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19 | Friday November 17, 2017 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insidehalton.com Oakville speed skateis Abedeen preparing for Dec. 16 lightweight title bout collect eight medals hosting regional meet By lain Colpitts Metroland Media M embers of the Oakville Speed Skating Club had hom e-ice advantage at the first W estern Regional M eet last weekend at River Oaks Com m unity Cen tre. The friendly confines helped the 51 local members combine for three gold, three silver and two bronze medals while another 11 competitors finished among the top six in their races. Leading the way were Andrew L io u , Alicia C hang and Tobenna N joku, the gold m edallists, while Kai Abdool, Abbey Little and M ichael Borca w on silvers while Helios He and Sam D eluca w on bronze medals. Fourth-place finishers included Izabella Zakatsiolo, Marcelo Giansante and Aveline DeSousa with Connor W aters, Aiden Taylor, Emilio DeSousa and Tiffany Huang finishing fifth. Ian Craig, Aaron Xie, Ryder Taylor and Isaac Nguyen had sixth-place fin ishes. Gold medal winner Njoku, named top female Oakville skater at the meet, was among the first-time competitors for the BSSC, which included Clara Edelman, Tiffany Huang, Isaac Nguyen, Lucas Shi and Lo gan Urquhart. Little was named the top female Oakville skater at the meet. Cradle Skaters Leo Waters and Allistair and Blythe Walker-Coelho also performed well. Mohammed Abedeen remembers the first time he held a championship belt in vivid detail. It was Buzz Grant's Ringside World Championship belt, back when Abedeen was a teenager in the early stages of his amateur boxing career. "I was about 16 or 17 and he brought that belt (to a club show )," said Abe deen, now 29. "I picked it up and it was heavy I remember being in so m uch awe of it. It' s a m om ent that stood out for me. I did an interview before about that and they thought it was hilarious." The reason why it can be considered hilarious is the Brampton native's first at tempt at a professional title is coming up against Grant on Dec. 16 at the Hershey Centre. They'll fight for the vacant Canadian lightweight title in the co-main event on an upcoming card presented by United Boxing Promotions. It' s a precursor to Brandon Cook's first fight since suffering the first loss in his career, in a fight against Kanat Islam for the WBA Inter-Continental and North American Boxing Organization super welterweight titles back in September. Abedeen, who trains at Champion Boxing Club in Brampton, works on M oham m ed Abedeen (left), seen here in his last fight against Jesus Miguel Velazco, will challenge Buzz Grant for the vacant Canadian lightweight title on Saturday, Dec. 16 a t the Hershey Centre. | photo by Iain Colpitts - Metroland Media strength and conditioning at Radix Per formance Centre in Oakville. He also runs an antibullying program for children at RPC. He got involved in boxing after being bullied as a child, as is the case with a lot of fighters. "A lot of m y perspective on that has shifted and I've learned from a lot of great people," Abedeen said. "It's shifted more from antibullying to inspiring, directing and guiding. I really take pleasure in helping these kids find something they're passionate about and guiding them to work harder on it." He also looks for ways to donate some of his winnings to charity and plans on giving back to Minhaj Welfare Founda tion Canada in Mississauga after his next fight. Abedeen will look to improve to 9-0-1 against Grant (11- 5), who is 10 years his senior and has fought three times since coming back from a 6 1/2-year hiatus earlier this year. "He's got a lot of endurance still and comes to shows looking like one of the most ripped guys there," Abedeen said of his upcoming opponent. "I think he' s fighting for a lot right now, fighting with a lot of motivation, and I'm expecting the best Buzz has ever been." Abedeen believes his versatility and aggressive style will give him the edge over Grant. They each fought on the last United card at the Hershey Centre on Oct. 21. That night, Grant lost via split deci sion to Omar Valenzuela before Abedeen defeated powerful veteran Jesus Miguel Velazco by unanimous decision. Abedeen has been featured promi nently in the co-main event of the last few United cards. He feels that brings added responsibility in how he handles himself as a professional. 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