2011 ZELLEY ON BOXING REVISITED

LOOKING BACK TO THE 2011 STORIES:  By Brian Zelley
Although there were about 57 topics, the stories about individuals
were very rewarding to do with the help of those individuals and

others.


Summary of the key boxing stories of individuals:
*The Kenny Lally Boxing Story,
*The Alex Torres Rynn Story, 
*Tommy Paonessa, Boxing Pioneer,
*The Alan Brown Boxing Story,
*The Gordie Lawson Boxing Story
 - Finding The Golden Key,
*Lennie Walters - BC Boxing Legend,
*The Mike Kennedy Boxing Story,

*The Bert Lowes Boxing Story,
*The Tony Duffy Boxing Story,
*The Paul  "P-Mac" MacKenzie Story,
*The Roger Adolph Boxing Story, 
*The Mike Strange Boxing Story,.


THANKS TO THOSE THAT HELPED:
*Kenny Lally, Jamie "TNT" Taylor, Jaime Lynn Ward,
 Alex Torres Rynn, Paul MacKenzie, Marc Whelton, 
Kevin McDermott, John Paonessa, Steve Wood, Alan Brown,
Glenn McGee, Rick Fleck, Gordy Racette, 
Gordie Lawson, Monique, David Ius, Dale Walters,
Mike Kennedy, Roger Adolph, Marcus Hume, Adam Trupish,
Tony Duffy, Barry Krangle, Billy Irwin, Michael Strange, 
 Doug Bolianatz, Domenic Filane Figliomeni,
Graham MacIntosh, Scotty Olson and Vern Linklater.

THE TONY DUFFY BOXING STORY

THE TONY DUFFY BOXING JOURNEY:
  By Brian Zelley and Barry Krangle
(note part of the information was from the Vancouver Island
  Boxing News and the British Columbia Amateur Boxing News)




Introduction:
TONY DUFFY
1984 BC JUNIOR
GOLDEN BOY

In recent days, former boxer Tony Duffy of the 
Sunshine Boxing Club in Gibsons was nominated
in the JUNIOR/YOUTH BOXING CATEGORY
for the 2012 selection to the BRITISH COLUMBIA
AMATEUR BOXING HALL OF FAME.


I first watched Tony compete in boxing shows in the
early Eighties.  In the May 1984 issue of the 
BRITISH COLUMBIA AMATEUR BOXING NEWS
I featured him on page 4 with the photo of him with 
the 1984 Junior Golden Boy Award and remember
him in a special elimination bout with Victoria boxer
Paul DeLuca to determine which boxer would be 
selected for the BOXING BC team to compete in
the 1984 JUNIOR NATIONALS to be held at
the BC amateur boxing training centre in Burnaby.
In that bout, young Duffy won to join the BC team
that included:
Curtis Peterson,  Aaron Wolfe, John Turner,
Suraj Jaswal, Tony Francis, Manny Sobral,
Clint Dumais, and Willy Curry.


                 coached by BARRY KRANGLE
                          TONY DUFFY, 1984 
                   BC JUNIOR GOLDEN BOY


RING ACTION


MARCH 12, 1983 Campbell River Club Show
One of the many club shows that Tony participated in
took place in the spring of '83 was that 19 bout card 
hosted by the Campbell River Eagles Boxing Club.


In that bout, Tony faced home town boy CORY WILLCOX
in seventh bout of the night.  For tough Tony it turned out to
be lucky number 7 with a victory.  Some other well known 
boxers in action among the 38 boxers were Paul Deluca,
Lyle Jack, Mike Wood, Kit Munro, Jita Nagra, Gordy Jones,
Tim Cessford, Alan Brown, Gary Wood and Ron Young.
Host Club coaches were:  George Shiels, Jim Howie and 
Charles John.  Head official was Rick Brough, and other
officials were Joe Swift, Bernie Brisch, Bill Donnelly,
Bob Perry, Brian Zelley, Art Shiels, and Carson Samuels.
Medical official was Dr. John Ross and announcer was
T. Bently whie timekeeping duties by Jim Hardy.


EMERALD GLOVES CHAMPION -  November 1984
One of the post 1984 Junior National tournaments that
Duffy took part in was the 1984 Emerald Gloves that 
took place on November 17th. Tony would become one
on nine contested champions in junior open bouts.  In the
final Tony won the championship with a victory over
Victoria boxer Paul Deluca Jr.  in the featherweight 
(125C) division.  Other C division champions were
Mike Marrello, Suraj Jaswal and Manny Sobral.
For his efforts TONY DUFFY was the Emerald Boy
runner-up with B class boxer Troy Taylor as top boxer.
The Emerald Gloves was founded by Brother O'Grady
and the first Emerald Boy was Mel Jacobs of the 
St. Paul's Indian School in 1951.


JUNIOR GOLDEN GLOVES -  February 17,  1985
1984 Junior Golden Boy TONY DUFFY entered the
1985 Junior Golden Gloves in the lightweight division
and in the championship bout he defeated Bud Rellor
of Kelso.  Some of the other champions in the C class
were Curtis Peterson, Mike Marrello, John Allen, 
Kevin Lyons and Justin Migneault.  RING OFFICIALS:
Chief of Officials:  Bert Lowes, and officials:
Fred Fuller, Al Young, Jim Gallagher, Jack Mellor, 
Larry Carney, Rene Serriani, Bob Seckler, and 
Brian Zelley.  Others:  Dot Lowes, Dr. Sandhu,
Gordie Jones and Boyd Bayne.


There would be many other club shows and tournaments
and training under the capable hands of BARRY KRANGLE


April 1, 1985:  Maple Ridge Club show, and as reported
in the "BC Amateur Boxing News", two of the standouts
in the show were Gordie Jones and Tony Duffy.


1985 TONY DUFFY, CANADIAN CHAMPION

COACHES' CORNER -  The Golden Memories of Barry Krangle:


The early years - stepping into the Sunshine:

Following the 1984 and 1985 Nationals, Tony continued to engage in activity.
The following are some thoughts by coach Krangle about 1987 activity

BACK TO TRAINING:

1988 THE OLYMPIC YEAR, Tony's moments, through the eyes 
of the coach with a few words from Tony about some of the
 moments and the continued friendships with those he fought
 or trained with throughout the Eighties.

FAST FORWARD TO 2011 -  A Date With 2012
Tony was nominated in October 2011 in the Junior/Youth
category of the BRITISH COLUMBIA AMATEUR BOXING
HALL OF FAME for 2012.  The final decision will be made
by September 2012.  Looking through the many years of 
activity, Tony would be a worthy inductee. 

2012 Inductees video

 

2011 Election process BCABHOF

BRITISH COLUMBIA AMATEUR BOXING HALL OF FAME


THE 2011 SELECTION PROCESS BEGINS

Input and Sources:
Over the last couple of months various folks have helped compile
 a story about the nominees and individual  stories about some of the
nominees.  Stories on this blog include information about the
Boyce Family,  Lennie Walters,  Tommy Paonessa, Alan Brown, 
 Derrick Hoyt, the Campbell River Eagles, South Hill/Firefighters

and other information and photos including Jamie Ollenberger, 
Wally Doern, Stanley F. Smith, Dave Wylie, and Les Hamilton.

2011 NOMINATIONS - as of March 13th.

 MARCH 13, 2011 - NOMINEES  TO-DATE
(Revised to APRIL 20 th. yo 24)

                        Tommy Paonessa - Lindy Lindmoser
                               Dave Wylie  -  Alan Brown
BOXERS:
Alan Brown *, Dave Wylie, Jamie Ollenberger,  Les Hamilton, 
Lindy Lindmoser, Matt O'Brien,  Willy Curry, Derrick Hoyt
* Junior/Youth Category
BUILDERS:
Bob Decker, Charles John, George Angelomatis, 
 George Shiels, Stan Smith, 
Terry Cooke,  Wally Doern, 
PIONEERS or MULTI-LEVEL
Lennie Waters - Tommy Paonessa 

                                  LENNIE WALTERS

                                     Stan Smith presemts Harold Mann Award
                                          to Tommy Paonessa

CLUBS, FAMILIES, TEAMS, TOURNAMENTS

Campbell River Eagles, East Vancouver Optimists,
South Hill - Firefighters, The Boyce Family
-1970 BC Senior in 1970 Nationals
.1967 Shrine Invitational Diamond Belt Tournament
(Note - deadline for other nominations - June 30 th.)
(Final number or categories will be decded by Administrators)
comments or suggestion open to all including honorary directors.

STANLEY F. SMITH: By Brian Zelley

In reviewing the history of amateur boxing, for many many decades
one name that can be connected to the "GO TO" tag is the one they
call Stanley F. Smith or to many "Stan the Man".

When it comes time to recognize others, or support others for an award
"who are you gong to call".  Well in Greater Vancouver and the
Lower Mainland. the first name on the call list would be "Stan the Man"
to get things done.   From those early years at the East Vancouver Optimists
boxing club at the Fraserview Boy's Club to his involvement at the 1984
Junior Nationals and Olympic box-offs, it was always Stan that would be
 in the front of another work detail, and during his days with the
 AAU of Canada or the British Columbia Amateur Boxing Association,
Stan was always ready to supply a letter to support someone else
get recognition or an award.

Recent Nomination - DERRICK HOYT, The Pride of Cranbrook.

JAMIE OLLENBERGER

Wally Doern - coach - 2 Rivers Boxing Club 

LES HAMILTON - 1972 Canadian Olympic boxer

ALAN BROWN's boxing story

            ALAN BROWN - BC BOXER and CANADIAN CHAMPION

 THE ALAN BROWN BOXING STORY:  By Brian Zelley (assisted by Alan Brown, and Steve Wood, and past members of various BC boxing clubs and some non BC boxing champions)
INTRODUCTION
As  we look back through the history of amateur boxing in British Columbia one  of the elite junior and youth boxers  was Vancouver Island boxer - ALAN BROWN,  a member  of the Campbell River Eagles Boxing Club and then the  Gold River Boxing Club.  For a brief period he also trained in  Vancouver at BOB DECKER's Shamrock Boxing Club along with MANNY SOBRAL. Alan  would also be a member of the  NANAIMO BOXING CLUB that was formed in 1971.

THE BEGINNING - CAMPBELL RIVER EAGLES 

                               The Eagles of  Campbell River                              (coaches George Shiels and Charles John)                                        (the Steve Wood collection) Those early days in Campbell River was an important learning experience in the basics of boxing skills.  Some of his Eagle team mates were Jim Fiddler, Jim and Tim Hunter, Jita Nagra, Andrew Swim, Cory Willcox and  Steve Wood.  The Campbell River  Eagles have an interesting history beginning in the Seventies through the efforts of JIM HOWIE and BILL WALKER, but other coaches like GEORGE SHIELS and CHARLES JOHN would play a part or add a few threads on the ALAN BROWN BOXING TAPESTRY.

The above video combines Alan's shots

with a random sample of other

Inductees

To add them all would be

a challenge, but elsewhere

We can see the full body of inductees.

In his early years in Campbell River, he quickly demonstrated the qualities of a champion.

(from the ALAN BROWN boxing treasure chest of Golden Memories)

THE GOLD RIVER AMATEUR BOXING CLUB In the early Eighties, MONTY BROWN would form the GOLD RIVER BOXING CLUB and Alan would be the shining star.  Some of the other Gold River boxers were: Kevin Archer, Wayne Hinchcliffe, Jason Adair, and Paddy Nelson
OTHER CLUBS -  GAINING EXPERIENCE

                             Manny Sobral - Alan Brown                                  SHAMROCK BOXING CLUB                                                (coach -  bob decker)
During the late Seventies and Eighties, Alan would train at various clubs to expand his skills and experiences such as the club in Victoria, Port Kells, and two  Vancouver clubs including  the Shamrock Boxing Club and Astoria Boxing Club. In 1987 Alan trained at the Nanaimo Boxing club. SPECIAL AWARDS - THE JIMMY SYME AWARD For junior boxers in British Columbia, one of the special awards that stand above all the rest would be THE JIMMY SYMES AWARD. The award was first presented in 1967 and over the years  the best of the best have been recognized such as CHRIS IUS - 1970 and 1971, MICKEY GRIFFIN - 1974, JOHN HERMAN - 1977,  CLIFF BALLENDINE - 1979. Alan's turn to shine and be recognized as the outstanding junior boxer of BC was  1982. BEST INTERMEDIATE (YOUTH) BOXER - VANCOUVER ISLAND

In 1984, Alan became only one of twenty boxers between 1964 and 1984 to be declared a Vancouver Island Amateur Boxing Champion.  Also, in the 1984 tournament held in Parksville Brown earned the distinction of being named the BEST INTERMEDIATE (Youth) BOXER of Vancouver Island.

                    Alan Brown - the man with the medal and the  award CLUBS SHOW - Serve as an important tune-up for Provincial and National action.
Over the years, Alan would participate in a number of club shows. A sample of these were:
.October 30, 1982 - Campbell River - Alan  Brown wins over Astoria  Boxing Club's   RAY ABRAHAM.
.March 12, 1983 - Campbell River - Alan Brown wins over USA boxer SCOTT BELINC of Evertett, Washington.
.May 7, 1983 - Gold River - Alan Brown wins over  Shamrock Boxing Club's MANNY SOBRAL.
.October 29, 1983 - Campbell River - Alan Brown wins  over USA boxer MIKE PAINTER.
.December 3, 1983 - Gold River - Alan Brown wins over Parksville Boxing Club's SCOTT CESSFORD. Spring of 1984   - Gold River Invitational Show ALAN BROWN (Gold River) over JIM HUNTER (CR Eagles). In the awards process - Alan was declared "Best Boxer". Some other boxers represented various Island clubs and one boxer from Vancouver was Manny Sobral - he dropped a decision to Tim Cessford.  Some other boxers were Steve Lincoln, Paddy Nelson and Wayne Hinchcliffe.  Head official was RICK BROUGH.

PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS and BC TOURNAMENTS
Over the years Alan has won his share of Provincial titles.
In 1984, as an Intermediate boxer in the featherweight division, Alan Brown demonstrated his excellence with a significant  victory over a Jimmy Symes award winner JAMIE BALLARD of the noted Cranbrook Eagles Boxing Club in Burnaby, BC at the BOXING BC Training Centre.

                  1984 - Brown - Murdoch - Zelley
1984 Provincial intermediate/Youth Featherweight Champion ALAN BROWN in attendance at the BC boxing training centre in July 1984 having a photo  with other BC Golden Gloves Alumni -  VIC MURDOCH and BRIAN ZELLEY during the training of Canada's 1984 Olympic  Boxing Team. 
   NATIONAL ACTION:
1980  JUNIOR NATIONALS
"SIX EXCELLED  AT PEI" - By Brian Zelley, (as published in   the "Sportcaster,  July 2, 1980)
A team of six  junior boxers including ALAN BROWN of Gold River, and CLIFF BALLENDINE of Victoria excelled at the Canadian junior boxing championships at O'Leary, PEI June 26-28th.  BROWN was one of three gold medal winners in the three day tournament.  Other champions included GREG LABOUCAN  and RANDY GALLER.  Ballendine was one of three silver medalists along with GORDON JONES and LARRY ADAMS. 
Team coaches coaches were Mike Caird and Gary Oakden while JOHN O'SHEA was team manager. An  Official from BC was BCABA President FRED FULLER.  (balance of article not included as it touches on "tough guy" bouts in Nanaimo). 1983 JUNIOR NATIONALS Coaches  Wally Hill and John Kovac Boxers:  alan brown, willy curry, deep butter, manny sobral, paul deluca, aaron wolfe, mike wood, tony francis, and scott bannink 1983 Champions from BC - BROWN and CURRY. 1982 JUNIOR NATIONALS bc team -  coaches - Tommy Hibbert and Ralph Galloway team manager - Jim Gallagher boxers - alan brown, gordon jones, willy curry, jamie ballard, paul simpson, blaine downie, scott bannink.   GOLDEN MEMORIES Alan became the first selection in 2011 for the Junio/Youth category for the BC Anateur Boxing Hall of Fame

The MANNY SOBRAL BOXING STORY

THE MANNY SOBRAL BOXING STORY:  By Brian Zelley

Introduction

I first met MANNY SOBRAL in the Eighties when he was a junior amateur boxer for the Shamrock Boxing Club in Vancouver, BC.   Recently, he has been recognized as a boxer inductee in the
BRITISH COLUMBIA AMATEUR BOXING HALL OF FAME and recently he has been recognized in the coaching area by the BURNABY SPORTS HALL OF FAME.

MANNY SOBRAL JUNIOR BC BOXER

(Photo: Manny training
with boxer Alan Brown
at Bob Decker's 
Shamrock Boxing club
at the Main Street gym.)















Step back in time to the early eighties in British Columbia amateur boxing and boxer
MANNY SOBRAL was one of the many amateur boxers that would be involved in open
competition and club shows.  A sample of others TONY DUFFY, TONY FRANCIS,
WILLY CURRY and many more.

1983 BC JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM

Coaches - WALLY HILL and JOHN KOVACS

Boxers -  Alan Brown, Willy Curry, Deep Butter, MANNY SOBRAL,
Paul Deluca, Aaron Wolfe, Mike Wood, Tony Francis, Scott Bannink.

1984 Junior Nationals Championships - Burnaby, BC -
British Columbia Amateur Boxing Association -  training centre - May 1984.

1985 - BC Amateur Boxing News - hot topics -
- editor brian zelley, president george armson
Special Award Winners:
the harry twist award - JOE PENDRY
the jimmy symes award - MANNY SOBRAL
the harold mann award - RUDY BIANCO

1988 Canadian Senior National Boxing

1988 Canadian Amateur Olympic Boxing Team

SOBRAL in the HERE and NOW

Manny Sobral is still involved in boxing on the Professional level 

and to some degree on the amateur level.  One of his main areas

of interest has been promoting fights which stems back to when

he helped organize and promote one of the BC Golden Gloves

tournaments a number of years back.

In the North Burnaby Boxing Club which used to be a key location

of the Boxing BC headquarters and location for Olympic team 

training for the 1984 and 1988 Canadian teams.  

Also, he was involved with boxer JUNIOR MOAR and was involved

with arranging the promotions of a couple of the title fights in

Richmond, BC.

In the near future, there will be another pro boxing card with

the headliner being ADAM "A-bomb" TRUPISH at River Rock.

And, a special guest being former world champ: Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
aka Edward Gregory, the multi-term golden gloves champion.

  

ZELLEY'S ROUND

(Photo - ALAN BROWN - 1984).

ZELLEY's ROUND - "The Sportcaster" - November 10, 1982

The following is a piece I wrote for publication in 1982 (partial reproduction)

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...The city also has a strong amateur boing program under the NANAIMO BOXING CLUB.
The amateur club was formed in 1971by DAN WRIGHT and BRIAN ZELLEY...The highlight of the NANAIMO club
was the success of JACK SNAITH who won the light-flyweight championship in the 1973 CANADIAN AMATEUR BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS.

In amateur boxing news, DAN WRIGHT who was a co-founder of the Nanaimo Boxing Club and a former
Victoria boxer is now a registered judge with BC AMATEUR BOXING ASSOCIATION.
Vancouver Island Boxing Commissioner, RICK BROUGH of Victoria 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 Friday night in the preliminaries...

Local boxer KIT MUNRO added a touch of class to the fifteen bout boxing card at CAMPBELL RIVER
ON October 30. Munro boxing in his second amateur bout gave an excellent performance to stop
Langley's JOHN RICHARDS midway through the second round of a bantamweight bout,,,

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 the decision to the more experienced MIKE WOOD of Campbell River.

Bantamweight ALAN BROWN of Gold River defeated featherweight RAY ABRAHAM ov Vancouver
in the Best Bout of the night. Brown, the 1980 Junior Canadian Champion survived several
thumping body punches to outclass the heavier Abraham. In the second best bout
Light-Middleweight ROMAN GRIMARD of Campbell River edged Richmond's LYLE HENDRIKSON
in a two-fisted battle.

The card hosted by the Campbell River Eagles Boxing Club was the first of three scheduled
by Campbell River in the current season. Officials for the club include JIM HOWIE, CHARLES JOHN,
GEORGE SHIELS and KEWAL BAINES...Clubs participating came from Campbell River, Crofton,
Langley, Parksville, Richmond, Gold River, Vancouver and Victoria.

October 1984

BC AMATEUR BOXING NEWS - October 1984 - Editor, Brian Zelley

For the month of October, there wasn't much in the way of current news to report, but communications with folks like Jerry Shears (Quebec) and Ainslie Frame of Ottawa's "Beaver Boxing Club" did provide some National data such as a focus on
Ontario boxer Steve Beaupre and the list of the 1984 National Champions.

In Seniors it was Steve Beaupre to Lennox Lewis in Intermediate it was Vitto Salvatore to S. Hervieux and in the Juniors held in Burnaby, BC it was Norman Tynes to Willy Curry. As a special awards judge along with Tommy Yule and Glynn Jones it
was a time of concentration watching all the Junior bouts in detail when it got down to the final selection it wasn't easy picking between Eric Grenier, Scotty Olson and Stewart Hilton. But, Grenier was picked in 1984.

An added addition to the News was a submission by Carol Brown of Gold River - she sent two photos of Canadian boxer Greg Johnson sparring with Alan Brown and break dancing in the Village Square.

A real special part of the edition was listing Canada's carded amateur boxers 1972 to 1984.
How many remember names like - Ian Clyde, Cleve Denny, Bryan Gibson, Kevin Howard, George Mason,
the Nolan folks Brian, Frank & Steve Nolan and others such as Carmen Rinke and Lawrence Rolfe.