So far in his young career, Thunder Innis has been an unstoppable force inside the boxing ring. He’s about to face his toughest test yet – a showdown against a reigning Canadian champion.
Innis, from Inner City Boxing PG, will battle fellow 17-year-old Porter Hansen on Saturday night in Cochrane, Alta., site of the Boxing BC Western Canadian Championships. Innis brings an 8-0 record into the match against Hansen, a veteran of more than 40 bouts and winner of the national title at 75 kilograms last June in Laval, Que.
Innis heads into the fight with respect for his opponent but also with the determination to add another win to his spotless resume.
“I’m not underestimating him at all,” Innis said of Hansen, who represents the Nelson Boxing Club. “I’ve had technical fights before and I believe in my ability. I’m 100 per cent confident in my ability and my skills and how hard I train. I’m confident in every single way.”
Innis is coming off an impressive performance a few weeks ago at the Alberta Silver Gloves, where he fought to victory in the 80kg elite category and was named best youth boxer for the second year in a row. His bout against Hansen will also be significant because it will be his first as an open fighter, which means he’ll now be eligible to compete for national and international titles.
But first, he’ll get a good idea of exactly where he stands when he steps in against this top Canadian talent.
“I think this is a blessing for us,” said Kenny Lally, who has been working alongside fellow coach Jag Seehra in developing Innis as a boxer. “It’s a hard matchup for sure, but Thunder is different in his ability.”
One adjustment for Innis will be the length of the bout. Instead of three rounds of two minutes each, he will have to stay sharp for three rounds of three minutes each.
He’s not worried.
“I’ve been training three minutes for the last two weeks now and I know my body has adapted already,” he said. “I know I can adapt in the ring, I know I can fight three minutes, I know that I’m built for this sport, and I’m built for this.”
While Innis’s immediate focus is on Hansen, he also has a fight scheduled for Sunday. In that one, he’ll take on current Team B.C. member Ty Cunningham of the Comox Valley Boxing Club.
This is the start of Innis’s third season with Inner City Boxing PG, and when Lally considers how far his fighter has come in a relatively short time, he can’t help but be impressed.
“It’s quite a unique story,” Lally said. “Everything he has done has been by design. That kid is one of the first here in the gym, he’s the last one to leave. He works incredibly hard. All he thinks about is boxing.”
This weekend’s tournament will also be a milestone for Lally and Seehra because, after years of boxing for Team B.C. during their own careers, they will be part of the coaching staff.
“That means not only will we be working with Thunder, depending on who they put us with we’ll be working with lots of other Team B.C. athletes,” Lally said. “We’ve been back for two years with the new Inner City and now we’re on our third year, and Jag and I have already gotten ourselves back onto Team B.C., which is really, really cool.”
Inner City boxers Josh Greenwood and Koehen McLeod will also make the trip to Cochrane this weekend but will not fight.
