It’s been a long time coming and with one more day to go, Terry Strawson has everything lined up for the Strawson Boxing Promotions event at the Port Theater Friday night and can’t wait for the opening bell to sound.
It’s an event that’s being billed as the biggest Nanaimo has seen in over 20 years and with three local names on the card, it’s hard to argue against that.
For the first time in their careers, Mark “Machine Gun” Woolnough, “Shotgun” Shane Andreesen and Aubrey “Bam Bam” Morrow are all fighting on the same card, which Strawson was happy about.
“I’m extremely happy with this card that we’ve put together, it’s going to be a great show,” he said.
“Having these three guys on the same card for the first time is huge, especially since they’re local lads and they’ve been working together for so long. People from around here know their stories and know how well they’ve done, so it’s an honor to have been able to make this happen.”
In his first event as a promoter, Strawson has reached out to the boxing community and has received some help in return.
Andy Nance, former professional boxer and current booking agent and matchmaker, was one of the names to come around when Strawson was looking to make this a big event.
HBO’s Barrie Eget will also be at the show on Friday night, announcing skills to the card at the Port Theater as well.
“It’s unreal. When you’ve got a ring announcer that works for HBO, Showtime and ESPN telling you how excited he is, it’s insane,” Strawson said. “Andy is a boxing guy all the way around. He’s a former number two welterweight in the world, he’s been a big help and it’s been a great platform to help build all of this.”
Weigh–ins take place tonight (July 17) at the Old City Station Pub in Nanaimo at 5 p.m., where both Nance and Eget will be on hand, along with the boxers on the card.
There are still tickets available for the fights and Strawson is happy so far with the way things have gone and how things are shaping up.
“I can’t wait for Friday to come, it’s unreal,” Strawson said. “We’re not sugarcoating it when we say this is going to be a great card, it’s exactly that. We’re happy with ticket sales so far and we know that the people around here don’t make plans three weeks in advance, so we’ll be expecting a full house come Friday.”
Tickets for the fight, starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 18, are available at www.porttheater.com under special events. It will be a full on boxing event, with ring card girls accompanying ring announcer Barrie Eget and the plethora of talent in the ring, looking to impress the hometown crowd and their supporters.