2 Rivers Boxing’s Dan Mott got back into the ring after a three-year hiatus last Saturday (Sept 14).
The local fan-favourite fighter, who is known for always putting on an exciting scrap, lost a decision to Eastside Boxing’s Michel Kechichian in a middleweight bout contested at 165 pounds.
The fight was the co-main event at Alliance Boxing’s Boxing on the strip at Venue Nightclub in Vancouver.
While the 28-year-old Mott, who has been training at 2 Rivers on-and-off for ten years, is disappointed; he says he was not embarrassed by his opponent.
“I’m fine right now,” he points out, “I’d almost rather get really beat up and lost than lose the way I did.”
This was Mott’s first time fighting at 165 pounds in a few matches. Previously he has fought at 175 but said – despite winning many of those fights – he was having a hard time against the much larger opponents.
For this match he put in time in the weight room, was a regular sight at 2 Rivers Boxing and even travelled to Williams Lake to get some quality sparring in with the McLellan brothers and the other talented fighters in town.
“It was crucial to my training,” he says, “They forced me to go to the next level. I was forced to grow and try new stuff. It’s trial by fire.”
Pro-boxer, Stuart McLellan, who was in Edmonton just before the match, even flew into Vancouver to help corner Mott.
Unfortunately, his opponent had 11 more fights than him and used some sly tactics to slow the pace down and avoid Mott’s power.
“He was trying to counter punch and ran away mostly,” says Mott.
“Every time I’d try to come in and get some work on he would duck real low and then he’d almost be underneath me just trying to stop the action and then he’d throw a jab or a big right before getting out of the way.”
Mott says Kechichan was mostly evasive and did not seem to want to get into any fire fights.
Hydration also played a role in Mott’s performance, he adds.
“Cutting the weight the night before didn’t do me any favours. I had to cut five pounds and then only had four hours the next day to hydrate.”
For a fighter, going down a weight class, who has also taken a long layoff, that can effect stamina significantly.
Mott tried to push through and even changed his strategy in the third round when he figured he could not out-box the craftier foe.
“I was trying to use power to punch him out because I knew the fight was slipping away,” he says, “I was hounding him, pushing the pressure and chasing him relentlessly and by the end I had gotten in close and started roughing him up by going to the body lots but it wasn’t enough to get the win.”
Rumble 27 will take place on November 2 in the 2 Rivers Gym in Quesnel and Mott’s hoping to get right back in the ring to get a palette cleansing win.
“If work permits I’ll definitely fight on the card,” he says, “Ideally I’ll get [Kechichian] to come up for it. I want to get some revenge.”
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