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Josh Wagner wins unanimous decision in Quebec fight

November 27, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Orangeville boxer, Josh Wagner came out on top in his Saturday, November 21, fight against Raphael Courchesne, in Rimouski, Quebec, winning a unanimous decision in the six-round bout. 

It was Wagner’s first time in the ring after a five-year hiatus. 

The super welterweight increased his undefeated record to 7 – 0. 

His opponent, Raphael Courchesne, came to the ring with an undefeated 8 – 0 record. All of his fights have taken place in Quebec. 

The night’s fight card went ahead with no fans in the arena – only boxers, judges, coaches, trainers, the doctor, and a cameraman were allowed in the facility.

The lack of a crowd, Wagner said, was to his advantage considering Courchesne would have been fighting in front of a hometown audience. 

“It definitely was different,” Wagner said. “When you fight someone in front of their hometown crowd, when they land a little shot the crowd goes nuts. It helped me out because that was neutralized.” 

Wagner said he felt confident going into the fight after not stepping into the ring for five years. 

“I had a five-year layoff, and I wanted to make a statement when I came back,” Wagner said of stepping into the ring for the first time in several years. “I want to show people that I’m back and I mean business. He was 8 – 0 and he was coming to win but I had my own agenda, I had my own plans. I was there to win.”

Wagner said he went over videotapes of his opponents fights and knew what to expect when the opening bell rang. 

“I had 100 per cent confidence,” he said. “I had an amazing training camp. I trained every day. I did not miss a day of running. That helps out a lot when you go into a fight. There’s no doubt I was in shape. I was in the best shape of my life. People said ‘you’re going to have ring rust,’ but I thought, okay, it’s been five years, but it was a test to myself. I wanted to prove to everyone and to my self that I’m a blood and guts warrior. We watched tapes on him [Courchesne].”

“Me and my coach sat down and watched most of his fights. We noticed that he likes to come out strong. We kind of thought the first round we would kind of take it easy and find my timing, do the job, find my reach and see where he’s at, and we did that,” Wagner added.

“The first round was very close. He came out and he did exactly what he thought – he threw haymakers and tried to take me out in the first round. But we won every round after that.”

The rest of the fight saw Wagner win every round. 

“I dominated him after that. He got tired and we just gave him a boxing lesson. He was a tough, tough kid. It was hard to put him away – I couldn’t knock him out. He was taking everything I was throwing at him and he kept coming forward,” he recalled.

Moving forward, Wagner said now that he’s back in the fight game he wants to make his mark.

“I’m just enjoying the win. I’ll take a week off and I’ll be back in the gym and wait for the next one. Any opportunity that comes along, I’m going to jump on it. I want to be back in the ring within two months.”

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