Joshua Greenwood and his Inner City Wardogs teammates are ready to throw some serious leather at the Rumble 32 boxing card in Quesnel on Saturday.
The 17-year-old Greenwood will be stepping into the ring for the second bout of his young career, while Michael Brooks, Cartel Niedermayer and Thunder Innis will all duck under the ropes for exhibition matches.
Greenwood narrowly lost his first fight in April in Fort St. John, and he’s aiming for a different outcome this time around.
“I’m looking to go in, work on my stuff, hopefully win,” he said after a training session with Inner City coaches Kenny Lally and Jag Seehra. “I have to keep my hands up, have a lot more movement – in and out, that sort of thing.”
From Lally’s perspective, Greenwood did “great” in his first fight and was unfortunate not to win. That bout also proved to Lally that Greenwood has all the character and toughness he needs to be a successful boxer.
“He showed immense courage,” Lally said. “And it was the first time he ever got a nosebleed. He got it in the first 15 seconds of the fight and he had to deal with that, but that’s part of the game – enduring through adversity.”
For Brooks, Niedermayer and Innis, Rumble 32 will be an opportunity to put into practice the things they’ve been working on during training.
The 25-year-old Brooks has had three previous fights, and this will be his first exhibition.
“I’ll be pretty much working on fundamentals,” he said. “I’ve been working on that all along, and just trying to stay relaxed, stay composed, keep my cool.”
As for Niedermayer, he’s a 17-year-old who is new to boxing. At Rumble 32, he will be in the ring for the first time after about four months of training.
“I’m feeling good, feeling confident,” he said.
For the 15-year-old Innis, meanwhile, the ring appearance in Quesnel has been a long time coming. He’s been honing his skills for about three years and he’s excited about finally having the chance to stare down an opponent – even if it’s in an exhibition.
“I’ll really just be building experience,” he said. “That’s what, in my mind, amateur is about – building experience and getting as many fights as possible.”
Lally, a seven-time national champion during his career, sees great value in exhibition bouts.
“They’re a great way to get in the ring, feel the crowd, feel the energy, feel the experience of actually fighting,” he said.
“What do we expect of the guys? We expect them to do well, get their rounds in, try to work on what we’re teaching them about being disciplined fighters – working on their heart rate, breathing and just having fun there.”
