Duncan Wilson will be stepping through the ropes to try his hand at boxing on July 18 at the Port Theater, just three months after capturing the Fivestar Fight League welterweight title.
Wilson, nicknamed ‘The Heart Break Kid,’ will be making his professional boxing debut in Nanaimo in front of a hometown crowd. The Parksville product won the Fivestar championship April 25 with a second round TKO against now former champion Jonathan Cowan.
It was a fight that almost never happened for Wilson, who sustained a fractured kneecap during training, as well as damage to his MCL.
“Yeah, that fight was close to not even happening for me,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t sure if the knee was going to feel any better or worse as the time grew closer but luckily I was able to heal it up enough to the point that I could go out there and fight and the end result was better than I could have imagined.”
With a record of six wins and four losses, Wilson has split his victories with three coming by TKO and three by way of submission. As someone who likes to stand and throw punches, Wilson is looking forward to making the change on July 18 from mixed martial arts to the boxing ring.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve been training in boxing for quite a few years now so it’s going to be pretty cool to have my first professional fight in Nanaimo,” Wilson said. “It’ll be nice to fight in front of family and friends too. I don’t get a chance to fight too close to home with the MMA so this is going to be extra special.”
For promoter Terry Strawson, who is putting on this event along with business partner Andrew Wilde, the chance to have Wilson on the card was a no brainer.
“Duncan is an exciting fighter and having him be a part of this event, his first professional fight and my first card as a promoter, it’s pretty great,” Strawson said. “We’re putting together a really good card here for the fans and I think that it’s going to deliver.”
Wilson will be fighting on the same card as locals Aubrey Morrow, Shane Andreesen and recently added Mark Woolnough. This marks the first time that Morrow, Andreesen and Woolnough will all be fighting on the same card, with all of them spending time training with local trainer Rich LeStage.
“To fight alongside Mark, Shane and Aubrey, we’re all buddies so it’s going to be a blast,” Wilson said. “We’ve all trained together and been through a lot together so to have something like this come along is going to be a lot of fun. There’s going to be some added pressure of course, fighting in front of the home crowd, but I can’t wait for it. I’m happy to be part of this event and I’m happy to have a fight at home.”
Tickets for the event are on sale at www.porttheatre.com under the events and tickets header, in ‘special events.’
