Windsor boxer flourishing years out from attack

A boxer in Windsor has his eyes set on next year's Olympic games, as he continues to thrive in the sport years after a vicious attack when he was a high school student.

Jayden Trudell was attacked near Herman High School back in September of 2018 where he suffered a fractured skull as a result of the incident.

He joined Border City Boxing to try and deal with his anxiety and PTSD, and that turned out to be a good decision, with Trudell saying the decision has saved his life.

Back in February 2023, he won gold in his division at the Brampton Cup which is recognized by Boxing Canada as the 2023 Elite Canadian Championships, he recently won the Ontario title in the 156lbs division and Trudell won another fight over the weekend in Michigan.

Speaking on AM800's The Morning Drive, Trudell says his grandfather encouraged him to get into boxing and the wins have followed.

"He's helped support me everyday, up until now. From when I first started until now, he's been driving me every day, feeding me, buying me everything I need."

Trudell says the incident absolutely served as motivation at the beginning, but now he's starting to plan for bigger things.

"Just giving me that extra push, but now I foresee this as my future job. I want to be big in this sport, I want to go to the Olympics and turn pro. So now I don't even do it for that reason anymore, I just do this because I love this, I love to fight," he said.

He says the feelings of a boxing match are unrivalled.

"Like I played football, I played soccer, nothing is the same as this sport. Just my fight on Saturday, I'm warming up next to the guy I'm about to be fighting. I'm standing metres away from him, training, warming up, to get into a fist fight with me."

The Canadian national champ will advance to an Olympic qualifier in March in Italy, and one of Trudell's opponents could be the Quebec champion Hunter Lee who is also from Windsor.

- with files from AM800's The Morning Drive