VANCOUVER ISLAND BOXING - Topix

VANCOUVER ISLAND BOXING - Topix

it start with the Campbell River Eagles Boxing Club
and touches on the two other long lasting clubs -
the Nanaimo Boxing Club and the 
Comox Valley Boxing Club.

The link above takes us to eight stories  which have not been
widely promoted

Nanaimo Boxing - 40 years - September 2011

THE NANAIMO BOXING CLUB STORY
One of the many boxer in his year of glory - 2009
Nanaimo boxer to fight in Caribbean
a piece about STEFAN MELIDEO.

NANAIMO BOXING CLUB (1971 - 2011)
-  September will mark the 40th. official anniversary.

NANAIMO ALUMNI - BOXERS 
(sample of names only, as many trainees were not that active)
- Barry Creswell - Bob Jameson - Bob Pegues
Bob Walsh - Brian Zelley - Britton Gillette - Barry Neufield 
Chris Rathy - Clark MacLellan - Dan Wright - Dave Alton
Darren Lussier - Cody Redford  - Don Preston - Don Williams - Jack Snaith  
John Navaroli - John Ormandy - Kevin Jolly -  Kevin Long - Lee Campbell
 - Lloyd Anderson - Lyle Jack - Malcolm Eldridge
Mark Barr - Mark Guttenberg - Mickey Griffin
Mike Murray - Norm Greenwell - Ralph Torrie - Rob Argyle
Rick Davidson - Ron Williams - Stefan Melideo
Steve Venuti - Stu Springett - Takashi Sasagawa -
 Wade Marling -Wayne Peace - Zach McKay -
others: kelly gourlay,   dwayne evenson, dave houliston,  doug english,  
robbie wentland, 

(there are others including some of the active members and some
of the trainees that did not compete)
FOUNDERS - Brian Zelley - Dan Wright - assisted by John Ormandy
and George Nepper. Some of the past and present coaches/trainers -
Brian Zelley, Dan Wright,  Clark MacLellan,
 and current head coach Barry Creswell. 
In 1976 Nanaimo boxer Mickey Griffin assisted in coaching;
Long time supporters of the club were Dorothy and Sid Runacres.

The Foundation for the Nanaimo Boxing Club was the Newcastle Boxing Club
* the club was founded by George Nepper in September 1963.
Prior to the formation of the club, George would trave on a 
regular basis to Chemainus/Ladysmith with the local boxers
to train with the likes of Skimp Williams, Danny Daniels and
many others including Terry Eastman.  The initial folks to help
with the coaching in 1963 would be Harry Pollitt and Skimp Williams.
Some of the early boxers in Nanaimo were the Nepper brothers
Gilles, Jules, Leon and Roger, the Balatti brothers  Chris and Ted,
Brian Zelley, Leo Rock and Mike Lazare, but many others would follow. 
The first fight card would be  January 1964 in Victoria, and the first
boxer to step into the ring for Nanaimo was Roger Nepper.  

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

BRIAN ZELLEY - Amateur Boxing

ZELLEY's ROUND

The term Zelley's Round is a term used by the Sportcaster sports paper published in Victoria, BC, Canada
in the Seventies and Eighties. During this time period, I belonged to four different boxing clubs in Victoria.
To cover events that were not covered in detail in the local daily paper, I wrote numerous articles on boxing
with a Greater Victoria connection. In the early years, the term "Zelley's Round" was not used.

An example of the early years was:
BOXING
"A Tournament Of Champions" - By Brian Zelley, "The Sportcaster", November 14, 1974

This article covered Victoria boxers engaged in a "tournament of Champions" that took place
in Nanaimo, BC on November 2, 1974. The event was hosted by the Nanaimo Boxing Club.
The three boxers engaged in activity were DAN WRIGHT, TERRY ORR, and IAN WEIR.

The article also touched on a bout by boxer Ian Weir on October 26, 1974
when he faced Del Morgan of North Dakota.

It also, commented on a Canadian bout that featured University of Victoria studen Wayne Crowe
on Wild World of Sports television show in November relating to a May 1974 Championships.