In March of this year, Roberto McLellan brought the Canadian Professional Boxing Council’s Light Middleweight Championship home to Williams Lake.
On Saturday, Roberto’s brother Stuart hopes to bring another title back to the lakecity.
Stuart, 24, is slated to take on Kitchener, Ont.’s Julius Bunda for the CPBC 155-pound vacant Middleweight Championship at Casino New Brunswick in Moncton, N.B.
Bunda has a professional boxing record of four wins and one loss with two knockouts.
“I watched a bit of footage on him,” Stuart said. “He’s a good amateur. He was supposed to be the next big thing but he had a setback, and now he’s won three straight.”
Stuart, who has a professional record of seven wins, no losses and two draws with two knockouts, said he’s been training extremely hard for this fight.
“It was a bit of a boring summer but that’s what you’ve got to do,” he said.
Stuart took a tune up fight late August in Medicine Hat against Lethbridge, Alta.’s Jesse Seberg to help him prepare for the fight.
“It felt good to get back in the ring but it was only a five second fight,” he said, noting he quickly stopped his opponent. “But I’ve had lots of fights at this weight so I’m comfortable.
“He’s [Bunda] relatively inexperienced but he’s hungry.”
Bunda’s cornerman is Syd Vanderpool, a former professional boxer who faced Bernard Hopkins back in 2000 for the International Boxing Federation middleweight title.
“We’ve got to take that into consideration in terms of his training and what he’s telling him during the fight,” McLellan said.
McLellan and Bunda will be the co-main event on the card, which also features a bout for the Cruiserweight Championship.
The event is being broadcast online at www.gofightlive.com for $9.99 for anyone interested in watching.
McLellan added it would be an impressive feat to have two Canadian boxing titles in Williams Lake, and hopes his training has paid off.
“I just want to say thanks to my brother and dad (Williams Lake Boxing Club coach Gary McLellan) for the training, and all my sparring partners — Harley Mulvahill, Matt O’Brien and Chris Cousineau — my girlfriend Trinity Sure and Bryan ‘Bioson’ Delaronde for doing my theme song to come out.”
The Williams Lake Boxing Club, located in the basement of the Western Wood Heat building along Highway 97, is starting a new season and is inviting anyone age 11 and up to join the club. The WLBC teaches Olympic-style amateur boxing Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m.
For more information contact Rick Albrechtsen at 250-392-3457 or Gary McLellan at 250-392-3917.