight, ideal preparation to make up for Hume's lack of fight activity.
"Thomas is extremely fast and he moves extremely well and I know no matter who I fight they won't be as skilled a fighter as he is," said Hume.
"We've been training harder than ever, lots of rounds every night, five or six days a week. It's great having one of your best friends in there, you can help push each other in many ways outside of the gym and you get that friendly competition with each other to help motivate you. There were lots of times I felt like quitting boxing, but quitters never win."
Hume hasn't been able to spar with Sponagle, as he usually does. Sponagle, 69, recently learned he has three blocked arteries and will require bypass surgery. But the coach has remained a fixture in the Spruce Capital gym, sharing his five decades of boxing knowledge.
"I'm at a stage in my life where it takes somebody special to keep me coming to the gym every night and I feel I have it in Marcus and Thomas," said Sponagle. "Fifty years is a long time to do something but they still enthuse me and still make me believe I will fulfill a goal I set for myself many years ago. I'll retire from boxing when I get a guy good enough to fight for some version of a world professional title and that hope lies now with Marcus and Thomas."
If Hume wins his fight, there's a good chance he'll get an offer to sign with KO Boxing as a contract fighter, which would set him up for regular bouts at least every three months.
"His best chance to progress is with KO Boxing," said Sponagle.
Todd Hatley, 47, had planned to fight for Spruce Capital against Cody Reis of Edmonton on the same card but an injury Hatley suffered in training Thursday will prevent that from happening. Hatley has a 2-4 record as a pro but hasn't fought since December 2003.
Jelena Mrdjenovich of Edmonton (32-9-1) will face Marilyn Hernandez of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (25-9-0) in the main event.
