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Lewiston, Maine (Cuaj hlis 2, 2016) – The 3,800-square foot warehouse in Woburn, Massachusetts, is known simply as “The Way.”
No coincidence, since the proprietor who lives out his passion as a personal trainer under its roof, Brandon Montella, has found a way, in his own unique way.
From a turbulent childhood in North Anson, Maine, to four years of meritorious service in the United States Marine Corps, to the mixed emotions of staying ahead in the professional rat race, to intense personal tragedy, Montella, 36, has endured what most would consider a lifetime’s worth of challenges.
Yet he perseveres, finding strength and clarity in a life devoted to helping others. And he stays sharp, counter-intuitive as it may seem to the uninitiated, by letting other people punch him in the face.
“On a personal level it helped me so much. I had a lot of fear, maybe a little lack of confidence, due to some of the abuse in my past,” Montella said. “Boxing helped me so much with that. It made me a more complete person. I’m a better husband, a better businessman, a better man since I started fighting.”
A late bloomer who didn’t fully immerse himself in the fight game until his 30s, Montella (4-0, 3 Kos) will put his undefeated credentials on the line against Tollison Lewis (2-1, 1 KO) at “NEF 25: Heroes and Villains” on Saturday, Cuaj hlis 10 nyob rau ntawm lub Androscoggin Bank Colisee nyob rau hauv Lewiston, Maine, the venerable boxing venue that in 1965, when it was known as “St. Domenic’s Hall,” played host to the infamous Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston II world heavyweight title rematch. (Yog, the same boxing bout that spawned rumors of the “phantom punch,” and produced the most iconic image in the history of sports photography.)
Montella was born in Massachusetts but spent much of his childhood in the Western foothills of Maine, where he graduated from Carrabec High School. He describes those formative years as “a tough time, a little bit of a struggle,” and says fighting was both a means of both self-defense and a way of compensating for that lack of self-esteem.
“I wouldn’t change it for the world now,” Montella said. “It helped shape who I am. I tell everybody the Marine Corps started the process of my becoming a man, and boxing helped finish it.”
He spent four years in the service before receiving an honorable discharge. Along the way he met his wife, Tonya, and settled into the comfortable habit of seeking significance through work.
Fatefully, and admittedly on a lark, he accepted a military buddy’s challenge to enter a Toughman contest. It was the amateur, brawling, distant cousin of boxing that Eric “Butterbean” Esch made famous.
“I was a 240-pound meathead. Three one-minute rounds; that seemed like it was right up my alley,” Montella said.
In the process, Montella discovered that getting back in shape, setting goals and chasing intangible successes that were larger than wins and losses suited him, heev.
“That was a turning point for me. Corporate America, I just wasn’t into it,” Montella said. “I couldn’t lie to people and take advantage of them. I couldn’t deal with it morally. I had to turn my back on that. The Marine Corps taught me a different code. I cashed in my 401(k), moved to Massachusetts, became a personal trainer.”
Zoo, it wasn’t quite that easy. He had to sell Tonya, whom he describes as “the major breadwinner in the house,” on the merits of such a change. She already had politely proclaimed Maine a great vacation spot but not a place she cared to settle down, for professional reasons.
Nyob rau hauv 2008, work took Tonya to Boston.
“It was when the Celtics were getting ready to win the championship. She got caught up in the atmosphere and came home and told me, ‘I would move to Boston.’ I said OK,” Montella recalled with a laugh. “I didn’t let her take that back.”
Montella started his gym in a 10-feet-by-10-feet basement of a townhouse. He took up amateur boxing, nyob rau hauv ib feem, to set an example for his clients.
“I decided I couldn’t train athletes if I’m not doing the (stuff). I want to wear the boots before the suits, koj paub?” Montella said. "Six months later I was the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in New England. It blew my mind. I found a place that was home.”
He won 14 ntawm nws 21 pib xyaum ua fights, including a novice heavyweight championship in Golden Gloves.
Montella’s trainees have watched him conquer adversity in the prize ring and fight through tragedy in his personal life. Tonya and Brandon’s first child was stillborn on Christmas 2015.
Boxing, and the wilderness in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain that holds so many contradictory memories for Montella, are part of his healing process.
“I’m here in Maine now getting ready, diving off 40-foot cliffs, doing hill sprints up 100-foot sand dunes, training like a savage,” Montella said. “We used to go up there to drink. All the crazy stuff I did as a kid, now I use it to make myself the best I can be.
“I preach it all the time at my gym: See the world as your training facility. What someone else sees as a cliff, I see as place to work on my focus and mental control. Where they see nothing but trees and open space, I see as a place to go and meditate. In my 30s, I don’t need drugs or alcohol now to be open with my emotions. Boxing has given me the strength to be who I always wanted to be.”
Qhov qhib tswb rau Cuaj hlis 10 yog teem rau 7 p.m. The current docket for “NEF 25: Heroes and Villains” includes three professional boxing matches, five pro mixed martial arts bouts and six amateur MMA scraps. Daim pib pib thaum $25 thiab yog muaj nyob rau ntawm www.TheColisee.com los yog los ntawm kev hu mus rau lub chaw ua hauj lwm ntawm Colisee207.783.2009, extension 525.
Yog xav paub ntxiv nyob rau hauv cov kev tshwm sim thiab kev sib ntaus card tshiab, thov mus saib cov qib lub website ntawm www.NewEnglandFights.com. Nyob rau hauv tas li ntawd, koj yuav saib NEF yeeb yaj duab ntawm www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, ua raws li lawv nyob rau Twitternefights thiab koom nrog cov nom Facebook pab pawg neeg "New England Fights."
Lewiston, Maine (Lub yim hli ntuj 12, 2016) - Tshiab England Fights (NEF) rov qab los rau Lewiston rau Cuaj hlis 10, 2016 with the fight promotion’s next event, “NEF 25: HEROES & VILLAINS.” The fight card will feature both mixed-martial-arts and professional boxing bouts. Nyuam qhuav pib hnub no, the fight promotion announced the first pro boxing bout signed for the event. Brandon Montella (4-0, 3 Kos) yuav siv sij hawm nyob rau hauv Tollison Lewis (2-1, 1 KO) nyob rau hauv ib plaub-round lub teeb-heavyweight contest.
Montella graduated from Carrabec High School in North Anson, Maine in 1998. Soon after, Montella joined the United States Marine Corps (USMC). He served in the marines until 2003 when he received an honorable discharge. After spending the better part of a decade in Virginia, Montella moved with his wife to the Boston, Massachusetts area in 2011. He owns and operates The Way, LLC boxing gym in Woburn, Massachusetts. Montella has been on a tear in the boxing ring of late, scoring three knockouts in an eight-month period.
Tollison Lewis cut his teeth in the NEF MMA cage. He has found more success, Txawm li cas los, in the boxing ring. Lewis took a fight on one day’s notice against veteran John Webster (8-7-1, 6 Kos) in the fall of 2014. He would dominate that fight and win by decision. Lewis followed up that performance with a stoppage of Zenon Herrera (0-2) xyoo tas los, earning himself a crack at Brandon Berry’s (11-2-1, 7 Kos) Northeast Junior Welterweight Title earlier in 2016. Lewis predicts nothing short of an all-out slugfest with Montella on Cuaj hlis 10.
“I’m expecting a battle,” hais tias Lewis. “I know I’ll be prepared for one. Expect a war! I’m not going to talk about it – I’m going to show it, and losing isn’t an option.”
Tshiab hais Fights 'tom ntej no cov kev tshwm sim, "NEF 25: HEROES & VILLAINS,” takes place on Saturday, Cuaj hlis 10, 2016 nyob rau Androscoggin txhab nyiaj Colisée nyob rau hauv Lewiston, Maine. Daim pib pib ntawm cia li $25 thiab yog muag tam sim no nyob www.TheColisee.com los yog los ntawm hu rau Colisée chaw ua hauj lwm ntawm207.783.2009 x 525.
Yog xav paub ntxiv nyob rau hauv cov kev tshwm sim thiab kev sib ntaus card tshiab, thov mus saib cov qib lub website ntawm www.NewEnglandFights.com. Nyob rau hauv tas li ntawd, koj yuav saib NEF yeeb yaj duab ntawm www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, ua raws li lawv nyob rau Twitternefights thiab koom nrog cov nom Facebook pab pawg neeg "New England Fights."
Hyannis, Massachusetts (Tej zaum 15, 2016) - Tshiab England Fights (NEF), America lub xov tooj-ib regional sib ntaus qib, held its most recent event, “NEF 23: CAGE THE CAPE” on Saturday night at the Hyannis Youth & Community Center (HYCC) in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The HYCC was at capacity for the first sanctioned mixed-martial-arts (MMA) show ever held on Cape Cod. The venue opened the upstairs walking track to give standing-room-only fans more elbow room. The crowd was electric all night for the eight-fight card presented by NEF.
Team Juniko, based out of Hyannis and Hanover, Massachusetts, was a perfect 5-0 on the night. Fabian Miranda (3-0), Thomas Lee Davis, Jr. (2-0), Ed Forlenza (1-0), thiab Kylie O’Hearn (1-0) all picked up wins for the team on the amateur portion of the card.
It was O’Hearn’s bout with Angela Hluas (1-2) of Young’s MMA in Bangor, Maine that will be remembered for years to come by all in attendance. The two women battled back and forth for three grueling rounds before O’Hearn was declared the winner by unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. The fight will be a serious contender for “Sib ntaus ntawm lub xyoo” in the northeast by the time 2016 comes to an end.
Team Juniko member Brendan Battles (1-0) was victorious in the main event of the evening via technical knockout over Mike Hansen (4-4). The bout was the pro debut for the native of Eastham, Massachusetts and standout wrestler from Nauset Regional High School. Battles rebounded from an early flurry by Hansen to get the referee stoppage at 1:46 ntawm cov thawj puag ncig.
Tag nrho tau ntawm “NEF 23”:
PROFESSIONAL FIGHTS
Brendan Battles def. Mike Hansen via TKO, puag ncig 1
Matt Denning def. Derek Shorey via heel hook, puag ncig 1
Crowsneck Boutin Def. Ruben Redman via TKO, puag ncig 1
AMATEUR FIGHTS
Kylie O’Hearn def. Angela Hluas ntawm unanimous kev txiav txim siab
Ed Forlenza def. Frank Johanson via doctor stoppage, puag ncig 3
Victor Irwin def. Tracey Schryba via KO, puag ncig 1
Thomas Lee Davis, Jr. def. Anthony Spires via KO, puag ncig 1
Fabian Miranda def. Steve Bang via armbar, puag ncig 2
NEF returns to the Androscoggin Bank Colisée in Lewiston, Maine on June 18, 2016 nrog “NEF 24: PROMISED LAND.” Tickets for “NEF 24” start at just $25 thiab yog muag tam sim no nyob www.TheColisee.com los yog los ntawm hu rau Colisée chaw ua hauj lwm ntawm207.783.2009 x 525.
For more information on the events and fight card updates, thov mus saib cov qib lub website ntawm www.NewEnglandFights.com. Nyob rau hauv tas li ntawd, koj yuav saib NEF yeeb yaj duab ntawm www.youtube.com/NEFMMA, ua raws li lawv nyob rau Twitternefights thiab koom nrog cov nom Facebook pab pawg neeg "New England Fights."
Hais txog Tshiab England Fights
Tshiab England Fights ("NEF") yog ib tug sib ntaus txheej xwm promotions lub tuam txhab. NEF lub hom phiaj yog los tsim lub siab tshaj plaws zoo txheej xwm rau Maine lub tua hluav taws thiab cov kiv cua zoo tib yam nkaus. NEF lub thawj pab neeg no muaj nws kim heev kev nyob rau hauv nqe ntaus rog kev ua si tswj, txheej xwm ntau lawm, xov xwm kev sib raug zoo, marketing, kev cai lij choj thiab advertising.