Knockout return for Maisonneuve
After a three-year absence from the sport, Dylan Maisonneuve was looking forward to getting back in the ring last October at Boxing Ontario’s Return to Competition Test Event.
Unfortunately for the 20-year-old member of the St. Catharines Boxing Club, that fight fell through as did another one later.
The St. Catharines resident’s long-awaited return to the ring finally happened last week at the provincial championships in Mississauga in the Elite Open 75 kilogram final.
His performance was nothing short of spectacular. Competing against the KO Club’s Ardeshir Arjomandkhal, a 36-year-old former gold medalist at the International Sport Karate Association and World Association of Kickboxing Organizations’ world championships, Maisonneuve made short work of his opponent. Arjomandkhal was given a standing eight count following a hard overland right within the first 15 seconds of the first round. Within 30 seconds of the ref restarting the fight, the ref stopped the contest.
“It was a really good fight and we were so proud of him,” coach Paul Zahra said. “It was awesome.”
Maisonneuve was delighted with the result.
“My expectations were to go in there, fight my best and I was hoping to come out with the win which I did end up getting,” he said. “I was excited to get back in the ring after three years of being inactive.
“I wasn’t expecting it to end that fast but I was happy how it turned out after all that hard training I had been doing.”
Being back in the ring was exactly how he remembered it.
“It’s the amount of adrenaline you have going before your fight and the great excitement you feel going into the ring,” he said. “While you are in the ring, the amount of focus you have is amazing.”
Winning the provincial title was a big moment for Maisonneuve.
“After I found out the ref had stopped the fight, I was a big bundle of joy and I was so happy. I looked at my coaches with a big smile and it was such an unreal moment.”
He credited his coaches for their help and all the work they had put him to make him a better boxer.
“Dylan has always been a strong fighter and a tough kid but he was off awhile and when you are off you lose that edge. We have been trying to get him fights but unfortunately he missed two fights which kind of set him back a little but because other fighters were getting fights,” Zahra said. “We have been sparring him a lot, training him a lot and working on his core and cardio. You can be the best fighter in the world but if you don’t have the cardio you are not going to be able to doing anything in the ring.”
Preparing for the fight wasn’t easy with the provincial lockdown in January but Maisonneuve made it work.
“I went on hill sprints, I did long distance running, a lot of bag drills at my house and my cousins’s (Lucas Owens’) house, I did hand pads with friends and I was able to spar with my cousin,” he said. “He helped me stay sharp and we pushed each other to get better.”
In a normal year, Maisonneuve would now be looking forward to the national championships but the 2022 event scheduled for March 1-7 in Montreal has already been cancelled. Next on his schedule will be a local show in March and the Brampton Cup in July.
He remains focused on his ultimate goals for boxing.
“I want to win nationals and one day it would be cool to be on the Olympic team,” he said. “I have to keep training hard and working hard with all my coaches, keep eating healthy, stay away from partying, keep running and don’t let any distractions get in the way.”
He also needs a lot of fights to earn valuable ring experience.
Maisonneuve started boxing when he was Grade 6 and then took a year or two off to focus on school and other sports. He had 13 fights, losing only once and recording nine knockouts. He won the Brampton Cup three times and also captured the Golden Gloves.
Also at the provincial championships: SCBC member Steven Dwyer lost by decision to Stockyards’ Mason Fantin in the elite open 60 kilogram division; and, Nappers Simon Romero lost a decision to Areg Manukyan of the Atlas Boxing Club in the 54-kilogram youth open division.
