The years of training, sparring and competing at weekend tournaments, all while working full-time, have finally paid off for local boxer Mark Fieger, who won his weight class at the Bronze Gloves tournament in Lac La Biche earlier this month.
Fieger, training out of Bonnyville's KA Boxing Club, won both his bouts at the Nov.17-18 tournament, defeating Dustin Ghostkeeper of Slave Lake Saturday and Josh Duff of Lethbridge Sunday to capture the 75 kilogram Bronze Gloves title.
“It was an amazing feeling,” Fieger said. “After Sunday's fight, they raised my hands and I was definitely excited about the win, but when I took a step out of the ring my eyes welled up a bit. I realized how much time and effort I put into this.”
He said winning his bronze gloves was one of his goals in life and a huge personal accomplishment.
Fieger eventually wants to attain his silver and gold gloves before moving on to the professional side of the sport. He said his ultimate goal would be to compete professionally in mixed martial arts (MMA).
Fieger said his preparation for this tournament was better than any time before, having learned a lot from his trainers in Bonnyville before travelling to Thailand for a month of full-time training and sparring.
He also credited local MMA fighter Tim Chemelli for preparing him for his final bronze gloves bout.
“My final opponent was a tall southpaw and Tim's a tall southpaw. Sparring with Tim, getting to know his reach advantage and his southpaw stance really helped me out.”
A lot of credit should also go to the trainers at KA for finally getting him to listen to what they are teaching, he said.
“A lot of the times I'll come out of the gate hot, like a natural-born street fighter. But they taught me to be patient and keep my hands up and not be so wild and to let the fight come to me … this time I listened and it paid off.”
Fieger's trainers at KA said they were very impressed with his dedication to boxing before this last tournament.
“Mark's recent success is a combination of several things,” said Bruce Kahanyshyn, one of the trainers at KA. “He's extremely dedicated to training, working really hard in the off season and dropping two weight classes. But most of all it comes from his desire to be the best that he can be in the ring.”
Also boxing out of KA Boxing Club was Jeremy Harding, who defeated Nick Laforte, after the referee stopped the fight in the second round. KA's Taylor Paradis won a unanimous decision over Steven Cardinal, while fellow KA boxer Adam Bemnoyer beat L. J. Alook of Lac La Biche.
KA's Meagan Corbeil, David Nahirniak, Nick Wagner, Nolan Dallaire and Enrique Tovar also competed at the bronze gloves tournament, losing their bouts.
Ray Kahanyshyn, a trainer at KA, said the tournament provided a lot of experience in the ring for some of the club's younger boxers.
Fieger said the future looks bright for boxing in Bonnyville.
“There are some awesome young fighters at KA and if they stick with it, they can go a long way.”
