About 1,400 boxers are expected to attend the 10th Annual Ringside World Championships in Kansas City next week, but it's doubtful if even one of them will have training that compares with what Lyons Brook native Brody Blair has done.
For two months this summer he was in P.E.I. busily buying lobster for his father's company and hoisting the trays onto trucks for shipping. In his free time he was in the ring training.
"I got a lot of strength training from working over in P.E.I.," he said.
He's hoping that extra muscle mass will pay off for him as he punches in the ring at this single elimination competition with athletes from across North America as well as numerous other countries.
At 18, Brody already has plenty of boxing experience on both the national and international level. But he knows a tournament like this is a good opportunity to see some strong competition.
"It should be good," he says.
When he's not in the ring at the match, he'll be watching from the outside.
"I like to study the boxers that I'm going to fight before I fight them and find out what their strengths and weaknesses are," he said. "I'll be watching my division pretty close."
Blair jumped up to the senior class for the first time at nationals last year. With the new division comes a new amount of minutes in the ring. While boxers have two-minute rounds at the junior level, the rounds last three minutes in the senior level.
"That extra minute seemed to be a little long there at the first, but I've been training really hard the last couple months," Brody said.
He's in the gym twice a day now and his father Robert says he seems to be more confident and comfortable during fights now.
"I can see a big difference," he said. "He's thinking a lot more in the ring. He's got a lot stronger and smarter."
After this tournament, Blair is planning to go to nationals which is scheduled for December. A gold medal win would put him on the path for his ultimate goal.
"I'm going to shoot for the Olympics," he said.
He knows it will take more international fights and longer days to get there, but he's committed to the goal.
Even when he's loading lobster it's on his mind.
