Canadian Boxers and Builders

Names of some of those involved in the sport of boxing
Canadian Boxers and Builders
* the above link takes us to over 400 names of boxers and builders
in Canadian amateur and professional boxing.

Some of the many names:         
  

The   400

* listing the 400 plaus names in this piece
is not necessary as they are all listed in the link
but they include many top names in amateur
and professional boxing in Canada

Who could forget the likes of:
Art Hafey, Asif Dar, Billy Irwin,and 
Michael Strange.  Or, it is not easy to
overlook the Johnson name be it 
Ontario, the Maritimes or Manitoba
Chris, Greg, Len, Ken and Kirk
Johnson, or the likes of Taylor and
Wayne Gordon, or the three generations
of the Mann family in BC.  

Breaking down the list:
* Tops from 1939 to 2012
http://www.ranker.com/list/top-names-in-bc-boxing-1960-1989/bzelley
* the above link takes to a list of those that have scored high
in one or more other sites, some of them are inductees to the
British Columbia Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame and some are
ones that have been overlooked during the nomination or selection
Process:  The lead into the lists is:

The Names to-date in order of their posting:

* Frank Scott, Tony Duffy
Mickey Griffin, Gordie Lawson
Harold Mann, George Shiels,
Lindy Lindmoser, Freddy Fuller,
Jaime Ollenberger, Alan Brown,
Kit Munro, Skimp Williams,
George Nepper, Brian Zelley,
Dale Anderson, Ken MacDonald,
Capi Damani, Jim Howie, 
Harry Pollitt,Chester Douglas,
Gary Wood, Winny Schelt,
Clark MacLellan 

* Dale Walters, Jack Snaith, Dan Wright, Marg O'Reilly,
 Kevin Maughan, Gary Oakden, Jim Stevenson, 
Jimmy McMillan, Laurie Mann, Derrick Hoyt, 
Scitt Galloway, Graham McIntosh,Bill Hardie,
Brian Jones, Billy Townsend, Bob Pegues, 
Carson Samuels, Boyd Bayne, Lloyd Anderson,
Bill Watson, Buddy Palmer, Ian Gibson, Leif Albrechtsen,
Allan Tummon, Bob Mercer, Deab Bruckshaw, 
Ed Williams, Jim Gallagher, Manny Sobral, Ken Stant,
Bill Gariepy, Fred Fuller, George Armson, 
George Angelomatis and Mickey Sims. 

. Breaking it down into time periods:
http://bwzboxing.blogspot.ca/
The period 1980 to 1989 would be the best of times
but would also have setbacks such as the boycott of
the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but Canadians made up
for that giant setback with a one-two punch in '84 and '88

Lennox Lewis wins gold in the '88 Olympics.

The road to 1988 would wind through many
paths, and along the way there would be 
numerous teams.  After success in 1984,
the year 1985 would be another starting
point towards a new target:
Some of the names in 1985 are:
Augusto dos Reis, Steve D'Sousa, 
Scotty Olson, Steve Beaupre, Jeff Hill, Terry Dermott, 
Rick Albrechtsen, John Henry Wilson, Michel Moffa,
Jamie Pagendam, Scott Cessford, Alex Bankier, 
Stephen Nolan, Asif Dar, Tim Cessford, Dunan Murdoch, 
Greg Gayle, Joe Pendry, Wayne Gordon, Dennis Lambert, 
Emile Fortin, Dewith Fraser, Otis Grant, Kelly Perlette, 
Joe Martin, Lindon Linklater, Darryl Flint, Danny Sherry, 
Wayne Welsh, egerton Marcus, Ken Johnson, Andrew Riley,
Domenic D'Amico, Peter Petric, Bill Hickey, Wade Parsons,
and Brian Lansing.   

Canadian boxers -Alex Rynn and Kenny Lally

Beyond 2012 and The Road Forward

by Brian W. Zelley

Canadian A Team member Kenny Lally, Alex rynn and Custio Clayton

Introduction:

The following is a recap of the stories of Kenny Lally and Alex Rynn 

before 2012, and to update to the here and now in 2013.

The Kenny Lally journey: some highlights

 

The Alex Rynn story

THE ROAD FORWARD

For Canadian A-team member

including 

Alex Rynn and Kenny Lally

some will still be champions

following the nationals in 2013

The Team 

,

For the time being the above list of boxers

are the top men's boxing stars

emilien Boucher, Kenny Lally, Hyarub Hocko,

Alex Rynn, Yves Ulysses , Custio Clayton

Brody Blair, Jonathan Savard, 

Samir El Mais and imon Kean

a Kenny Lally flashback

Beyond the Silence, Canadian boxing

THE CANADIAN BOXING STORY

Beyond The Silence: by brian zelley

The Introduction:

This story is the story of every pro boxer that

have been on the undercard of a pro boxing

show in Canada.  It is about the hundreds of

boxers that receive low levels of financial

reward, limited recognition and low levels

of appreciation throughout the decades.

But, it will be a "never ending story" that 

will try to recognize all those boxers engaged

in bouts starting with the June 15th story

that was recently told and the Julien Collette story.

The June 15, 2013 starting point:

The starting point for this story is

Moncton, New Brunswick with the 

names being:

Richard Arsenault, Travis Conners, Jonah Arbuckle
Eddie Gates, Sandy Pembroke, Julien Collette, 
Marcel Maillet, Luke Noel, Brad Foulagi and
Kevin Cormier.

 *** (photo from the "Gates Eddie" site re. boxing in Moncton) ***

New kid on the block: June 21st 

* another name of interest from Ontario is 
the Orangeville product fighting out of 
Niagara Falls,  Mike McWilliams.

On June 21, 2013,  McWillams had success in his
pro debut in a bout with Dave Aucoin in Montreal.  

The Undercard Fighters, beyond the silence

The Prelim Fighters The Spotlight

               

by Brian Zelley

Looking back at most boxing cards, the

prelim fighters on the undercard are

often overlooked in the pre-fight  buzz

and seldom get the headlines in the

news.  Often they are deligated to 

a one or two lines in the pages of 

a newspaper, if at all.

However, a June 15th pro boxing card

in Moncton, New Brunswick was 

slightly different as is elevated the names of those

often forgotten boxers.  One of the boxers to 

break through the ice of silence was heavyweight

Julien Collette who boxed against Sandy Pembroke.

Another name that was mentioned on on-line stuff

was Jonah Arbuckle who competed against Eddie Gates.

* other boxers included:

Richard Arsenault, Travis Connors, Marcel Maillet,

Luke Noel, Brad Foulagi and Kevin Cormier.  

*for all ten of these boxers that fought, we may not know

their complete story, but we now know their names.  

Many of them are boxers from New Brunswick 

which may not be well known in such places as Vancouver

Island or Williams Lake, British Columbia or Red Deer Alberta.

But, we can now appreciate their combined effort that for some

would end up being a waiting game to get their purse and expenses

for a variety of reasons that could be taken out of the pages of 

a "comic opera".   

A Boxers tale:
Luke Noel  -  the 20 year old from Campbellton had his pro debut
a year ago with a victory over Chance Whalen at Shediac and
the referee was Frank Cormier.  In the Moncton bout, Steve would
face the more experienced Marcel Maillet jr.

Travis Conners - the Miramichi warrior was engaged in his 9th pro 

fight against PEI's Richard Arsenault.  The pro debut of Travis took
place in 2009 with a victory in Moncton.  Arsenault was engaged in
his second pro boxing bout.  His debut took place in 2012

Jonah Arbuckle - the Moncton middleweight was fighting in his 11th.
pro fight  and earned a victory over Eddie Gates.  Jonah began his
pro journey in 2006 against Scott King.  He also enganged in a bout
for the vacant Canadian  super middleweight  title.  Some of the
past champions included Adam Trupish, Kit Munro and Otis Grant. 
The consensus by many was Jonah demonstrated some good skills
in his comeback fight in Moncton.  

Kevin Cormier  - Was fighting in only his fourth pro fight.  His 
previous three bouts that ended in victories took place 2011
in Shediac, New Brunswick.

The next round: 
* This block was a spin-off of the Julien Collette story
of how one boxer fighting in one of the bouts in the .undercare
suddenly has become the star of the June 15th boxing card
due to his decision to stand up and be counted, but the
initial price he paid was to be suspended for one year.
In the words of a line in an old Moody Blues song:
"It can happen to us all, don't it make you feel small>"
However, across Canada, there a voices speaking out
about the need to reinstate, the one boxer that made
a difference.  One of the high profile names of Canadian
boxing to speak out for fairness is boxing legend
Nicky Furlano of Ontario.  

Julien Collette

Call For the Boxing Community

To Support The Rights of 

Canadian boxer Julien Collette

Julien Collette - Boxer

On June 15th, Canadian boxer Julien Collette
was suspended from boxing for sticking up 
for the rights of boxers in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Now is the time for Canadian boxers, builders
and fans to stand with and behind Julien and
request or demand his immediate re-instatement.

Vancouver Island Boxing Champions

THE SELECT TWENTY CHAMPIONS: by brian zelley

.

The list above is the list of twenty  boxers of Vancouver Island.
Each one has their own boxing journey, but the one common touch is
all twenty can claime to be authorized Vancouver Island Boxing 
champions.  Due to circumstances, none of them have lost the titles
to any other boxers.   Of interest, some of the boxers that they defeated
to earn those special titles, have gone on to win other titles, or had won
other titles. 

Two of the champions in 1964 were from Nanaimo's 
Newcastle Boxing Club.  They are Brian Zelley and Gilles Nepper. 
Their moment of victory was documented in the black and white 
pages of the local newspaper "The Nanaimo Daily Free Press"

Nanaimo boxers: Brian Zelley, Roger Nepper, Leo Rock and Gilles Nepper
The 1964 champions were: 
Howie Rabey, Gilles Nepper, Brian Zelley, Ken Alexander,
Larry Williams, Rifleman Walsh, Tommy Black and Wayne Powell.
Some of the other boxers were: Don White, Mike Caird and
Fred Desrosiers. Some of the coaches and seconds were:
Harry Morris, George Nepper, Skimp Williams, Mike Lazare,
and from the Royal Canadian Navy - Taylor Gordon.
Also, involved were Bert Wilkinson, Island boxing commissioner
and London Boxing club's Stan Richardson and the many officials. 

Connecting 1964 and 1984:  From the Boxing in BC site:
http://boxinginbc.blogspot.ca/2010/10/bridge-of-golden-memories-1964-and-1984.html

Other Connections: 1954 to 1994
*Other connection on the bridge of golden memories:
1954: Vancouver Island Boxing, Bert Wilkinson is the
Vancouver Island Golden Boy, and the Rabey familty was
connected to that 1954 event. 

*1974: Mike Caird and Brian Zelley along with Dan Wright,
Ian Weir and Larry Montgomery would be involved in the
revival of boxing in Victoria, BC.

*1994 - The Victoria hosted Commonwealth Games:
Between 1989 and 1994, many of the names that 
were part of the 1954, 1964, 1974 and 1984 events
would be part of the building process:
Some of the names for the record:
Bert Lowes, Bert Wilkinson, Brian Zelley,  Gary Wood, 
George Armson, Ian Weir, Mike Caird, Monty Brown, 
Rick Brough and Tommy Black.  Also, some of the history 
produced by the late Howard Curling was used in part of
the publicity for the 1994 Commonwealth Games.  

BC Boxing Moments: 1982

"Zelley's Round" in "The Sportcaster" on November 10, 1982

* Nanaimo, BC is considered by many fight fans to be the fight 
capital of British Columbia especially after the success of the 
Gordie Racette - Jimmy Young and Racette vs Trevor Berbick
heavyweight fights. Nanaimo has also been the host of  many  
"So You Think You're Tough" contests.  The city also has a 
strong amateur boxing program under the Nanaimo Boxing Club
The amateur club was formed in 1971 by Dan Wright and Brian Zelley.
The highlight of the club was the success of Jack Snaith who won 
the Canadian light-flyweight championshipin 1973.

A new form of fight entertainment to the city is kickboxing.  On Friday
November 5th. a kickboxing show was held at the Frank Crane arena.
The competitors included two Victoria fighters Mike Puckett and  Stan Peterec 

In amateur news Dan Wright is now a registered judge for BC Amateur Boxing
Association.  Former Island boxing commissioner Rick Brough has moved to
Ladysmith and is organizing an amateur boxing club.  

Early results of the BC Bronze Gloves for junior novice boxers had Victoria's
Kirk Ranneris winning one bout on the Friday night action.  Local boxer
Kit Munro added a touch of class to the 15 bout boxing card in Campbell River
on October 30th.  Munro boxing in his second amateur fight gave an excellent 
performance to stop Langley's John Richards midway through the second round
of a bantamweight bout for junior boxers.  Kit won the first round with an 
educated left jab.  In round two, Munro combined straight punches and 
well placed body shots to stop Richards.  Victoria's Kirk Ranneris put up a fine
performance  but lost a decision to the more experienced Mike Wood of 
Campbell River.  Kirk's amateur debut served as a tune-up for the
coming BC Bronze Gloves. 

Bantamweight Alan Brown of Gold River defeated featherweight Ray Abraham
of Vancouver in the best fight of the night.  Brown, the 1980 junior Canadian 
champion, survived several thumping body shots to outclass the heavier
Abraham.  In the second best bout, light-middleweight Roman Grimard
 of Campbell River edged Richmond's Lyle Hendrickson in a two-fisted 
battle

The card hosted by the Campbell River Eagles  was the first of three 
scheduled for Campbell River in the current season.  Officials for the 
club Jim Howie, Charles John,  George Shiels and Kewal Bains,.
BCABA official Bert Lowes was the head ring official of the card. 
Boxing clubs competing were from Campbell River, Crofton, Langley,
Parksville, Richmond, Gold River, Vancouver and Victoria. 

Telling The Story

THE WIKIPEDIA JUNGLE by brian zelley

*  Sometimes, to tell the story, you must take chances, and be willing
to pay the price if things go badly.  For this piece in Wikipedia, it may not
last, and be sent to the chopping block.  But, that does not matter, because
the story is now added here.

More of my Wikipedia stories:

The Story About Frank Scott:

Part of The 1994 Commonwealth Games story:

The Freddy Fuller story on Wikipedia:

CANADIAN PROFESSIONAL BOXING - the here and now -

CANADIAN PROFESSIONAL BOXING - the here and now - Blogs - Boxing Forums
SELLING THE STORY, ONE STEP AT A TIME

To create the sizzlle in the pan and the fire, you need to  turn on the stove in the kitchen.