Barrie, Ont. man wins his first Canadian professional boxing title

Barrie boxer crowned Canadian champ A Barrie boxer was crowned Canadian lightweight champion.

A project manager by day and professional boxer by night, it was a dream come true for Mark Smither when he unanimously won the Canadian Super Lightweight championship over the weekend, his first professional title.

"It was amazing. It was actually indescribable. This has actually been my lifetime goal to become a professional Canadian champion."

The 29-year-old Barrie, Ont. resident remains undefeated in his professional career, with this win bringing him to 7-0.

"I was super nervous, but Saturday night came, and all the hard work paid off, and I got the job done," he said.

And all with the support from friends across the country, who cheered him on.

"It was something he predicted 10 years ago," said boxing coach Marcel Savage, who watched from Alberta. "I remember he was saying, 'I'm going to win that belt Marcel, I'm going to win that belt.' You just wait and see."

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Smither credits his team, friends,and his family for being a huge support system.

"By the eighth round, we knew that Mark had it and the promoter that was sitting beside me said, 'When we get into the ring, I'll give you the belt to wrap around his waist,' and that's something that not a lot of people are able to experience," said friend and boss Matthew Barkley.

Smither's head coach, Jack Ireland, has been training him since he was 12.

"I was very happy for him. This has been a long-time goal of his, and I promised him years ago that this was doable," Ireland said.

Smither said that he's proud and grateful to represent Barrie.

"The whole city is behind me, and it would be great to hopefully one day be able to fight here in the city. I'm just super happy that I came out of this city and was raised here."

Smither has six months to defend his title. His next goal is to win a North American Championship.

Eventually, he hopes to take his talents to the world stage and compete in the U.S. or the UK.