BROCKPORT When Chris Cella laced up his boxing gloves last Saturday night in preparation for his war within the squared circle, he was fighting for more than his undefeated fight record.

In front of the sellout crowd in Huntington, W.V., he made quick work of his opponent, working his body hard and knocking him out two minutes into the first round.

After his hand was raised cementing the victory the ring announcer handed Cella the microphone.

It was then that he shared his motivation for the win.

This fight tonight was for a special friend, a little girl named Shea. Shes the toughest warrior of all. This win is for you Shea, said Cella.

The week before the fight, Shea and her parents came out to Cellas gym, BC Boxing, where they wished him luck for his upcoming fight.

I first met Shea when she was five and her aunt brought her to the gym to train. When she came to wish me luck she stole my heart. Her beautiful smile and contagious laugh filled the gym with so much love. Shes been more of an inspiration to me that she will ever know. Shes a fighter and warrior in every sense of the word, and it felt great to get the win in her honor, Cella said.

Shea has been unable to make it to the gym for almost a year now.

Now 8 years old, Shea was diagnosed in August with AML leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow with excess immature white blood cells, weeks before she was to start second grade at DuBois Central Catholic School.

Since her diagnosis, Sheas journey toward being cancer-free hasnt been an easy one.

Shes had adverse reactions to her appendix and gallbladder from the chemotherapy treatments and both had to be removed.

She also had a stem cell transplant this January and struggled with with graft versus host disease of the stomach and skin, which occurs when donor bone marrow or stem cells attack the recipient.

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I know that seems like a lot of bad, but Shea had a positive outlook on this whole experience and is nothing but smiles, Sheas mother Misty McKinney said. We are hoping with in a month or two we can come home for good.

Shea cant wait to come home and have a huge pool party and get back to boxing.

Shea said she felt very special and happy, when Cella dedicated his fight to her. The boxing community at the gym has had the familys back since her diagnosis, even taking up collections of toys and gift cards at Christmastime in an attempt to give the girl a holiday she wouldnt forget.

Shea is one of the biggest inspirations Ive ever met, Cella said. She fights so hard every day, it makes my fight seem meaningless.

To keep up to date on Sheas journey and ways you can help, friend Pray for Shea on Facebook.

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Fight For Shea: Brockport man dedicates bout to DuBois girl with leukemia - The Courier-Express