Two fights, two weeks, two knockouts and two wins — both in the second round.
That’s how Williams Lake pro boxer and Canadian Professional Boxing Council super welterweight champion Stuart McLellan handled a recent stint in Jamay, Jalisco, Mexico.
On June 26 McLellan defeated Victor Marquez for the second time. He first took on the Mexican fighter where he scored a victory in April, also in Mexico. A week later, on July, 3 he stopped Rosendo Maldonado, also of Mexico, to improve his professional record to 16 wins, two losses and three draws.
“Victor wanted to go again,” McLellan, 29, said.
“It was a tough fight for a couple rounds again, but I kept on him and broke him down in the second round with a bodyshot. I was hoping to get him in the first but he’s tough.
“[Against Maldonado] he seemed small but he was really quick and agile but, same thing, I dropped him and then stopped him afterwards.”
McLellan’s three fights in Mexico have been with Teofista Boxing, who has been doing positive community work with the community in Jamay.
“The mayor got on board and got them a boxing gym three times the size [of the old one],” McLellan said. “Teofista’s been sending down equipment for them. It’s really cool to do this and help out the community.”
He said Canadian boxers are looked up to in Mexico, especially by the kids.
“We’d go out for a run and have a bunch of kids following us and end up signing autographs,” he said. “It’s a big deal for them to have Canadians there.”
McLellan said he plans to take a month or two off, then step back inside the ring in September.
He’s hoping to amass 20 wins on his record, then look at bigger possibilities.
Following a rough 2015 that saw McLellan lose back-to-back fights, he said things have really turned around in his career. He’s since won four consecutive bouts.
“A lot has changed in the last six months,” he said.
“I was contemplating retirement there late last year but now big fights aren’t far off.”
If things continue, he said a televised fight in the U.S. isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
“Next year, I’m looking at big fights,” McLellan said.
“The whole thing [travelling to Mexico] — it was an experience.”
He said if anyone has any old boxing gloves, gear or skipping ropes they would like to donate to the kids in Jamay they can contact him on Facebook.