Pictou County boxers ready for national ring in Quebec

Two Pictou County boxers are in Ste. Hyacinthe, Que. this week to fight for national senior championship status in their weight divisions.
Brody Blair of Lyons Brook is competing in the 75 kg division and Westville's Dukus "Duke" Davis is in the super heavyweight 91+ kg category.
Also representing Pictou County at the national competition is Davis' father Tom who is an assistant coach for the group from Nova Scotia.
This is Blair's first time competing as a senior, but last year he won gold as a junior in his weight division. He will go into the ring this afternoon against Ryan Baulk of Ontario.
It is Davis' second time at the championship as a senior and he has won numerous medals as a junior. His first fight is Friday night against Omari Henry of Ontario. If he wins that bout, he will go to the gold medal match on Saturday.
To prepare for this trip to nationals, Duke and his father went to Ontario earlier this month so he could get some sparring practice. Because of his size there are few people he can train with in Nova Scotia.
"We had excellent sparring," Tom said. "He's as sharp as I've seen him as I've seen him in a long time."
Duke said it definitely helped him prepare.
"It's got me feeling a lot better about my punches and movement," he said.
Being able to practise his skills in the ring gives him more confidence he said.
He's never boxed or seen Henry fight before, but his approach will stay the same, he said.
He tries to use his reach to keep opponents away and make them come to him.
In his final days before the fight he's just trying to keep in shape.
Mentally, he'll get rid of all the distractions in his life.
"The phone's going to go away," he said. "I'm not going to be texting or anything like that."
His father knows all fights at this level will be tough.
"We're expecting a tough fight, but we're expecting to win," he said.