Nothing comes easy in Mexico.
It’s a lesson Williams Lake pro boxer Stuart McLellan has become accustomed to after recently winning his eighth fight in the country.
McLellan improved his professional record to 23 wins, two losses and three draws March 16 after picking up a decision over Mexico’s Edgar Quiroz in what he described as an all-out war.
“I’d watched a video of the guy before and he got hit and he basically laid down,” McLellan said. “That was anything but the case.”
His opponent, 21-18-0, lasted the full six rounds in the fight.
“You never know with a journeyman like that,” McLellan said. “I got off to a rough start. He had a good first couple rounds, I was tired, and had to turn the heat up and work angles and just outworked him in the end. It was far from easy.
“Then, you have the judges in his hometown so you don’t want to go to decision — that’s always in the back of your head.”
Coming in to fight in Quiroz’s home country, McLellan said it was a hostile crowd.
“But there were a lot of people there, and it was a well-done show, and good exposure and a good, tough fight,” he said. “It was a workmanlike performance.”
He thanked his cornermen from Denver, CO., who flew in to work a different fight, however, stayed late to help McLellan with his bout.
“They were going to leave earlier, but ended ups taying and working my corner and helped me get through it,” McLellan said.
In other boxing news, the Williams Lake Boxing Club is now gearing up to host a pro-am boxing event in Williams Lake on Saturday, June 2 at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex.
In preparation, a number of the club’s amateur fighters including McLellan’s brothers Arthur McLellan, Duncan McLellan and longtime amateur Harley Mulvahill who will make his pro debut at the Williams Lake show, will be in action April 7 in Quesnel.
Ticket information for the Williams Lake show will be coming soon on McLellan’s Instagram page (@westcoast_warlord) or on Facebook by searching ‘Williams Lake Boxing Gym.’