The setting at Edmonton’s first Fight Scene Fan Expo yesterday was very different for legendary world-class boxer Allan Ford, father of Ryan (the Real Deal) Ford, compared to what it was 30 years ago.
From Maximum Fighting Championship to Frank Lee’s Muay Thai to local amateur boxing clubs, dozens of professional promoters and fighters joined together at the Shaw Conference Centre to help spread the word and educate the public about the sport.
“Back in our days, in order for us to promote a fight to get people to come, we had to hang up posters,” said Ford. “It was nothing like this. It was quite unique and harder than it is like this year.”
Ultimate Fighting fan Faith Stasiuk was excited to be supporting the expo.
“I liked that once you walked in you see everything right away. You see the fighters and they’re not hiding,” said Stasiuk. “This is raw talent.”
As for Ford, he was happy with the way the expo looked visually.
“This is well done and I think it should happen a lot more often,” he said.
