Wheat City Throwdown a hit for boxers, fans

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This article was published 11/04/2022 (1433 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bohdan Kozachenko sits in dazed silence, catching his breath in the change room after his first career boxing bout went to Shelby Stranger by unanimous decision on Saturday night.

No one says a word around him as other boxers donning red trunks and gloves spar with coaches, jump rope, or simply sit awaiting their return to the ring.

It’s a dramatic shift from the raucous environment just down the hall in what used to be the Wheat City Curling Club, with a nearly standing-room-only crowd and tunes blasting during an action-packed Wheat City Throwdown, hosted by Peak Performance and Athletics.

Kozachenko admits he felt an adrenalin rush for his debut and spent too much of his energy early in the three-round affair, speaking through deep breaths more than 10 minutes after the fight.

Naturally, there’s a whole lot more than meets the eye with the young fighter, who graduated from Crocus Plains last year. For one, he only started training five months ago. He said he always had a passion for the sport but never committed to its gruelling demands.

He also contracted COVID-19 a few weeks ago and barely recovered in time to lace up the gloves.

“I felt terrible, not good,” Kozachenko said. “With boxing, you have to be a soldier. You have to go for it no matter what. Sick, injured, you still gotta fight. We train for months on end for one fight and it’s hard to let go.

“I think I didn’t control my nerves, I had an adrenalin dump and gassed out at a certain point completely. I’ll have to work on my conditioning but … I was feeling like complete s— for the last four days but I still decided to fight.”

Kozachenko played football at Crocus for two years before the pandemic but feels boxing is a whole other level of tough.

“The amount of mental and physical effort it takes to potentially become a good fighter, it takes everything,” he said. “It’s probably the hardest thing a person can do, become a boxer or fighter.”

The Ukrainian-born boxer is also fighting with a heavy heart, as the Russian invasion wages on. Peak coach Rodman Batson noted about half of his fighters are Ukrainian and loves working with them.

“They’re tough. Some of the parents say I treat their kids like Canadians, I guess we’re softer, we’re apologizing, we’re super polite but they’re awesome people, some of the most disciplined athletes I’ve ever worked with, it’s a good fit,” Batson said, adding he was proud of Kozachenko’s debut. “I don’t know if he was physically recovered as much as he wanted to but the fact that he went in there and tried his best, that’s a win in itself.”

• • •

Batson spearheaded the event, which also included novice bouts on Saturday afternoon, another slate of fights on Sunday and a social Saturday night.

It had a professional feel. Fighters entered through a machine-induced fog, prompted by an energetic announcer, strutting up to a well-lit ring surrounded by judges, ring girls and referees.

Batson said the central location helped draw fighters from across the country and was ecstatic with the turnout.

“A lot of local businesses joined up to support the event, a lot of the proceeds are going back to our non-profit junior boxing program to reinvigorate, rejuvenate the sport,” Batson said. “Our program specifically is kids aged 12 to 16, that’s the next generation of amateur boxing in Canada.”

• • •

The main event on Saturday featured nationally ranked Jonathan Hannah of B.C. defeating Winnipeg’s Dylan Martin in a split decision. Martin bounced back to defeat Hannah in Sunday’s rematch.

Martin just returned from representing Canada at the American Boxing Confederation (AMBC) continental championships in Ecuador a few weeks ago. The 28-year-old says no stage is too big or small.

“We’ve done basements, curling rinks, hockey rinks, yards, it’s everything. It was a really well-done venue,” Martin said, adding it’s tough to find competition on a similar level as he improves.

“It’s fights like this, what we just had. You take every chance, every opportunity. That’s how my coach has always done it. We’ve said ‘Be ready year-round and if someone calls you, even if it’s tomorrow, you say yes.’ Winnipeg, Brandon, wherever, you got to fight as much as you can. In amateur, a loss sucks but it doesn’t end your career, it’s just part of the sport.”

Martin doesn’t plan to turn professional. He simply enjoys amateur fighting and wanted to wear the Maple Leaf. Now that he achieved his goal, it’s an endurance test.

“Now I’m going to fight as long as I can while I’m ranked in the top five,” Martin said. “When I leave those rankings, when I start plateauing or declining, then it’s time to retire. Until I see that plateau or I stop improving, I’ll keep fighting and take it as far as I can.”

• • •

Grace Fahnbulleh has a big, crazy dream and a wilder path to achieve it.

She moved to Winnipeg from Liberia in November 2006 and quickly took to basketball. She was a graduating all-star with the University of Winnipeg Collegiate Wesmen, then played a few years of post-secondary ball before deciding it was time for a change.

Boxing was exactly what she wanted for several reasons.

“I wanted something more challenging and an individual sport, and boxing brings a lot out of you. The mental, physical, everything,” Fahnbulleh said.

“I have grown a lot mentally. If you skip a training session or a 6 a.m. run, it shows up in the ring and you don’t have four other players to back you up. Boxing has brought the best, the worst, the most challenging … out of me.”

Fahnbulleh lost a unanimous decision to B.C.’s Nyousha Nakhjiri on Saturday and dropped the rematch on Sunday. She keeps her head up and stays locked in on her goal: She hopes to be the first boxer to represent Liberia at the Olympics one day.

“That’s my ultimate goal and when I can do that … have my country’s flag on my back, I will be super happy,” she said.

“If there’s any little African or immigrant kids listening to me right now, do not step away from your goals or dreams. It might be something small, something big, just chase your dream. Canada has a lot of opportunities and a lot of resources for us immigrants to get access to.

“Keep chasing your dreams, keep going to school, listen to your parents and keep striving to be your best, because we belong.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @thomasmfriesen