Local boxers victorious in Saskatoon
Two members of the Victory Boxing Club won bouts in Saskatoon at a club card at Luc’s Gym.
17-year-old Matt Doerksen made his ring debut and defeated an experienced opponent with seven bouts under his belt. Doerksen won the bout in the 69KG Division against Saskatoon Top Dog Boxing Club’s Preston Lachance.
“Matt was just better at pushing the pressure, keeping his hands up, being more technical. The other guy I think was a little bit more confident than Matt and fought with his hands down too much and Matt took advantage of that. He just kept pushing the pace, had superior technique, and ended up winning,” said coach
Nick Habscheid of the three-round decision.
Doerksen had been close to making his debut on two occasions but both bouts fell through during his first year of boxing.
“He was itching for one all year. You can tell that he is ready and really experienced. Everything that I have taught him he has absorbed, taken in, and learned so much this year,” said Habscheid.
Dustin Auseth, 31, won in the second round by TKO on Saturday. He defeated Saskatoon’s Evan Sproxton from the Top Dog Boxing Club in a 91+KG bout.
“The guy turned out to be about eight inches taller than I thought he was gonna be,” said Auseth, who has been boxing for approximately six years now. “He was the same weight as me but was 6’5,’’ so I kind of had to change my game plan last minute. Instead of fighting in tight I had to try and stay really far away from him because he had really long arms.”
He said that the first round was pretty back and forth. “I gave as good as I got and so did he,” said Auseth, who added that the opening round featured a few stoppages due to equipment failure and such.
The fight ended in the second round.
“He came forward and tried a jab and a one-two afterwards. I backed up against the ropes and gave him a left hook, stunned him and he stumbled into the ropes. The ref hollered stop before I could hit him again.”
His opponent was given a standing eight count. “I don’t think the ref liked the look of him after that so he stopped the fight,” explained Auseth.
“Dustin just had better technique and in the second round caught him with a left hook right on the chin and wobbled him back,” added Habscheid. “That was really awesome. I was really proud. That was his first TKO.”
Auseth won his debut in the ring, before dropping his second bout, which was close to two years ago.
“It felt pretty good. I was pretty nervous for this one because I had a lot riding on it after I had lost my last fight and I wanted to make up that last loss. It was pretty stressful, but it felt pretty good to get the result I wanted.”
Auseth said he tries to train three times a week, but leading up to this fight he was in the ring five days a week. He hopes to be back in the ring for the Vic-tory Boxing Club’s home card in September.