Canadian Boxing Making a Huge Comeback

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    Canada is a nation fueled by hockey and mixed martial arts while boxing resides in the shadows. Gone are the glory days when you had fighters such as Billy McGrandle, George Chuvalo , Arturo Gatti and Lennox Lewis(yes Lennox is Canadian and British), but that does not mean the quality of fighters have gone down. There is tons of unrecognized talent out there that don’t get the exposure they deserve. Some decide to switch over to MMA to try and get mainstream attention.

    The last time that a boxing match received worldwide media attention was when Roberto Duran took on “Sugar” Ray Leonard in an event that bypassed expectations of fight fans and did tremendous numbers. The event was dubbed “The Brawl in Montreal.”

    It was the biggest boxing event to take place in Canada, but it was definitely not the last, but think of the possibilities. There were two fighters, not of Canadian origin, fighting in a foreign land doing tremendous numbers, so the market should be open for fighters to come to this land and build a bigger fan base and help build the sport that we call the sweet science.

    This year boxing fans worldwide are in for a treat. Canada’s top three fighters will all be fighting in major bouts and it is still early in the year.

    On May 25th Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal will face off against each other in Montreal. The fight has garnered a huge amount of press all over Canada and is making noise south of the border in the U.S. and even across the pond in England. Within the first few days of tickets going on sale, 15,000 tickets were swooped up by fans. The fight will be broadcast worldwide on HBO.

    Fight fans will still be hungry for more action and there is good news for them. Just two weeks after Bute vs. Pascal happens, Canada’s third top fighter Adonis Stevenson will be in action as well, again in Montreal. Stevenson will be making his debut at light heavyweight when he takes on “Bad” Chad Dawson. This will be Dawson’s third appearance in Montreal after he faced and lost to Jean Pascal in 2010 and won against Adrian Diaconu in 2011. Stevenson has fought most of his career in Montreal.

    With all three fighters having fights on dates close together, there is a possibility that the winner or loser of Bute vs. Pascal could face off against Stevenson, whether he wins or loses against Dawson, in what would be another huge event in Canada and would make waves worldwide as well. These events will also help bring out more of the local talent and build the sport back to mainstream. It is still early in the year and the future looks promising.