Lewis among victors on Night of the Warriors

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Professional boxing came to the Beardy's and Okemasis First Nation in Saskatchewan Aug. 23, when the Sawridge Indian Band of Alberta joined with the host band to present the Night of the Warriors. The crowd at Beardy's Arena were treated to eight outstanding battles.

The evening's main event was an eight-round light heavyweight match between Willard 'Red Thunder Rock' Lewis of Lac La Biche and Mike Lewars of Vancouver. Lewis, a Cree, was greeted with the loudest cheers of the evening, proving that even after a lengthy absence from the ring, the popularity of this former Canadian cruiserweight champion remains undiminished.

"I just kind of dropped off the scene. I took time off for work, and to have a family life," Lewis explained in a pre-fight interview. "Also, we took five hits in a row, five bad losses in a row, just from taking fights on short notice. We were off to Germany on a day's notice, Montreal on a day's notice. It was more or less at that time just for the money."

These losses dropped Lewis' once sparkling professional record to a still-respectable 16-5-1. After a period of evaluation, Lewis set his sights on a return to the top of the boxing world.

"I talked to the wife, and we want to give it a run. If the run is good, we'll hang in. If we hit some bad breaks, or a broken hand - I've had hand problems in the past - we'll see. If it's good, we hope to fight for the super middleweight championship of the world before Christmas. Hopefully, I can get a couple of good wins under my belt. If I take a loss, that'll be it. Everything from here on in has to be wins, and wins in convincing fashion, where I'm in control."

The Lewis/Lewars contest began slowly, the first round spent with each boxer feeling out his opponent. Lewis came out hard in rounds two and three, stinging Lewars with quick jabs and hooks to the body, and staggering him with several hard shots to the head. The crowd sensed an imminent knockout, but an inexplicable change in Lewis' strategy gave Lewars a reprieve. In rounds four through eight, Lewis fought using only his left hand, while his right remained glued to his face in a defensive posture. In a testament to Lewis' skill, he still won the unanimous decision by a wide margin, but the question on everyone's mind was the reason for the one-handed attack.

"I broke my hand in the third round," Lewis explained on his way to the dressing room. "Otherwise, I think it could have been over sooner."

The final match of the night pitted Calgary's Jason Naugler against Louis Flores, formerly of Mexico and now fighting out of Winnipeg, in a battle for the World Junior Boxing Federation middleweight championship. The two warriors traded flurries of punches, neither willing to give an inch, and neither able to gain the upper hand over his opponent. Ten extremely close rounds later, Naugler took the contest and the belt in a unanimous decision.

The evening began with four exhibition kickboxing matches.

The first match pitted Edmonton's Michael Sound against Winnipeg's Mark Newton in a four-round cruiserweight battle, with Sound winning in a unanimous decision. The second match featured Edmonton's Peter Szeles and Calgary's Robbie Stowell in a six-round super middleweight tilt that was ruled no contest when an accidental head butt opened a deep cut near Stowell's eye.

Night of the Warriors coincided with the 125th anniversary commemoration of Treaty 6, held at Fort Carlton. The evening was dedicated to the memory of former senator and Sawridge chief Walter P. Twinn, a lifelong supporter of boxing.