Mills return to amateur boxing roots

In his attempt to get a stable of amateur boxers through his gym, former pro boxer Joel Mills took the first official step this past weekend with a fight card featuring three fighters in Medicine Hat.

Fighters came from Monarch and Foremost that Mills has trained along with local Brent Anderson.

Just an exhibition fight due to not being able to find a boxer with similar experience in time, Mills added Anderson held his own in his first fight against the more seasoned opponent.

“There was nobody there that was in his weight class and experience level. So we set up a fight with a guy that was an open fighter which means he’s had more than 10 fights,” said Mills.

“Brent hadn’t had a fight so we just wanted to get him some ring experience. He did well, he held his own with the guy.”

Fighting as a junior middleweight at 154 pounds, Mills liked what he saw in the three-round fight.

“He’s been at the gym for three or four months and he’s doing well. Hopefully, I can get him a fight in February, definitely in March,” said Mills.

“Basically, he moved really well and he used his confidence. He did exactly what I wanted him to do which was nice when you are coaching a guy. The first five or six fights, it’s all just about showing your guts, showing you are willing to get in there and trade some leather. I was impressed. The learning curve is huge. Especially for us fighting city boys it’s tough. The city guys have all the sparring, it’s a tough row to hoe, but it’s not impossible, it can be done.”

There were 10 fights each day on the card on Saturday and Sunday in Medicine Hat in which for Mills it felt good to get back to his amateur roots.

“I’ve worked the corner a lot of times in professional matches , but I haven’t done any amateur stuff in a long time. It was really neat coming full circle. It made me think back to when I started out at that level,” said Mills.

“It was a really neat feeling to be involved in the amateur scene again.”