Chris O'Leary
The Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON -- As he stood in front of TV camera operators and photographers, showing the eyes of the city his sparring abilities, Adam Braidwood drew some constructive criticism from his peers.

"Stop smiling," local women's boxer Ayana Pelletier playfully instructed. "You're not supposed to be smiling when you're doing that."

With his smile still intact, Braidwood walked away from the cameras and reassured Pelletier that he knew what he was doing.

Just how true that is remains to be seen.

Ready or not, the six-foot-four, 270-pound Braidwood -- more widely known in these parts for his day job as a defensive tackle for the Edmonton Eskimos -- will make his professional boxing debut on Saturday at KO Boxing's "Back in Business" card at the Shaw Conference Centre.

Braidwood said on Thursday that he couldn't wait to get in the ring.

"I'm chomping at the bit," he said. "I took three days off at the end of the (Canadian Football League) season and I've been going hard since then.

"I went back to Vancouver, trained for 10 days and I've been going to the gym every night, haven't missed a day. My body feels good, the knee feels good, you know mentally I'm ready to go. This is the best I've ever felt, getting ready for a football game, boxing fight, MMA fight, whatever it is, I'm ready to go."

Braidwood and his opponent, Calgary's Devon Garnon, share some similarities. Both making their pro boxing debuts, the two are roughly the same size (Garnon fights in the 265-pound class) and like Braidwood, Garnon has a mixed martial arts background.

"I haven't had a chance to see him yet," Braidwood said of Garnon. "I looked for some footage of him on the Internet, but I think he pulled down some of the videos. I know some guys he trains with down in Calgary so they've drawn a pretty good picture of what I should expect."

Part of that picture has come from Braidwood's training partner, Edmonton-based MMA fighter and boxer Victor Valimaki (1-0). Valimaki said he's seen Garnon fight in MMA.

"I think Adam will knock him out, probably in the first round," Valimaki predicted. "The longer it goes the better I think it'll go for Adam.

"I know who (Garnon) is, I've seen him fight, I'm not that impressed with him. He's a big strong guy, but Adam is a big strong guy, too."

Valimaki has been impressed with Braidwood's combination of athleticism and power.

"He's a monster. He's really athletic for a big guy his size," Valimaki said of Braidwood. "He's got good conditioning, he's super strong and he hits like a truck. I think (Garnon) is in for a rough night."

CARIBBEAN TITLE UP FOR GRABS

While Braidwood and Valimaki might generate the majority of interest on Saturday night, Edmonton's Kris Andrews (12-8-2) will headline KO's show when he gets a shot at the World Boxing Association's Fedecaribe jr. middleweight title when he takes on champion Christopher Henry, from Bridgetown, Barbados.

A confident Henry boldly asked Andrews in front of their peers at Thursday's press conference, "Are you ready to die?" Andrews took his turn with the microphone and concluded by asking Henry, "Are you ready for a boxing lesson to be served to you?"

At the top of the undercard, Saskatoon's Ryan Henney (11-3-0) will take on Winnipeg's Kareem Chartrand (7-5-1) for the WBA Canadian cruiserweight title. Rounding out the undercard will be Calgary's Steve Claggett (2-0-0) fighting Hamilton's Harrison McBain (2-0-1) in the junior welterweight division. Pelletier will put her 3-1-0 record on the line against Hamilton's Monique Duval, who, at 0-5-0, is chasing her first professional win.

Courtesy: www.edmontonjournal.com