Crowley returning to PMC on Feb. 9 for title defence
Fresh off David vs. Goliath win in Mexico City, Crowley’s battle with Stuart McLellan is personal after online insults by B.C. boxer
This time Cody Crowley says it’s personal.
Fresh off a knockout win in Mexico City on Saturday night, the Douro native announced on Facebook he’ll return to the Peterborough Memorial Centre on Feb. 9 to defend his Canadian title against B.C.’s Stuart McLellan.
An official announcement with more details will be made in coming weeks but Crowley confirmed to The Examiner the bout is signed and will be his first 12round fight. In addition to defending his Canadian Professional Boxing council Canadian and International super-welterweight titles, Crowley said the CPBC’s newly create North American title will also be up for grabs.
Crowley improved to 16-0 with nine knockouts when the corner of Mexico’s Juan de Jesus Angulo Gonzalez, now 18-12, threw in the towel in the sixth round. McLellan, who once held Crowley’s CPBC Canadian belt, is 25-2-3 with 10 knockouts and one no contest.
Crowley said McLellan has been trolling him on social media for some time now so he’s eager to get him into the ring. It will be Crowley’s fourth promotion in his hometown. His last was a unanimous decision over Hamilton’s Kevin Higson in May. McLellan, 32, is on a 14-fight unbeaten streak.
“Every single fight I have he’s the guy posting rude comments disrespecting me, disrespecting the city of Peterborough and it’s really got under my skin,” Crowley said.
“This is more of a personal fight for me. This guy has said some pretty bad things about my family and Peterborough in general.
“He’s never met me but this is a great example of someone just hating on someone who is doing good.
“I’ve done nothing but try to bring boxing back to Canada. I believe I’ve helped a lot with that. He does nothing but trash talk everything I do. I think it’s just because he’s jealous of what I’m doing.”
Crowley said he sees McLellan as another step up in the calibre of competition he’s faced.
“He’s a dirty, scrappy fighter who just comes to fight. He’s not crazy fast. He’s not crazy slick. He just keeps coming,” Crowley said. “He’s got a great record for my resume.”
Crowley is excited to have his first 12-round fight.
“Twelve round fights are what championship fights should be,” he said. “This obstacle of pushing myself for a full 36 minutes is a whole new adventure in itself.”
Crowley was scheduled to fight on the undercard of a Jean Pascal card in Nova Scotia earlier this month. The card was cancelled when Pascal’s father died. He signed for a fight in Reno, Nevada with an undefeated American prospect but the card was also cancelled. Desperate to get some action since he hadn’t fought in four months, Crowley took a last-minute bout. He knew nothing about his opponent arriving at a sketchy bar in Mexico City to find out his opponent was sixfoot-five.
“I was just looking straight up at him. It was a David versus Goliath thing,” Crowley said.
It was a hostile environment, said Crowley, so he and his trainer Ibn Cason requested they be the first fight of the night so they could get in and out as quickly as possible. Crowley broke his opponent down with a steady attack and knocked him down once before his corner called it quits.
“I slowly beat him down punch by punch,” Crowley said.
He said Gonzalez came out aggressively swinging for the fences.
“I’ve seen so much every single day in the gym that nothing really phases me,” Crowley said. “People have only seen the 16 fights I’ve had and think that’s my only experience. People have no idea the experience I get every single day in the gyms here in Las Vegas. It got me excited thinking this big Goliath of a man thought he was just going to walk right through me.”