Kelowna memorial boxing event raising money for good causes

Members of Madkatz Boxing Gym in Kelowna have been training hard for their annual Three Round Heroes Fight for Community event. The series of fights take place next weekend at Rutland Centennial Hall, raising money for a number of local charities.

MadKatz head coach Geoff Lawrence says his fighters are champing at the bit after months of training, ready to perform in front of what is expected to be a sold-out crowd.

“The show is also about fighting for community and I started this up about eight years ago with a fellow from the John Howard Society. We just take your average Joes from the city of Kelowna, they go ahead and train here at Madkatz for free. They train with the guy they are going to compete against,” explained Lawrence.

The boxing match takes place at the end of a three-month training session.

The event also serves as a fundraiser for Elevation Outdoors and an outreach program the club has.

The fight become a memorial event for Cailen Vilness, a member of Madkatz Boxing who perished in the Kelowna crane collapse of 2021.

"Cailen was a great kid... just the kind of a kid that when he walked into the room and he was there you felt better about it. He just had an amazing smile and was a great kid... Moving forward we decided we wanted to memorialize him in this show,” said Lawrence.

The club’s top boxer will be in the main event, and his coach tells Castanet his Mike Tyson-like-approach to boxing is a must-see attraction.

"I’ll be fighting a kid out of Vancouver. It’s going to be an event of volume," said local boxer Jordan Pelcz.

"There’s going to be a lot of punches, there’s going to be a lot of aggression, and it’s just going to be a matter of who can land the most punches and who can knock the other person out."

The 2024 Three Round Heroes Fight for Community event takes place on Saturday, April 20 and you can get your tickets through EventBrite.