Mat Andreatta and Beau Brooks are soft-spoken, mild-mannered teenagers who plan on punching each other repeatedly in the face, head, and upper bodies Friday night.

Personality-wise, there's little separating the two super-featherweights highlighting Clash at the Cascades 3 at the Coast Hotel & Convention Centre.

That's because on first encounter, both appear humble and polite.

When they get in the ring for their amateur boxing bout, all niceties will, and must, be escorted out the door.

Andreatta, 16, has the edge in experience, but only just.

Fighting out of the host City Boxing club, he owns a perfect 3-0 record.

Brooks, 17, a product of Revolution Gym, will make his ring debut.

The question for both boxers is obvious: what's a nice guy like you doing in a rough sport like this?

"I've always wanted to box since I was young," Andreatta explained. "But I never really got around to it. I got into hockey and stuff. I just like coming here [to City Boxing's gym] and working out. I just like being here."

Andreatta reflects on the night he entered the ring for his first official bout.

"It was intimidating but it was probably one of the best feelings I've ever had," he said. "It was the scariest thing of my life. I was just shadow boxing, and then they called me up. As I was walking to the ring, everything just went away. I felt like I was supposed to be there."

Even though they live in the same part of Langley, Andreatta and Brooks know little about each other.

"I'm facing a kid from my school," Andreatta said, of Brooks. "I never really talked to him. I just know of him."

"I've seen him fight once, but I haven't really seen him other than that," Brooks remarked. "I'll know when I get in there, I guess."

Andreatta said he'll get a feel of what Brooks has to offer early on in the bout and then adjust his style accordingly.

"For the first little bit of the first round I'll see what he is doing and then try to counter..." Andreatta said. "I'll just use my jab a lot and try to set that up."

If he gets hit with a good punch, Andreatta said he'll just keep going forward, "because that's what fighters do. You can't really stop."

For his part, Brooks is excited about his first, likely leathery taste of competitive boxing.

"The nerves will be there, but I'm looking forward to it," he said.

Brooks hopes Friday's bout will be the first of many in his amateur career.

"We'll see how things go on Friday, I guess," he said.

The future foes shook hands and said a cordial, and of course, polite, "hello" prior to a promotional photo recently.

The Andreatta/Brooks bout is one of eight scheduled Friday.

An intriguing match-up has City Boxing pugilist Shawn McDonald, from Walnut Grove, going up against Blue Corner Boxing's Jake Weitzel, a veteran who started boxing roughly 20 years ago.

McDonald is training hard for the five-round clash in the 147-pound welterweight division. His shirt drenched in sweat during a recent training session at the City Boxing gym, the 20-year-old said his confidence level is high.

"I'm probably in the best shape of my life right now," he said, taking a break from sparring and bag work.

McDonald respects Weitzel and all boxers, for that matter.

"It takes b***s to get into the ring," he said. "You know what? Once you go get beat up a little bit, you can go talk to the other guy after, because there's mutual respect."

Machismo mixed with a liberal dose of sportsmanship, and the fact boxing is the ultimate individual sport, in his opinion, are what drives McDonald's passion for pugilism.

"It's not like a team sport," he said. "You are only relying on yourself, which is cool, right? That's what I love about boxing."

As for strategy, the tall, lanky McDonald plans to use his reach to keep Weitzel at arm's length.

"I like to throw a lot of punches," said McDonald who is still looking for his first knockout in four years of boxing.

"I'm real skinny, so my jab is my main asset. I like to train to go to the distance, but whatever happens [happens]."

B.C. title up for grabs

...continued from page A19

There is a lot at stake, says City Boxing trainer Dave Allison, who is promoting the show.

"They are fighting for a B.C. [welterweight] championship," Allison reported.

Allison is amped up about the bout, the event, and boxing's resurgence in Langley.

"I have not enjoyed boxing this much since the 1990s," he said.

Part of the reason for amateur boxing's recent surge in popularity locally, according to Allison, is its link to COMBSPORT (The British Columbia Combative Sports Association), which is sanctioning the card.

"We are growing so fast it is unbelievable. We have attracted a lot of people," he said.

Allison said COMBSPORT has many advantages, including an improved scoring system.

"We use the 20-point must system that had been used in amateur boxing until the late 1990s," he said. "The computer scoring system is what is killing boxing, not MMA [Mixed Martial Arts] as most boxing people like to believe."

Former Canadian Olympian Dale Walters - who captured bronze in the bantamweight division at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles - will work as one of the referees.

Darren Cooper and Gurpreet Buttar, both Langley residents, will be matched up on the card.

Amateur boxing at the Coast Hotel will be a regular occurrence according to Allison, who noted that City Boxing has two more events scheduled at the Langley City venue between now and mid- November.

The next shows are Oct. 9 and Nov. 10.

Friday's card in Langley gets underway at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets can picked up at the Cascades Casino guest services counter in advance, or at the door.

tlandreville@langleyadvance.com