In a blood-soaked night of boxing, the Canmore Fight Club hosted its second Friday Night Fight event at the Canmore Miners’ Hall on Friday (Sept. 15).
Craig Wilson stopped Ryan Skwara in the main event, knocking his opponent down twice in the three-round fight. Skwara was a last minute addition to the card after another fighter pulled out the day before the match.
Wilson came out in the first round with a heavy left hook that stunned Skwara early, sending his opponent stumbling around the ring. After a standing eight count, Skwara steadied his defence, but still absorbed a string of combos from Wilson, who searched for holes in his opponent’s armour.
Skwara took the offensive in the second, while Wilson appeared content to tie up his opponent through much of the round. However, by the end of the round, Wilson unleashed a flurry of body blows on Skwara, sending him to the mat, who was saved only by the end of the round.
By the third round, Wilson busted open Skwara and knocked him down with another left. By then, the fight was over.
Wilson said he tried to rely on a bunch of combinations to soften up his opponent for the knock down.
“I was able to connect with my left,” Wilson said.
Since his opponent was an unknown, he didn’t know what to expect once in the ring, however, he felt he had trained enough leading up to the bout. His next goal is to qualify to fight in the Alberta Winter Games in 2012.
Kris Austin defeated veteran Jeremy Kaliel in the undercard. Kaliel has fought in each of Nick Martin’s events, but was bested by the power of Austin.
“I waited for him to come to me. I knew I was bigger and stronger, but didn’t know what to expect,” Austin said.
He opened the fight with a flurry, testing Kaliel’s defence, chasing him around the ring while trying to get inside on the lanky pugilist. Kaliel picked his spots and landed a few stiff jabs, keeping his opponent at bay with superior speed.
However by the second round, Austin got inside and punished Kaliel with a series of uppercuts. Midway through the round, he countered Kaliel’s jab with a stiff right hand. Kaliel spent the rest of the round back on his heels and had to take a standing eight count after Austin landed another uppercut on his chin and bloodied his opponent’s nose.
Kaliel pushed back in the third round and cut Austin open with a jab that landed squarely on Austin’s jaw. However, Austin hung in and took the match by decision.
“It was hard to get inside, but I felt I had the decision,” Austin said.
The second fight of the undercard saw young Dave Hernandez square off against phenom Neal Greaney. Greaney entered the ring with a gameplan, having studied Hernandez’s earlier fight with Rob McBasa.
Noticing a hole in Hernandez’ guard after throwing the jab, Greaney exploited the weakness, landing three thundering right hooks in the first round. Hernandez appeared stunned and tried to use his reach advantage to keep Greaney at bay, but to no avail.
In the second round, Greaney landed several more solid hooks to the head, bloodying his opponent’s nose badly. The referee stopped the fight in the second and awarded the decision to Greaney.
“I noticed when he threw his jab there was an opening,” Greaney said. “I like to get through the straight right.”
Greaney said he liked the pace of the fight, as he wanted to stay loose. He’s trying to get onto more cards this year, and wants to make a bigger commitment to boxing this season.
In other exhibition matches, Pierre Rossingnol battled Daniel Schenk, while Rick Reddecop squared off against Rob McBasa.
