Willis Felecien Sevin
October 2, 2013
Not your average QB: THS star shines, despite desire to be halfback
October 9, 2013
The referee’s count drew closer to 10 and 20-year-old Mason Menard was still down on the mat after eating a vicious right hand to the face.
“7 … 8 … 9,” the referee shouted as Menard stumbled to try and get to his feet to continue to fight – a bout with Carl McNickles on Aug. 8, 2008 at the Rayne Civic Center.
But it wasn’t going to happen. The young fighter was too dazed and confused to regain his balance. He said he wanted to please his hometown fans, but lacked the coordination to lift his body from the floor.
“10,” the referee finally shouted before waving his arms to show that the fight was over after just 27 seconds.
Menard had been knocked out – for the first time in his life.
He was 2-1 as a professional boxer following the defeat.
“I was stunned,” Menard says looking back. “I thought I was invincible. I was young and cocky. I didn’t think anyone could hurt me.
“But I learned the hard way that just like anybody else, I could be beat.”
For most young pups in the sport, a knockout loss would be a crushing setback to one’s confidence.
But for Menard, being knocked out served as a lesson learned.
Menard said ever since that night, he’s rededicated himself to the sport and his training. The results speak for themselves. The Louisiana-based product is currently on a five-year and 23-bout winning streak (14 via knockout) – a run that has most of the sport’s purists labeling him as the top current contender in Louisiana.
Menard’s quest to win a 24th-straight fight will run through Houma on Oct. 5 when he takes on an undetermined foe at the Houma Civic Center as part of the Smokin’ Hot Fight Night.
“I love fighting in your area,” Menard said. “I fought in Houma, Cut Off and all those places as an amateur. I know that area loves its boxing, and they pack the arena. I can’t wait to get out there to try and put on a show and get another win.”
‘I’M FROM A FIGHTING FAMILY’
“When I was in school and they told me to put my career, I always put boxer,” Menard says with a laugh when asked about his childhood. “I remember my teachers fussing me and telling me I had to put a real job down on the paper.”
Menard was born to be a boxer.
The fighter said he picked up the sport when he was 8, training in his family gym with his father, uncle, brother and other cousins and relatives.
“We are all bred from the Frog Capital Boxing Club,” Menard says. “I was always taught to be a fighter. Everyone I knew and cared about was in the gym fighting with me.”
Like all youngsters with boxing ambition, Menard started in the amateur ranks – his first fight a few weeks after formally beginning his training.
“I remember I was nervous,” Menard says. “But I stood there, threw for three rounds and won.”
Winning is something Menard did often as a kid. He rolled through the amateur ranks with a polished record.
He was so highly regarded that he earned a place at the 2007 U.S. Olympic Trials in Houston. Menard didn’t earn a spot on the 2008 Olympic team, but made a solid showing during the trials.
Following that event, he turned pro at the ripe ol’ age of 19.
‘BLESSING IN DISGUISE’
“Somewhere along the line after the Olympic trials, I got cocky,” Menard remembers about his past. “I really started doing some things in the ring that I shouldn’t have been doing. In that third fight, I had my hands down to tease my opponent. He caught me in the face with my hands down and knocked me clean out.”
The early knockout to McNickles was an unexpected turn in Menard’s pro career. He won his first two bouts by knockout and was on his way up the ladder.
But instead of abandoning his training, Menard said he used the loss as fuel.
“I promised myself after that night that I never wanted this to happen to me again,” Menard says. “All the cockiness and all of that crap that I was doing? That all ended the night that I laid on the canvas and couldn’t get up.”
Four months after the loss, Menard was back in the ring, earning a first-round knockout. Since then, Menard has been on cruise control ever since, bulldozing through anyone in his path.
He is currently the UBO Lightweight Champion and is sniffing around the boxing world for more.
“Mason can be one of the best,” promoter Chad Broussard said of his fighter. “He’s a good fighter and he’s just a good kid. The sky is the limit for him if he keeps going strong and doing things the right way.”
In the Houma show, Menard’s bout will be one of about 10 on the card – an action-packed night of fights.
If Broussard can find the proper opponent, the UBO Lightweight Championship will be on the line. If not, Menard will be featured in a non-title fight.
Either way, the champ said he aims to please.
He doesn’t expect to be on the mat again like that fateful day in 2008.
“There are only two times in my professional career where I didn’t put on a show and give the fans what they wanted,” Menard said. “The first was my loss. The second was this night when I had a fight on the day my amateur coach died. But every other time, I’ve given the crowd an action-packed fight. This Houma fight won’t be any different. I can’t wait to get out there to put on a show for the fans.
“I want to be the world champion someday. I look at the guys on TV and in person, and I think I can fight with those guys. People say Louisiana fighters are soft and can’t compete. Well it’s time someone from the South rises up and beats those boys for the major belts. I’m hoping to be that guy that Louisiana can rally around and be proud of.”
Mason Menard, winner of 23 consecutive fights, the UBO Lightweight and Louisiana State Lightweight titles, boxes Oct. 5 in Houma. Menard boasts a 25-1 (18 KO) professional record.
Menard knocks down DeShaun Williams in a match June 28. Menard won the bout with a fifth-round knockout at Cypress Bayou Casino in Charenton.
