On Saturday night, Aubrey “Bam Bam” Morrow will step into the ring for the biggest fight of his career, taking on Francis Lafreniere for the Canadian Middleweight Championship.
Taking place in Repentigny, Quebec, the champion Lafreniere will have the home-crowd advantage. For Morrow and coach Rich LeStage, it doesn’t matter where the fight is, it all comes down to what happens in the ring once the bell sounds.
“We’ve been the underdog before,” Morrow said. “So it’s something that I’m used to dealing with. Honestly, once I come out to the ring, I’m not thinking about anything except our game plan and my opponent, the crowd becomes secondary.”
“They’re not going to be the ones in the ring with me, it’s going to be just the two of us in there and that’s all I need to worry about.”
With training behind him, Morrow flew to Quebec on Wednesday to adjust to the time change and his new surroundings before the biggest fight of his career.
“It’ll be good to get there and breathe,” Morrow said. “Once we get to wherever it is I’m fighting, I’m always looking forward to taking that first deep breath and getting used to where we’re at. Once that happens, it’s all about preparation.”
“Boxing is such a mental game, so finding that focus and remembering to breathe is very important. Training was great, we had a great training camp and sparred with a lot of great fighters ahead of this bout and I’m very happy with where I’m at. I feel real good both physically and mentally and now it’s time to put all that hard work and training to work on Saturday night.”
Morrow and LeStage travelled far and wide to prepare for the fight. Earlier this summer, the duo travelled to California for a week of sparring and training, including a session inside the Wildcard Gym, home to world famous trainer Freddie Roach.
Back home, Morrow has been down to Victoria on a number of occasions, putting work in at Peterecs MMA, Victoria Martial Arts, as well as spending time over on the Mainland and right here at Kickstart Fitness.
“It’s been a real big help,” Morrow said. “Getting different looks at different styles of opponents helps a lot, it gives you lots of different ways of going about things in the ring and let’s you see things that you normally might not see with just one or two sparring partners.”
It’s going to be a challenge but Morrow is ready and raring to go and will be looking to have some extra luggage on his flight home.
“I’m ready to go, I can’t wait,” Morrow said. “We’ve got a good game plan in place but if it gets down to a dog fight, I’ve got what it takes to put him down.”
“I’m there, I can’t wait to win and bring that belt back home and celebrate. I don’t see it going the distance, game plan or not, but I have to be ready for anything and I’m ready for anything.”