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Jessy Manuel is anxious to step into the ring this Saturday in Bathurst.

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Peter Assaff/Northern Light Photo

Jessy Manuel of the Chaleur Training and Boxing Centre in Beresford is expected to be part of a fight card this Saturday in Bathurst.

The 19-year-old son of Mereille and Darryl Manuel of St. Simon will be part of a fight card at the Herman J. Good V.C. Branch No. 18 Royal Canadian Legion, fighting in the 150-pound weight class.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said, during a break from practice at the Chaleur Training and Boxing Centre in Beresford last week. "I'm fighting Martin Maillet from the FISTS Boxing Club in Moncton. I already fought him last year. I won but it was a close fight."

Manuel has been making the drive from St. Simon, just outside of Caraquet, three times a week to practice at the former Chaleur Olympic Boxing Club in Beresford that recently underwent an ownership change. In 133 career fights, Manuel has a nine and four record, including a win in his latest bout – a unanimous decision over a fighter from Quebec in a bout in Campbellton on April 26.

"I've been boxing since I was 14," he said. "There was a boxing club in Caraquet but it closed because there wasn't enough boxers, so then I started coming to Beresford."

Manuel said one of things he likes about the sport is the opportunity to go head to head with his opponent.

"The competition between two people is really intense," he explained. "Mostly I wait for my opponent to make the first move, but I switch and go on offence sometimes, too. I'll do both. I can take a punch, I can throw a punch, I can block a punch, too."

Saturday's fight card starts at 7:30 p.m.