Willard Lewis on a tear for a title

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Get ready to rumble boxing fans. Willard Lewis has returned to his home province after a year-and-a-half absence.

From now on he'll fight under the name Red Thunder Rock, a name he said the grandfathers (spirits) gave him in a dream during a sweat lodge ceremony in Fort McMurray in 1996. He has that very determined look about him. The one that spells, "no more foolin' around, all business."

The 23-year-old has honed his skills and sparred in Las Vegas and Phoenix against tough Mexican fighters, and he's been trained under the likes of Jerome Coffee and Eddie Mustafa, Steve Delagado and Danny Carbajal, all well-known and respected trainers.

Now, Red Thunder is primed and pumped for a title shot. He says he's come a long ways since leaving Alberta and has learned patience, how to cut off the ring and improved head movement.

"It's a different and vastly improved Willard you'll see," said his advisor, Harold Burden, who has always maintained that Red Thunder Rock is probably one of Canada's most likely prospects for a world title.

But, like any top ranked fighter, "he has to keep training hard, listening to handlers and really wanting it," explains Burden, who feels his fighter now has the mental as well as physical presence to go all the way.

Burden's convinced he has world championship material in Red Thunder. They'll get the chance to prove just that in a May 29 fight card at Edmonton's Italian Club.

Should he win, it would be his first professional championship and belt. His trainer is Edmonton veteran Milan Lubovac. The Red Thunder camp is in a hurry to get started on the climb to the top. They say another Aboriginal Alberta Cruiserweight, Dale Brown, who now fights out of Montana and is ranked 9th by the North American Boxing Federation, hasn't been too anxious to get into the ring with their man.

"It's been a problem to find fights because the competition has too much to lose," Red Thunder told Windspeaker. "They don't want to lose their undefeated status. I'm willing to show these guys I'm the best fighter in the country."

As an amateur, Red Thunder won no fewer than five Canadian titles. Since turning pro, he is undefeated with a 12-0 record. Eight of those wins were by knockout. He also won a world junior bronze in Romania and would have done better had it not been for a bad nosebleed.

The May 29 card will also feature several other Aboriginal boxers - Michael Sound, Kevin Beaver, Dale Tallman, Erin Willier, George Bull, Crystal Arcand, Bobby Roy and Ernesto Moreno. In all, there will be four pro bouts and 11 amateur fights.