Fight Club Opening Features Cantu Debut
Posted: February 27, 2009

Two amateur fights are scheduled this Saturday – in Waterford and Port Huron. In Waterford, the fights coincide with the grand opening of the Fight Club, a gym with a dual theme for training both boxers and mixed martial artists. The owner and head trainer is Mike Grable, who knows a thing or two about both sports.

Grable earned a 14-4-2 professional boxing record between 1988 and 2003. His second loss came in 1993 at the hands of none other than Oscar De La Hoya, in an 8-rounder in New York. It was the Golden Boy’s sixth fight, years before he became the famous man he is today.

Today, Grable not only trains young boxers but also serves as a volunteer referee and coach as well as referee for MMA fights. His father, Dale, runs Unity Boxing Club in Pontiac and also volunteers in several capacities.

One of the boxers competing at the inaugural club show will be Angelo Cantu, who will be making his amateur debut. The 18-year old Oakland Community College student has been planning this day for several months and has been receiving help from his pro boxer father, “Pistol” Pete Cantu. The young Cantu has been working out and training at his father’s Powerhouse gym and sparring at Unity.

Until last year, the criminal justice major had steered clear of the sport, save for attending his father’s fights, preferring basketball and skateboarding instead. But that changes tomorrow.

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