BOXLEY ON LAST FIGHT, NEXT OPPONENT AND MORE
By Jesse Kelley
12-14-09

Willshaun Boxley caught another tough break last weekend in Canada as the judges scored in favor of his opponent Arash Usmanee over four rounds of action. Although the official record will show a loss, Boxley says that his performance had the local's praising the exciting show he produced. The fans weren't the only one's impressed as Boxley has been invited back to box 9-0 Canadian fighter Tyson Cave on January 16th, 2010. Boxley talked about the fight with Usmanee and a few more fighters that are on his radar aside from Cave for the future.

Boxley went into the bout with Usmanee, a former Canadian amateur champion feeling confident despite taking the fight on a few days notice and fighting above his preferred weight of 122 ( Usmanee bout was at 132).
Boxley, who has always been fair when summarizing past performances says that he could agree with a draw but felt the rounds he won were far more convincing.

" I give him the first round. He was using a strong jab but it was the only punch he was really able to land in the fight and it slowed down as the fight went on. I was figuring him out in the second but we clashed heads and I was bleeding a lot. I would also give him that round because I was fighting defensively so I could figure out the cut situation. He still couldn't land any clean punches but threw more shots that I was able to avoid."

Boxley, who was cut two months prior by a head clash in his bout versus Eric Hunter, says that this new cut bled much worse despite being less severe.
"It's crazy" he continued. "The cut I got against Hunter was much worse, but this one was bleeding all over the place. It's more like a scratch but it was all over my face so it made it hard to see things for a little bit."

The second half of the four rounder went all Boxley's way by his own accounts. Boxley says he pressured and boxed the tiring Canadian champion without letting up.
" He was the bigger fighter but I was the one pushing him back with my combinations in the last two rounds. I had him beaten and hurt in the fourth round. He was too tired to throw anything back at me and I felt I won those rounds, the fourth round I won big."

The judges originally scored the bout in favor of Usmanee by majority decision as one scored it a draw. But after returning to his dressing room, he was informed that there was a mistake in the scoring and that the majority decision loss was then changed to a unanimous decision loss, adding one final blow to the shocked fighter.
"It was a surprise, but I was there representing Minnesota so I kind of just shrugged it off. I knew I was the better fighter. All in all it was a great experience in Canada. The fans were real friendly and I would love to go back."

Shortly after the interview, Willshaun telephoned with news that he would be returning to Canada to fight on January 16th. Boxley will face undefeated southpaw Tyson Cave (9-0, 2 KO's). The bout will be at a contracted weight of 124 pounds. Boxley is no stranger to having fights fall out left and right but promises to be in top shape if the fight comes off against Cave, the current Canadian super bantamweight champion.

Never one to shy away from taking an opportunity to match himself up in a tough fight, Boxley wanted to add that he would also like to square off with Gary Eyer in the near future after catching wind of Eyer's blood and guts win over Levi Cortes the same weekend of his fight in Canada.
" I respect Gary a lot" said Boxley. " He is like Rocky in the way that he fights. I think we could put on a great fight for the Minnesota fans. This isn't like a rivalry challenge, I just think we are both warriors and it is a fight people would like to see (Eyer to MinnesotaBoxing.com after hearing of the challenge: Let's do it!). Boxley contined, "I could meet him at 133 if he is up for it!
For now, Boxley's sites are for the most part set on his fight with Cave although he just confirmed that he will be fighting at the Saint Paul Armory on January 23 as part of a Seconds Out Promoted fight card if all goes well in Canada.