Tyson Cave vies for WBU super bantamweight title

Boxing history could be made on Saturday night at the Dartmouth Sportsplex as hometown favourite Tyson Cave vies to become the World Boxing Union's super bantamweight champion. 

If Halifax's Cave beats Walter Rojas to win the title, which is currently vacant, he'll be the first Nova Scotia-born boxer to win a world title on home soil. 

"For the last couple of weeks I've been waking up with goose bumps thinking to myself: 'I'm going to be a part of history,'" Cave said Friday at the official weigh-in for his match.

Boxing history runs deep in Nova Scotia, something Cave acknowledged at his news conference.

"I've also got to thank the guys like Chris Clarke, a guy like Ricky Anderson, Clyde Grey, Art Hafey," he said. "Boxing was a mecca at one point in Atlantic Canada and Halifax was like the birthplace of it." 

Chris Clarke was a hard-hitting welterweight from Halifax who fought in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ricky Anderson was another Nova Scotia-born welterweight from the same era who won the Canadian championship after an impressive amateur career.

Clyde Grey fought in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s — winning Canadian and Commonwealth titles as a welterweight.

"Irish" Art Hafey from Stellarton fought in the 1960s and 1970s, racking up an impressive 53 wins in 65 fights.

'He's a man, he's a fighter'

Boxing in Nova Scotia has struggled to regain its stature lately and this card with Cave is no exception.

Former world heavyweight contender Kirk Johnson was supposed to make his return to the ring after a 15-year layoff, but the Nova Scotia native couldn't get his paperwork cleared in time.

Cave is also facing an opponent who was brought in at the last minute.

"He's the epitome of what a professional should be," Cave said of Rojas.

"Because nowadays a lot of guys want six weeks in training camp and this and that, and they want to make sure this and that."

Rojas has won 24 of his 32 fights, but lost his last two by technical knockout.

"He's a man, he's a fighter and I wish you the best on Saturday night," Cave said, turning to face his opponent at a news conference.

"I condone you for coming here because — I'm going to kick your ass."

While a win by Cave would be a first on Nova Scotia soil, he would not be the first Nova Scotian-born boxer to win a world title. George Dixon has that honour after being crowned world bantamweight champion in 1888.