WELTERWEIGHT Ryan Wagner works the heavy bag during training for his third professional bout at Mississauga’s Hershey Centre. “I’m feeling really confident, really good. I’m still working on things, but feeling good about it,” says boxer Ryan Wagner about his third professional bout coming up in September.

The 21 year-old Orangeville welterweight has two pro fights and two wins behind him going into the fall event at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.

His pro debut resulted in a four round unanimous decision.

His second fight against Chris Aucoin of St. Williams, Ontario ended with a knockout at 37 seconds into the third round when Wagner delivered a left, right combination that had his opponent counting sheep before he even hit the canvas.

His opponent for fight number three, Samuel Vargas, is also undefeated.

Vargas, a Columbian national who resides in Mississauga has a 4-0 pro record with one knockout.

“I’ve seen him fight in the amateurs,” Wagner says, “I’ve seen clips of his pros. I'll watch a little video, but my coach knows how he likes to fight so he’ll work on things like fighting on the inside against him. But I like to go in there and feel him out and see how its done, in the first round usually, and see how it's going to go from there.”

Wagner worked his way up to the professional level after taking up boxing when he was 15.

He won a silver at the provincial level this past year and went on to the nationals winning a bronze.

He had already made the decision to turn pro before going to the nationals regardless of the outcome of that tournament.

As an amateur he had 46 fights losing only nine of those bouts.

“The amateur game is completely different from the professional game” he says of making the transition to the pro ranks. “It’s two different styles. Amateur is all about points, it’s safety, and a lot of little things that are different. In pro you can be a lot rougher and more aggressive.

“It’s more of a real fight, unlike amateur which is more like fencing,” he explains. “I like to fight with my hands down. In amateur style, which is hands up, you can take punches but they won't score them if you’re blocking them with you hands.”

The Hershey Centre line-up has a six bout card including a North American Boxing Association title fight as the main event.

The event will take place on September 25, in Mississauga.