Local boxers bring home Ringside belts

He waited 40 long years before returning to boxing, and who does Ed Wettach draw in his first bout back?

An Olympian and three-time world champion with 50 years of experience.

Needless to say, Wettach says it. "I didn't feel real confident."

The 69-year-old longtime Kalispell resident stepped into the ring in Kansas City, Mo., on Aug. 2 at the Ringside World Championships for the first time since his days boxing in the Army in the late sixties.

In the other corner stood a well-seasoned opponent, Paul Soucy, who everyone inside the KCI Expo Center had heard of.

Up to that point, Wettach had spent six days a week for two months running and lifting weights. He had heard there was a Masters division for his age group at the Ringsides so he thought he'd give it a shot. He didn't have any lofty goals in mind, he just wanted to see if the jabs still popped and if the feet still danced.

By the time July rolled around, the retired chiropractor could only get in four sparring sessions at the Montana Straight Blast Gym in Kalispell before hitting the road.

In the first round, Wettach was a surprise. With his long arms toned from years of power lifting, he had that pop that sent Soucy stammering. Round two, the finesse was there, the legs and footwork were there and it was Wettach who looked like an everyday boxer.

By the third and final round, Wettach was surprising even himself.

"I saw something in his eyes, he was either tired or he was real apprehensive and I just went after him for the rest of the round," he said. "I never expected to beat the guy."

The fight went to the judges and Wettach won by decision. That wasn't the end of the surprises however.

"Everybody knows (Soucy) and when I came out of the ring I had to go through the crowd to get to where my stuff was and I couldn't get through the crowd," Wettach said. "There were people coming up to me and patting me on the back."

Wettach advanced into the championship bout where he battered a southpaw opponent to the point where the ring doctor stopped the fight.

The ride home on the motorcycle was a little heavier after that.

"I was giving myself three years, so I'd go down there and meet some good fighters and see where I am and what I need to work on," he said. "I never expected to win it. I really didn't."

Kalispell didn't have only one championship performance in Kansas City earlier this month. Local horse trainer Jen Johnson, who has been fighting with Flathead Boxing at SBG since moving to town two years ago, won the Novice Women's Division Championship belt.

Johnson, 33, went undefeated in three fights.

"I just love all the fighting sports," she said. "I really can appreciate how difficult it is to fight one on one with someone."

It's been a successful summer for Johnson, who competed at The Event at Rebecca Farm in late July. Johnson rode her horse Almaboy to victory in the Novice division.

"I feel like if you put yourself into something with that much hard work it just comes back eventually," she said.

The Ringside World Championships ran from Aug. 2-7 with over 1,400 fighters of all ages competing in 62 divisions.