Professional fighting is returning to Royal Athletic Park for the first time in more than three decades.
Summer Slugfest IX will feature 12 mixed martial arts and kickboxing bouts with fighters from across Canada, including Montreal, Alberta, Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Doors open at 5 p.m., with the first fight at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 30.
The last combat sports event at the home of the HarbourCats was Rumble in the Park on July 17, 1994, which saw Victoria’s Stan Peterec face Vince Ross in a 12-round world kickboxing title fight.
This year, Peterec, 66, will return to the ring in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record as the oldest professional kickboxer in history. He previously made history at age 53, fighting in Esquimalt Arena in 2012 for his fifth decade in the sport.
Peterec will face Leigh Mueller, 43, a former world amateur champion making his professional debut.
The main event will see Victoria’s Amrit Sekhon facing off against Montreal’s Jerome Theriault in a five-round amateur kickboxing title fight. The other co-main event features Langford’s Reece Anderson against Alberta’s Derek Lightle.
Organizers say the outdoor show is one of the few long-running fight series on Vancouver Island.
Proceeds will support Cat’s Cradle Animal Rescue in Victoria, which rehabilitates and re-homes distressed or abandoned animals.
Tickets are available at summerslugfest.eventbrite.ca.
