Hague’s death took toll on Braidwood
When Adam Braidwood steps back into the ring in the comain event of KO Boxing 80 Friday night, he’ll be thinking about his good friend Tim Hague.
Just over three months ago, Hague died from a brain injury two days after a brutal knockout by Braidwood.
“It’s tough. What happened the last fight with Tim was hard for a lot of people, including myself, and that was part of the reason why I took two fights this month,” Braidwood said Wednesday at the prefight news conference.
“I know the only way to get over things and get through things is to get out of your comfort zone and jump right back in there. I didn’t hesitate. It only motivated me more.
“Out of respect for Tim, I’m not going to let my skills slip. I’m not going to hold back in the ring. I’m going to go out and fight hard.”
Over the past two years, Braidwood has used boxing to help him recover from his own personal demons and dark past and the aftermath has been tough on him, but he’s committed to keep fighting.
Braidwood (9-1) returned to the ring earlier this month in his hometown of Victoria and knocked out Mexico’s Wilfredo Leal in the first round in the main event of Summer Slugfest VII. On Friday, he’ll face Mexico’s Christian Larrondo (4-0-1) and will look to continue his dominance as one of Canada’s best up-and-coming heavyweight boxers.
Hague’s death sparked an outcry of emotion in what was a tragic outcome. Braidwood was flooded with messages from all over the world. Some offering their support, while others sent messages blaming him. He was contacted by former WBA lightweight champion Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, who underwent a similar experience when opponent Duk Koo Kim died a few days after their bout in November 1982 due to injuries sustained in the fight.
“Any sort of negative comments I got, I got 10 positive ones,” said Braidwood. “A lot of people reached out to me, including members of Tim’s family, and that meant a lot.”
Just like he does in the ring against his opponents, Braidwood wasn’t going to back down from those who spewed hatred toward him for the tragedy.
“Some of these (negative) people, I would message back right away and I would say ‘what’s your problem? Why are you saying this?’ They would tell me they’re angry,” Braidwood said. “I would say that’s fine, you can take it out on me, but you can take time to donate money to Tim’s family. Do something positive through this. You can trash talk me all you want, I’m an easy target, but do something positive out of it as well.”