By Robb Fenton
With the local Proving Grounds event about a month away, some local fighters are getting a chance to showcase themselves on a bit of a bigger stage.
Donna Semkin, Kerri Konopski and Harley Greene will make the trip east, looking to improve their records in Saskatoon on April 24 at the Cage Fighting Championship.
“We have two females going, one with no experience (Donna) and Kerri is going to be fighting her second fight,” Proving Grounds organizer/promoter Garrett Tepper said. “Harley Greene, the middleweight champion from here last year is going to be testing the waters against one of their tough guys,”
The event in Saskatoon is a mixed martial arts event, with a gladiator style tough guy competition.
The same rules apply as the event which took place here last year, with none of the fighters having a record in pro, or amateur fights.
“It’s a little bit more exposure for the guys and girls. What we want to do is network their names, get them out there, get people to see their faces and these people, down the road, want to get into fighting a little more seriously, this just kind of gets their feet wet,” Tepper said of the advantages to heading to a bigger city for an event.
“And the pressure is off not fighting locally. For Harley and Kerri, they’ve already fought at home, but for Donna, there is no pressure to fight on this card. She’s coming in as the underdog, the evil outsider, so no pressure for all three.”
For Greene and Konopski, while they still want to impress and come away with a win, the atmosphere will be different when they hit the ring in Saskatoon.
While they won’t have the crowd support, there are advantages to fighting away from home.
“We’re really confident because of the work they’ve put in. They are so focussed on the job and task and the prize at the end. The whole thing with the pressure, it’s so different when you fight out of town,” Tepper said.
With only a few days of training left, the fighters are working on last minute details and strategies before they hit the road.
Up until this point, Tepper has been very impressed with the work ethic in preparing for these fights.
“It’s very good. They’re working hard, all of them,” he said. “They put in not only the time at the gym, but the cardio on their own. It’s almost like a full time job for these guys. Even though it is a tough guy style, they take it very seriously and want to perform well.”
LOCAL EVENT COMING UP
While the focus is set for this weekend for Tepper and his fighters, they will soon turn their attention to another local event set for the middle of May.
The Lloydminster Proving Grounds is set for another show and is coming along nicely.
“They’re going good. We actually have an Alberta tough guy championship. We have a guy from Airdrie, a tough guy from that area who has fought in Edmonton and bigger places like that,” Tepper said. “He’s coming down to fight Harley for an Alberta championship, which is hopefully going to lead to a Western Canadian title. I’ve been in talks with guys from Saskatoon and Victoria and we want to do a huge Western Canada and maybe Canadian event down the road. For now, it will be in Alberta.”
Like the last event, there will be a mix of male and female fights and while the card isn’t totally ironed out, things are coming along nicely.
“We have girls fighting again on this one, it’s a jam-packed card. We’re also adding a flyweight category, which we didn’t have last time,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the smaller guys.”
The event will once again take place at Lakeland College, which proved to be a great venue last year.
Overall, things are progressing nicely and everyone is excited about another Proving Grounds.
“We’re excited it’s going to be held at the college again, it’s an all ages show where people can enjoy a beverage, but they’re not restricted to a beer gardens,” Tepper explained. “The calibre every year just keeps getting better and better. The fighters are training harder and harder and this go around, there are a lot of feisty people who want to get in there and prove something.”
Tickets will be available at Northern Factory Workwear and Sound Obsessions AVU.