Kenny Lally has been tossing around a lot of medicine balls lately, knowing his heavy-handed tactics could be a prescription for success later this month at his first IABA world elite boxing championship.
He ran up to the gym at the Northern Sport Centre Thursday from his home in College Heights and said he'd eaten a couple cookies along the way, joking with his coach Bob Pegues about how that was going to affect his diet.
Not that Lally has any cause for worry. After months of working himself into the best condition in his 22-year-old life, those Oreos won't make a blind bit of difference to his sinewy, washboard torso, part of five-foot-seven frame that weighs just 54 kilograms.
Packing more muscle behind every punch, Lally feels stronger than ever, and that could be bad news to his opponents when he steps into the world ring Sept. 26 in Baku, Azerbaijan. His first priority is a top-eight finish, which would guarantee him a berth in the 2012 Olympics next summer in London.
"It's been eight years since I started boxing and I've always wanted to go to the world championship and now that it's here I've never felt more ready for it," said Lally.
"There's so much pressure but I love it. Now that I'm finally here I'm not just stopping at qualifying, I want that title -- best in the world. I've never trained so hard or prepared myself mentally like I have for this event."
Lally was a top-four finisher in both international tournaments he entered in July in Puerto Rico. Since he won a silver medal last year at the elite continental championships in Ecuador he's added at least a dozen fights to his international resume.
"On each [international] trip I go on, starting last year, the nerves are the hardest part and when I went to Puerto Rico I prepared myself for that, and now when I go to Azerbaijan I know that I'm ready," said Lally, a four-time Canada champion.
"I've seen all my competition, on the Internet and firsthand, and these guys are very good. There's a reason they're at this level and there's a reason I'm at this level, too. I've exceeded my own expectations at this training camp. My body has gotten bigger and my power has increased a lot."
Among the 80 fighters entered in Lally's 54kg class is Rau'Shee Warren of Cincinnati, a two-time Olympian and the 2008 world champion. Lally also expects stiff competition from Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and India, knowing one loss will eliminate him from the tournament.
Ranked third in the Americas among bantamweights, Lally leaves for North Vancouver on Saturday. After a few days of sparring at the Griffins Boxing and Fitness he'll head to Germany with Canada's world championship and Pan-American Games teams to begin a two-week training camp that involves seven other countries, including Ireland, Russia and Germany.
"Every sparring session I have is going to be like a fight," predicts Lally. "It will be so intense."
Canada's coaches in Baku will be Sylvain Gagnon and Adrian Tedesco, who was in Lennox Lewis's corner when Lewis won Olympic gold in 1988. Also on the team are Alex Rynn of Calgary (60kg), Yves Ulysse Jr. of Montreal (64kg), Custio Clayton of Halifax (69kg) and Samir El Mais of Windsor, Ont. (94kg).
The tournament lasts 13 days. Pegues says Lally will need at least three or four wins to make the top-eight and three or four more to win the world title.
"He's training three times a day, super-hard, and he's as prepared mentally and physically for this as he has been for anything I've ever seen," said Pegues.
