THE 2012 INDUCTEES: by Brian Zelley
listed above. each one has a story and in some cases the boxing
journey of each individual crosses over the years. So this is
a story about the various connections and common areas
of experience and excellence and events.
*the obvious common point is they are all connected is some way to the
Provincial boxing association, and a connection to BOXING CANADA.
Roger Adolph: former boxer and current boxing coach was at one time
a member of the South Hill/Firefighters boxing clubs in Vancouver
under the direction of BERT LOWES and PAT WEST.
THE PRINCE GEORGE CONNECTION:
Three of the boxers have a connection to boxing in Prince George:
ALLAN BAYNE, LAURIE MANN and MANDY LAPOINTE.
Allan and Laurie are also alumni of the Spruce Capital Boxing
Club, they are also inductees of the Prince George Sports Hall
of Fame.
VANCOUVER ISLAND CONNECTIONS:
*Builders George Shiels and Charles John are both
former coaches of the Campbell River Eagles Boxing Club.
And, the Nanaimo Boxing Club is one of the boxing clubs
on Vancouver Island. Olympic boxer Donnie Orr is a
former Victoria based amateur boxer that participated
in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, and won a
Canadian National title in 2001.
*However, some of the others have been involved in
amateur and/or professional boxing activity on
Vancouver Island such as Laurie Mann and Michael
Olajide. They both had some of their early pro fights
on Vancouver Island. Allan Bayne was a member of
Canada's 1994 Commonwealth Games Boxing team
and Bert Lowes was a volunteer at those Games.
Bert Lowes, however, did much more than act as
a security volunteer in '94. We can trace his steps
back to the Fifties as a coach of the South Hill
boxing club that participated in boxing activity
in Victoria, and his role in the Sixties as a coach
of the Firefighters boxing club that saw action
in club shows in Victoria and Port Alberni.
and, during much of the Seventies and Eighties
Lowes was a boxing official that travelled to
the various locations on the Island from Gold River
to Victoria engaged his official duties in the ring
and at ringside. He also directed some of the
officials boxing clinics on the Island.
As the president of Boxing BC in the nid to late
Eighties, GEORGE ARMSONS was a regular
visitor to Vancouver Island including the 1984
Vancouver Island Amateur Boxing
Championships held in Parksville. In a special
bout in that tournament, TONY DUFFY would
earn a victory in a box-off against an Island
boxer to be selected for the BC team that would
participate in the 1984 Junior Nationals Amateur
Boxing Champinship held in Burnaby from
May 25 to 27th. Three members of the
Boxing BC board of directors involved in that
Island tournament
would also be involved in
the Junior Nationals tournament including
Bert Lowes, Brian Zelley and George Armson.
to be inducted into the British Columbia
Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame.
MICHAEL OLAJIDE jr.
*Michael did not have a long amateur boxing journey and would
turn pro before he was a senior boxer. In won of his last amateur
tournaments. He would win in the 1981 Golden Gloves.
Back in 1981, Michael and 2011 inductee Jamie Ollenberger were
members of the Kingsway Boxing Club in Vancouver. Both of them
would shine at that tournament along with boxer Gary Robinson
of the Victria Athetic Association (VAA).
But, by the end of 1981, Michael "The Silk" Olajide would turn
pro and have his first three pro fights in Victoria. Then he would
have others in British Columbia before moving to New York.
