Ford Grinds At Grant Brothers
The journey of Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford continues and, as anyone who follows Ford on social media knows, it’s a hard road with non-stop training and sacrifice and it’s also one unlike any other. As opposed to say Conor McGregor, Ford has made a successful transition from mixed martial arts to boxing, but that meant more or less starting from scratch in pugilism at the rather advanced age of 32. Just a few years later Ford found himself not only world-ranked, but in the ring fighting for world titles against Fedor Chudinov and Andrey Sirotkin.
Both bouts show up in the loss column for Edmonton’s “The Real Deal” but both were also valuable learning experiences for a pugilist with just 16 bouts on his record. And no sooner was he back from a second consecutive match in Russia, one which Ford calls “a track meet,” then he was offered a shot at another title belt against Avni Yildirim in Germany. “The Real Deal” could very well be called “The Road Warrior” for his willingness to journey far and wide, not just for his fights but also for his training camps, as his headquarters for the grind of getting ready is none other than Montreal’s Grant Brothers Boxing Gym.
We caught up with Ryan on one of his last full training days before he and his crew boarded a plane for Germany and not only did we get an exclusive interview with Ford, but we also got to talk to his trainer, Jessy-Ross Thompson, and some of the boxers helping to get him ready, including Francis Lafreniere and Dario Bredicean. Ford vs Yildirim, a match-up which promises to be an all-action war, happens tomorrow and Canadian boxing fans will be cheering Ford on, hoping he brings home that WBC International belt. Not to mention getting back in the win column. Check it out:
