NEW GLASGOW, N.S. - Upon further review, it wasn’t so bad.
When 41-year-old Shauna Fukes finished her first-ever boxing match on Saturday at an Albion Amateur Boxing Club card in New Glasgow, she didn’t think she had done very well.
The New Glasgow resident was matched up against Joanne Moxsom of Truro, who had nine bouts worth of experience.
“I didn’t feel comfortable until I saw the (video after the match), and I was thinking ‘OK, that wasn’t so bad.’ I felt like I was going in slow motion (during the bout), but when I saw the video, I thought I was pretty fast.”
At least one of her coaches agrees with her.
“Shauna more than held her own,” said Albion club president Jim Worthen, “so we were very proud of her and the crowd was really into it, as well. The girl from Truro had too many fights for it to be a straight-up fight, so it had to be an exhibition, and in boxing, there are no winners or losers in an exhibition.”
Shauna Fukes works out at the Albion gym last month.
Prior to the match, Fukes was intent on blocking out distractions. “I just tried to focus and didn’t pay much attention to what was going on around me,” she said, adding that the anticipation she had felt leading up to the match was worse than the experience itself.
“I wasn’t nervous, I was emotional. I was thinking, ‘I’m about to do something big’ and ‘God, I wish dad was here.’”
Her father John Slaney passed away in August.
When the bell rang, “I was saying to myself, ‘don’t think about it, just do it,’” Fukes said. “It was an absolute blur. It went by really slow – the longest six minutes.”
She said she’s unsure at this point if she will commit to more competitive matches.
According to Worthen, the card at Summer Street Industries was sold out, with about 300 fight fans in attendance. The club will begin planning for a card to be held next spring, which will mark 30 years for the Albion club.
Other Albion fighters at Saturday's card:\
• Ethan Pratt (Albion) vs. Terrence Shoults (Berwick).
“They got fight of the night. Ethan lost a split decision, but he had a really good fight with a more experienced boxer. They all had tough fights, we were matched very tough for this card. We have some new kids coming up and this is how they learn.”
Shauna Fukes (Albion) vs. Joanne Moxsom (Truro).
• Tivor Stewart (Albion) vs. Quaid Costello (P.E.I.) lost a unanimous decision to Quaid Costello of P.E.I.
• Ryan Perry (Albion) vs. Liam Dempster (Halifax). Perry was stopped after two standing eight counts.
• Main Event: Matt Fraser (Albion) vs. Alex Burglu (Halifax). Fraser had to stop after being struck in the back of the neck a couple of times, which Worthen said were unintentional “rabbit punches.”
• Carson Scholes had a scheduled match with Saint John’s Vladimir Kyslenko cancelled after Kyslenko withdrew due to illness.
