Chris O'Leary
Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON -- If Adam Braidwood's professional boxing career goes anything like his first fight, the Edmonton Eskimos won't have any worries about their defensive tackle getting hurt in the ring.

The fact that the six-foot-four, 270-pounder hits like a truck is likely inconsequential to them, though.

Braidwood's pro-boxing debut was a complete success, as the Delta, B.C.,

native needed just 47 seconds to earn a technical knockout win over Calgary's Devon Garnon on Saturday night at the Shaw Conference Centre. Like Braidwood, the six-foot-three, 260-pounder was making his pro debut after dabbling in mixed martial arts competition.

"Throw as hard as you can and see who gets knocked out," was Braidwood's summary of the bout. "(Garnon) hit me as hard as he could with his best shot and it didn't really do anything. I hit him with a couple of mine and it was good."

Any pre-fight talk of testing technique went out the window when the bell sounded on the fight, as the two traded blows in the middle of the ring. Garnon landed the first punch, a wild swing that connected with Braidwood's nose. Braidwood responded with a massive right to the head that dropped Garnon to the mat. A second knockdown on a near-identical sequence forced the official to call the match.

"I figured he was going to do that," Braidwood said of Garnon's aggressive start to the fight. "I had a game plan and he threw me off a little by doing that, but it turned out in my favour."

Braidwood also said he'd like to get in the ring again.

"I want to build myself up," he said. "This was a pretty tough opponent. He's got a 2-1 record in MMA. (The fight) turned out well and I'm happy."

A three-year member of the Eskimos, Braidwood said the organization has been good with him about his physical off-season habits. In February of 2007, Braidwood won his pro MMA fight, in a first-round knockout of Ryan Jimmo. After a knee injury forced him out of the majority of the 2008 season, Braidwood said he had a lot of energy to expend in the ring on Saturday.

"I didn't get to play last year and my competitive nature took over," Braidwood said.

Braidwood's corner and fan base were a mixing of the passions in his life. In his corner was local Maximum Championship Fighting star Ryan Ford. In the crowd a handful of Braidwood's Esks teammates, including Taylor Inglis, Shannon Garrett J.R. LaRose, Ron McClendon, Joe McGrath cheered him on.

Back-to-business results

Edmonton's Ayana Pelletier improved to 4-1 when she scored a fourth-round TKO win over Oakville's Monique Duval (0-6). Local MMA fighter Victor Valimaki (2-0) laced up the gloves for the second time in his career on Saturday night and came away with a unanimous decision win over Elston Brown (0-1) of Vancouver. In a contest between two 2-0 fighters, Calgary's Steve Claggett remained undefeated with a hard fought, unanimous decision win over Hamilton's Harrison McBain.

Courtesy: www.edmontonjournal.com