Brandon 'L-Jack' Brewer continues fight for world boxing title

Fredericton-area boxer Brandon "L-Jack" Brewer has two championship titles under his belt and he's on the hunt for more.

Brewer, 31, became the North American Boxing Association's Light Middleweight Champion in December 2015 and won the Canadian Professional Boxing Council Light-Middleweight Title in 2014.

"People call me crazy when I say, you know, I'm going to be a world champion. I'm going to do the things that I said inside the ring that I have, since I started," said Brewer said in an interview with Information Morning Fredericton.  

In order to do that, Brewer has to win fights against the best in the world and says it's up to promoters to set up those fights.

And as he trains for fights in the ring, he is also learning more about the business of professional boxing and says the business is as important as being talented inside the ring.

Part of that marketing is Brewer's growing fan base nicknamed the "plaid army." 

His fans dress in plaid shirts and cheer him on when he's in the ring. That plaid army is connected to his nickname, "L-Jack" — short for Lumberjack, a reference to his hometown Nackawic, the home of the giant axe.

"I believe that I'm the most marketable guy in Canada for sure. I really do. I truly believe that. I mean, nobody else has a fan base that has a name you know, the plaid army, and is growing everyday," said Brewer.

He sells L-Jack the Lumberjack T-shirts too and 25 per cent from those sales in December, about $500, went to the homeless shelters in Fredericton. 

I think that I have a responsibility to be a good role model. Boxing isn't going to get a good light shed on it, if I'm acting like a fool.- Brandon 'L-Jack' Brewer

Brewer says doing good work in the community is as important as his boxing.

"Yes, I'm a fighter, but I'm a professional athlete first. And I think that I have a responsibility to be a good role model," he said.

"Boxing isn't going to get a good light shed on it, if I'm acting like a fool."

Brewer says people who knew him in his younger days when he was in high school and university knew he wanted to be a professional athlete but a career in boxing wasn't something he planned.

At 31, Brewer said he hopes to bring a professional boxing event to Fredericton and believes there is still more years of fight left in him.

"You know I'm 31 now. I don't think I'll be in my prime 'til 34," he said.

"And then it's a question how long can ride out that prime. I think my mid to late 30s and then after that, you know, if I'm 40 and I'm still winning and still making money, then why not."