O'Brien off to box in Ireland

Quesnel Observer11th November, 2009

Today Matt (Matti) O'Brien is off to Ireland on a quest for the Irish Super Middleweight boxing title, a quest that began innocently enough 20 years ago.

In Grade 6 O'Brien agreed to tag along with friend Steve Novack to the Eagles Boxing Club in Campbell River, B.C.

Novack quit after six months, but O'Brien kept going. He found something he enjoyed.

"I liked the competition, the training.

"I liked the people, and the healthy lifestyle."

The trip to Limmerick, Ireland, is the first of an anticipated four bouts that could lead to the Irish Super Middleweight title.

The first bout, according to boxing promoter Adam Harris, with Hennessy Sports Canada, will be to, "shake the rust off."

"A make a statement kind of bout," he said

For O'Brien the set of boxing matches in Ireland represent the culmination of years of training and boxing that have defined a career and defined a person, and both by any measure have been successful.

The beginning, however, O'Brien admits, was less than stellar, a three-round loss at the age of 12.

But it isn't the loss he remembers the most, it is how he felt about the experience.

"It felt exhilarating," he said.

"We wore head gear so the punches didn't hurt."

Undeterred and motivated O'Brien continued to box.

From the initial three-round loss, he went on to win 10 Golden Glove titles, a Canadian lightweight title, two Western Canada Games titles, and a Western American middleweight title.

Not bad for someone who says amateur boxing did not suit his style.

"The scoring of body punches is hard to get in amateur boxing," O'Brien explained.

So after about 100 amateur matches, O'Brien decided to step into the ring as a professional while he was living in Calgary, attending the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology to earn his steam pipe-fitter's ticket.

He had already spent five years fighting as an amateur with the Calgary Boxing Club, when the decision to turn pro was made.

As a professional boxer, O'Brien continued with the same level of success, winning each of his first 10 fights. Six of those fights were in Montréal which is where Harris, a boxing promoter, first took notice of the boxer from Quesnel.

"I always found him to be humble," Harris said.

"He has an exciting style.

"He's a good boxer, has a great jab, he's explosive and doesn't know the word quit," Harris said of the attributes in O'Brien that first caught his attention.

Hennessy Sports Canada is part of Hennessy Sports, a company that promotes boxing matches internationally, and the company is excited about their latest prospect who has deep roots in Ireland.

"I believe he's one of the best middleweight boxers around, with a definite shot at the Commonwealth title," Harris said.

Ironically, the last time Harris saw O'Brien box, was two years ago in Montréal when he suffered his first

and only loss as a professional boxer.

A match that O'Brien says was, "a good learning experience."