On the surface, it would seem that, at age 35, Patrice Volny is running out of road for his professional career. The Montreal middleweight, 19-1 (13 KOs), takes on Austin “Ammo” Williams in the main event of a Matchroom card from the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida in what on paper is the biggest event of his career so far.

On another level, however, Volny has barely started. A football player in his youth, he didn’t even try boxing until he was 18, when a gym opened up near his house and offered a free trial.

“I went to the gym. I tried it. I liked it,” he told BoxingScene with a smile on Thursday. Above all, he says, he was attracted to its individuality, to the fact that, unlike in a team sport, responsibility for success or failure rests solely on the athlete himself (or herself) and not on any teammates.

“I really like that part of boxing,” he says. “It’s an unpredictable sport in that you might win every round and then one punch lands and it’s over. That’s it. I find that super intriguing. It’s super fun and risky every second. You have to be focused 100 percent. There's no break; even between rounds, you still have to be focused and aware of everything's happening around you. There's a lot of noise. You have to get in your zone and stay in that zone.”

Volny, who describes himself as “a super passive human being outside the ring,” and, with another smile, as a “technician/brawler” inside the ropes, turned pro in 2016 at the age of 26, and raced to 15-0 until the global pandemic interrupted his progress. Between October 2019 and May 2023, he fought just twice, going 1-1, with no outings at all in 2020 or 2022. His only defeat came on a split technical decision against Esquiva Falcao on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s defeat of Shawn Porter in November 2021, when an accidental headbutt brought an end to proceedings in the sixth of twelve scheduled rounds. He has bounced back with solid wins over DeAndre Ware and Steven Butler, but Williams is unquestionably a step up. 

Nonetheless, the soft-spoken Volny plans to seize his moment, knowing full well that it “absolutely” will be the chance to introduce himself to the broader boxing public.

“That's what we're here for,” he says. “And I used to be in the top 10 before COVID, then COVID changed everything. A lot of the time, I was not able to fight and everything. But I think it's a great and amazing opportunity for me to get back in the rankings.”

Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcast about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the “Fighter Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com