The History of Amateur Boxing in British Columbia

 

THE STORY OF AMATEUR BOXING from 1939 Onward: 

By Brian Zelley

For amateur boxing in British Columbia 

an important new start was the beginning

 of the annual Golden Goves tournament 

in 1939.  Another major development was 

in 1969 following the formation of the 

canadian Amateur Boxing Association 

of which the British Columbia Amateur

Boxing Association (BCABA) which now goes

by the name of Boxing BC  with Mickey Sims

the president in 2013

The BC Golden Gloves Story from the beginning:

*  Over a two year period, the British Columbia Amateur Boxing

Association had been building the sport of amateur boxing one

club and one show at a time, but then they looked south east

and thought about Chicago and New York and a tournament

caled the Golden Gloves which had the backing of newspapers.

So the executive of the BC association decided to explore the idea.

A committee was formed and in short order Vancouver's "The Sun

and the lead figure from the sone to be involved would be Bill Finlay.

Also, the Vancouver Active club,, involved with helping disabled

children would get involved  and benefit by the fundraising aspect

of the tournament.  

Also, it would not take long for the boxing folks in Seattle to get

involved in tournaments, so in those early years that was hampered

in part by WWII, British Columbia boxers including some of the

military boxers would participate in the Seattle Golden Gloves.

As we step backk to the first few years, the first six Golden Boys

would be Phil Vickery, Terry Doyle, Bob Hickie, 

Jackie Hamilton, Harru Smith and Chester Orr.

Post WW II "Vancouver Sun Golden Gloves" tournament:

The year was 1946, which would be an important continuation

of the tournament with some old faces and new ones, and some

of the returning boxers that had been involved in military service.

The builders of boxing and the community for 1946:

There would be a solid team to assist in the staging of 

the 1946 tournament including some that supported by

their advertising and donations.  

The actual sanction would be from the BC branch of the

AAU of Canada, and the British Columbia Amateur Boxing

Association and the continued sponsorship to the

"Vancouver Sun".  Some of the names would be

D. B. Shirley, Harry J. Porter, Charles Jones, E J Temoin,

A H Jefferd, Hamilton Reed, Ralph McKenzie, A Hodgkisson,
Charles Sandford.  And, the committee would be comprised
of: W. J. Finlay, C. W. Goodrich, A. Holdgkisson,
C. Sandford, 

Some of the others involved from organizing to judging
would be: Bud Devoe, Tom Flanagan, Carl Hanuzak, 
J. A. Gunn, Andy Davidson, Bill Garner, Joe McMillan, 
Hector McDonald, Tommy Moore, P. Lanaway,  E. Swartz,
Wallace Kelk, Billy Oates, Blackie Bengert, Tom Burke,
Tom Harnett, Bill Doyle, Bill Baker, George McLaughlin,
Tommy Cruise (announcer), Bert Murray, Walter Brown,
Dr. Gordon Matthews, Dr. Sturdy, Dr. McCatchie  and
Dr. Merkle.  

Other sponsors and supporters:
Jamieson Bros., Mandarin Supper Club, Bill Smith,
John Watson, Eddie Deem, F. M. Crowther, Abe Weston,
Sid Beech, Milton of the Empire Cafe, Tommy Gann,
Cy and Reg Paxton, Otto Jansen, and Arnold Bertram,
(Bertram was the boxing manager of Kenny Lindsay),

Those early clubs:

They travelled from Ocean Falls and Vancouver Island

and other locations.  Clubs that took part in the Gloves

were:

Alberni, Ambassador, Bluebirds,  Cumberland, CYO,

Eagletime, Junior G., Kimount, M D 11, Ocean Falls, 

Pro Rec., Victoria, Wallaces, Western Sports Centre,

and Victoria.  

The Boxers: (list of entries)

* Ray Walters, Guy Morisset, Larry Creanza, Wes Burnell,

Vic Murdoch, Vern Vockhott, Maurice Pratt, Jim Boles, 

Don Harrison and Norm Delaire.

* Stan Almond, Bob Scott, Pte. A. J. Arnold, Fraser Clarke,

* Jim Andrews, Frank Almond, Orest Kozak, Art Burgess,

G. A. Brabank, Ken McPhee, Earl Cook.

* Gunner O. Brown, Chuck Cruickshank, Jack Macdonald,

Lyle Kehoe, Terry Doyle, Hal Robbins, Bert Lepitre, 

Jack Hamilton,Jack Crook.

* William Miller jr., Russ Gurniak, Corp. Roger Dion, 

Duquette Henri, Chester Norton, Billy MacDonald,

Dick Cote, Bus Lindsay, Ray Hass.

* Reg Simpson, J R Herbert, Art Beaumont, Buddy Welsh,

Rod MacDonald, Jack Allen, Jimmy Crook.

* Lyle Colling, Stan Zokol, E. P. Clark, Jack Herwynen, 

Everett Biggs, Jerris Jamel, 

* Eric Smith, Tony Stranan and Phil Olsen.

On the Friday of the tournament there was a feature bout

that paired: Gordon Woodhouse vs Norman Dawson.  

The Golden years of Amateur Boxing 1939 to 1969:

http://zelleyonboxing.blogspot.ca/2012/02/golden-age-of-amateur-boxing-1939-to.html

*the link will take us to the February 2012 story about amateur boxing
in British Columbia from 1939 to 1968 with the early reference of some of 
the names in the forties.

Art Burgess
Art Beaumont
Bert Lepitre
Buddy Welsh
Bus Lindsy
Chester Orr
Jackie Turner
Ken McPhee
Lyle Kehoe
Sammy May
Terry Doyle,
Wes Burnell
Jim Langston

But, it would also cover some of the golden gloves moments in British Columbia 

and elsewhere such as Seattle, Portland and Tacoma

 1959 BC Golden Boy: Jack Straza

Names above: early Seattle Golden Gloves:

Gordon Grayson, Robert Hickey, Tommy symes

Jackie Turner, Norm Dawson, Bobby Parker,

Joe Ashenbrenner, Roy Burnell, Bert Lepitre,

Freddy Steele, Vic Murdoch, Lyle Kehoe.

Vic Murdoch in 1984 after 40 years

from his Seattle Golden Gloves victory

in 2013, Murdoch was inducted into the

British Columbia Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame

http://zelleyonboxing.blogspot.ca/2012/03/beyond-golden-years-road-to-glory-1969.html

THE NEW ROAD TO TRAVEL: 1969 to 1984

* The above link,  Road to Glory takes us with the first years

of BC's becoming a provincial part of Boxing Canada that

began through the efforts of Jerry Shears and others.

It takes us from those early years leading up to the

1984 Olympic Games and the Canadian Olympic Boxing

team training in Boxing BC's training centre in Burnaby.

There is a cross section of stories, photos and data
such as the 1969 Golden Boy, Neil Knight of Seattle.
Photos of Dale and Lennie Walters, and much more
such as a recap of the 1983 Silver Gloves with some of 
the names.  It also takes us to 1972 with two BC boxer
on the 1972 Canadian Olympic boxing team. 

BACK TO THE TOURNAMENTS: 

http://bzgloves.blogspot.ca/.
Golden Gloves and Diamond Belt tournaments
* Some of the tournaments are covered in detail

*  In the earlier posts, there is coverage of the
1985 BC Diamond Belt tournament held in Victoria.
And, a boxer that I trained got the headlines in the
Times - Colonist on January 21, 1985 as follows:
" Ogden in Ring Shocker at Diamond Belt"
The story was about the performance of 
Victoria Jaycees Boxing Club's Ron Ogden.
Also, a number of folks were singled out for special
recognition such as former Canadian champion Jack Snaith.

.

 

RING OFFICIALS

Throughout the ages there have

been many ring officials and those

appointed to boards of directors.

In the mid-eighties, a list was made

of many of the ring officials that had

been or were still involved in some

form of officiating for the 

BC Amateur Boxing Association.

No attempt was made  to rate them

or to rank them into classifications

as they all played a roll for the success

of the sport.

Some of the many have been listed 

in the following block which is just

one part of a blog related to 

officials and coaches.

http://zelley-boxing.blogspot.ca/2010/12/bc-ring-officials.html

The above links show a long list of names of folks that have been

and some are still involved.  Some of the names may not be well

known, as often the ring officials often did not get much press

coverage except the referees at times may have their photo 

in a newspaper piece holding up the arm of a boxer in the 

middle of the ring:

Some of the names that may not be well known by many today 

include:

Steve Barnes, Bernie Brisch, Terry Eastman, Dick Huber,

Pickey Lee, Len Lightfoot, Scotty McQueen, Jack O'Hanley,

Joe Preston, Len Robertson, Abe Seriani, Joe Swift and Earl Vance.