In just over a month, Aubrey “Bam Bam” Morrow will step into the ring in Nanaimo with the Western Canadian Middleweight title on the line.
It’ll be just short of a year since Morrow’s return to the ring last summer in Nanaimo, at the Port Theatre, where he earned a TKO victory over Jonah Arbuckle in front of family and friends.
Now Parksville fighter Morrow is back in Nanaimo May 23 for Gloved Up Promotions’ boxing event “Rumble at the Rink,” at Frank Crane Arena.
“Yeah, I didn’t picture this last year,” Morrow said. “It’s pretty nice to be fighting for the title and even better to be able to fight at home. It does bring a lot of pressure but it also gives me a good backing as well, having everyone around me.”
Morrow (seven wins, one loss) will take on Paul Bzdel, a two time challenger for the Canadian title, in the main event of the evening. Getting the chance to fight for the title is one thing, but being able to come back to Nanaimo and fight in front of the hometown crowd means that much more to Bam Bam.
“It feels great,” Morrow said. “Having the last fight in Nanaimo was great and I’m hoping to build off that fight. It felt better than any of the wins I’ve had, being able to fight in front of the family and friends so I’m looking for more of the same this time around, keep that good feeling going.”
Morrow has been working closely with coach Rich LeStage, building up multiple game plans and working on different strategies building up to the fight.
Having a few months before the fight brings an added advantage to Morrow, who is happy that the date was set and the opponent was known well before the fight was scheduled to take place.
“Yeah, that always makes it easier,” Morrow said. “Being able to know who you’re fighting and when you’ll be fighting is a load off the mind. Plus having the time in between finding all of that out and the day of the fight, we’ve been able to build off a good solid base that was already in place.”
“We’ve been able to work on some game plans, learning a few new things here and there, so it’s all been very good so far.”
With plenty of time left before the fight, Morrow said he feels great at this point in his training and will continue to feel better as the time draws near to step back in the ring.
“I feel real good,” Morrow said. “I’m feeling good early on, which is a nice change. It’s nice to have some ground work done already and being able to build on it. We’ve got lots of time ahead but it does sneak up fast, so being prepared early really helps.”
Having six of his seven wins coming by way of knockout, Morrow will be looking for more of the same come May 23.
“Obviously looking to keep the knockouts going,” Morrow said. “He’s got some losses, he knows how to lose, and so I’ll just have to remind him.”