By Charles White – With Washington State running through his blood and New Zealand in his heart, heavyweight crowd pleaser Chauncy “The Hillyard Hammer” Welliver (35-5-5 with 12 knockouts) has been working hard in camp with Shane Cameron, getting him prepared for his upcoming fight with David Tua. The past couple of months have been quite a journey for Chauncy, who has rekindled the flames that all boxers need in order to succeed in this sport. After having gone through some hip trouble that has yet to be addressed fully, Welliver is toughing it out, more dedicated than ever, and ready to get back into the heavyweight mix with a win over a fighter on the upcoming “Fight of the Century” undercard headlined by Cameron and Tua..
Recently, rumors have been circulating that rugged heavyweight fighter Friday “The 13th” Ahunanya (24-5-3 with 13 knockouts) is also ready to return to the ring and is looking to get on the undercard of Tua vs. Cameron as well. Friday and Chauncy are no strangers, having sparred together in the past, with no decisive aggressor according to Welliver. Today, Chauncy contacted this writer and wanted it to be known that he is ready and willing to fight Friday on the undercard of Tua vs. Cameron “in a winner takes all” match. “It’s a fight I’ve always wanted, and New Zealand is the only place where his name has something to it. The winner in a fight between me and Friday will make the winner some serious cash and it’s a great matchup. I love the step up and the challenge. Hopefully he accepts my challenge” says Welliver.
Ahunanya would be coming off of a two fight win streak over two previously undefeated fighters in Shane Cameron (currently 23-1) and Alonzo Butler (currently 27-1-1), but will have not fought in over a year now. This fight would present a good opportunity for Friday to get back in the ring and shake off some ring rust, win or lose.
For the past few months, the “Hillyard Hammer” has been training like mad and shedding the pounds that bring him negative remarks from those fans that seem to think that all boxers need an Adonis type body in order to fight. According to Welliver, he has been running daily while over in New Zealand and, combined with sparring Cameron, this has helped him get down from a whopping 309 lbs to a more trim 270 lbs. Ideally, Chauncy would like to get down to the 240-250 lb range, and while he realizes that this will take a lot of hard work, he is ready and willing to make the sacrifices and put in the work to make this happen.
While this matchup may not mean much on the world stage, it is an intriguing bout that pits two rough and tough fighters against one another and presents the victor with bigger and better opportunities down the road. It looks as though Welliver is ready to rumble, but will Ahunanya accept the challenge?
For further questions and comments, Charles White can be reached at cwhite1078@mysvc.skagit.edu