Outside The Ropes With WBB Junior Middleweight Champ Chris Cella
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 24 Nov 2017
On July 22, Brockport, PA boxer Chris "The Brockport Beast" Cella defeated Shawn Hudson via 2nd round KO to claim the vacant WBB Junior Middleweight Title. The belt was last held by future Hall-of-Famer Miguel Cotto.
When asked how he got introduced into the game of boxing, Cella shared, "When I was in the fourth grade, my good pal Frank Manzi invited me over to throw hands and teach me the sweet science. For countless weeks Frank whooped on me and gave me nightmares with his overhand right, but there was something to it that kept me coming back. My mom was ready to call the school cause her baby boy frequently came home lumped up, but I told her it was all for fun. Going forward my friends and I boxed in my basement and backyard, and I loved the toe to toe combat. Finally when I was 18 I made the trip to Ike and Randy's in Paterson, the top gym in NJ. I studied under the tutelage of Wayne Sharpe who pushed me to being the best I could be. There I got my butt handed to me countless times by former WBO world champ Kendall Holt and learned more than I could ever imagine."
As an amateur Cella went 5-0 and stayed active as a sparring partner. He continued to work with some of the top trainers and fighters, including Lou Esa, Ray Mercer and Bobby Gunn, to name a few.
"I've learned so much hands on from all of the champions," said Cella. "It was embedded in me to train and spar hard so the fight was easy."
Cella stepped away from amateur boxing and into the world of Bare Knuckle Boxing, in connection with his best friend and undisputed world champ Bobby Gunn.
Cella established an unblemished record of 12-0 with 12 KO and won the Mid Atlantic Belt in 2015.
But Gunn wanted more for his protege. In April of this year Cella made his pro gloved boxing debut and won by way of first round knockout. Because of his name and accomplishments in the BKB world Cella landed a WBB Junior Middleweight Title shot in July, which he made the most off and captured the belt, holding both the BKB and gloved title simultaneously.
"I've been blessed to train and work with the best in the game. From Frank Manzi to Bobby Gunn everyone in the fight game played a pivotal part in helping me achieve a 20 year goal of winning the hardware."
Cella has not indicated whether or not he will step back inside the squared circle or put his toe to the line but he says he's not ready to walk away from the sport he's known all his life.
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