It wasn’t exactly what “Shotgun” Shane Andreesen had planned for his return to the ring on Friday, but Shotgun walked away with a draw and a good feeling about the match itself.
Back in the ring for the first time since December of 2012, Andreesen was looking to put on a good showing for the hometown crowd and to re-establish himself as one of the top ranked Canadian heavyweights in boxing.
It seemed like things were going to go as planned until his game plan went right out the window.
“I think I felt it happen about half way through the first round,” Andreesen said about shattering his fifth metacarpal in his match against Rob Nichols.
“I came back to the corner and told Rich that I hurt my hand. He just told me to try and fight through it. So I went out there for round two and when I tried hitting him with my right, the pain went all through my body and I knew it wasn’t good.”
It was the first time that Andreesen had suffered any sort of major injury in the ring, and the first to either of his hands in his career. From that point on, Shotgun basically fought his opponent with one hand and had to make some major adjustments.
“It throws a wrench into things, for sure,” Andreesen said. “I was hoping to come out early and land some big shots, hopefully put him down. Rob’s a tough guy though and when the injury happened, I had to try and think of another way to get through the fight and beat him.”
Andreesen managed to make it through the remainder of the fight, which saw both fighters throwing some haymakers in an attempt to put the other one down. The fight wound up being a draw, which saw both fighters have some much earned praise from the crowd at the Port Theater.
Once the fight was finished, it was off to the hospital to get a cast on the injured right hand. From there, he headed up to Campbell River to see Dr. Robin Evans, where he had successful surgery to repair the shattered bones.
“The surgery went real well, the doctor was pleased,” Andreesen said. “So I’ll have to wait about six weeks for it to heal and then I can start doing physiotherapy on it after that. Then I’ll be able to get back to punching some more.”
After the event, Andreesen is now ranked in the top five Canadian heavyweights in pursuit of the Canadian Heavyweight Championship. It’s a pleasant surprise for Andreesen, who hopes to once again have a shot at the belt that’s eluded him thus far.
“That’s been the goal since day one, to get there and win the Canadian title,” Andreesen said. “Once I heal up from this, who knows what will come next. I know what it takes to get there and if I get the chance, I’m going to do everything I can to go after that title.”
