Battler boxer gets his shot at TV’s big time

Andrew Mathieson
LIFE growing up in Whittington was tough – just ask Kane McKay.
“I’ve had a pretty rough upbringing – it hasn’t been the best life,” he admited.
“Both my parents were into drugs and stuff like that.
“My mother, well, she’s in jail at the moment.”
Mr McKay’s life is the sort of storyline reality TV producers can only dream about.
But the rising Geelong fighter hopes to cash in his hardships for money and glory after being pencilled in for an elimination boxing series made for television.
The Contender will be aired on Foxtel in April next year, featuring 16 Australian boxers for the first time.
The Geelong light-heavyweight said the American creators of the show were impressed with his real rags-to-riches boxing story.
“It sort of sells it to the public,” Mr McKay said.
“I guess to a lot of people I’m the guy down in the gutter who has picked himself up to win.”
Mr McKay walked in off the street and into a boxing gym for the first time with a mate who had more interest in pugilism.
Now the former Australian amateur champion finds himself lining up for international title fights and knocking on the door of the top-15 boxers in the world.
“I’ll go into every fight like it’s my last,” Mr McKay said of The Contender series.
“I just want to go as far as I can.
“Money-wise it’s great but it’s also a great opportunity for me and my family because I’ve got three kids.”
Each fight – win or loss – will earn the contenders $15,000 each. The series winner could cash in as much as $500,000, Mr McKay said.
But the 30-year-old was still struggling to find sponsors to sustain his professional boxing career.
The bigger prize is the promise to face Anthony ‘The Man’ Mundine at a lighter weight if Mr McKay succeeds in his attempt to drop three kilos to 76.
“I had a sparring session with him a few weeks ago,” Mr McKay said.
“It was a great opportunity to go toe to toe with a bloke like Mundine.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams I would get in there against the world champion.”