Lucas Owens ready for boxing debut
The St. Catharines Boxing Club has a long and successful history of boxing cousins.
The latest edition of Ring Relatives is Dylan Maisonneuve and Lucas Owens.
Both fighters will be featured this Friday on the club’s Sixth Annual Murphy’s Gloves Fight for the Kids Christmas Show.
“My cousin introduced me to it and from there I followed behind him. Then I just fell in love with it,” said Owens, a Grade 9 student at Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf in Welland.
The 14-year-old St. Catharines resident has benefitted from his cousin’s guidance.
“I signed up here and he was open to that and open to teaching me and showing me stuff. I just fell into the flow of boxing.”
His cousin’s influence is clear to coach SCBC coach John Robertson.
“You can tell that he is quite athletic and his cousin has been helping him out,” he said. “He has done quite well, quite quickly.”
Robertson and the club’s other coaches have no qualms about Owens being able to make his boxing debut Friday at the Merritton Community Centre.
“We had him in with other guys who have more experience like the Ryans and he does quite well. We figured if he could do well against those guys then he can do well in the ring.”
Robertson likes what Owens brings to the sport.
“He moves a lot and he has really quick hands.”
Owens also feels like he is ready to make his boxing debut.
“From the very first time I stepped into the sparring ring, they have been telling me that I had been doing well, especially for the amount of time that I have been training,” he said. “I think it is all the hard work that I have put in to get to this point.”
Owens admitted boxing wasn’t love at first punch for him.
“It took me a little bit but I liked it once I got into sparring and I was taking hits and throwing punches,” he said. “After that, I was pretty passionate about it.”
He likes most everything about boxing.
“The word to describe it is that it is really fun. I find it really appealing and I like getting in the ring and throwing my hands around.”
Owens used to play hockey and lacrosse but now he is focused on boxing. He trains every day he is able to get into the boxing club and on his off days he works out with one of his cousin’s friends, Liam Hughes.
He is looking forward to Friday.
“The day of I am going to be really nervous but right now I am excited. I know the guy I am fighting and I am feeling positive,” Owens said. “I have already sparred with him and I am excited to get back in the ring with him. Fighting in front of people and putting on a show is going to be great.”
He is hoping it is the start of a great future in the sport.
“It sounds pretty outlandish right now but it would be nice to go pro or go to the Olympics,” he said. “I want to go as far as I can and reach my top potential.”
In the short term, he is hoping to compete at the Brampton Cup and provincial championships next year.
Doors for the soldout show open at 6:30 p.m. and boxing starts at 7:30 p.m. All spectators need to show proof of double vaccination. It is the first amateur boxing card staged in the city since March 2020.
Among the other local fighters joining Owens and Maisonneuve on the card are Charlie Ryan, Riley Willis, Chris Hughes, Phoenix Young and Jeremy Cowan.
