If it’s true that every cloud comes with a silver lining, the opposite was true for the Two Rivers Boxing club last weekend at the Silver Gloves competition in the Lower Mainland, with two decisive wins bringing its fair share of precious medal and a lone loss providing the cloud.
Both Haven Gillmaier and Olin Lee won their bouts, the former in a unanimous decision and the later after ref called the match in the first round. Kyle Tessier, however, lost his match on a split decision, with a contentious two points taken by the ref.
It was Lee’s first competitive bout, having only an exhibition match and sparring time under his belt. Lee faced off again Parker Campbell, a worth paw hailing out of Mission. Lee dominated the match, leading to two eight counts for Campbell, which is all a boxer is allowed in the category.
“It was excellent,” coach Matt Tessier said.
“It’s surprising because in your first bout usually you’re going to come out and swing wildly. He didn’t. He fought very well – lots of combinations, nice tight game; he did exactly what we wanted him to do.”
Lee, for his part, was relaxed in the ring, without the proverbial butterflies, which helped him stay focused. Lee went into the fight expecting a technical bout against the south paw, but found Campbell had other plans.
“I was going to go in and fight real technical, but he came in and he just wanted to brawl with me, so I brawled it out,” Lee said.
And Lee stood toe-to-toe with Campbell, getting the final eight count within a minute and a half.
It was Gillmaier’s first match in two and a half years, after a bad knockout during a match, but getting back into the ring was all he needed to get back into his old groove.
“There was a little bit of nerves, but once I got in there I got back to the basics and got my old style back so I felt really comfortable in the ring,” Gillmaier said.
In the match, Haven out matched his opponent Daniel Valrukh, hailing out of Richmond, with his foot speed, darting in and out.
“Haven was too fast for him,” Matt Tessier said.
“He moved around the ring perfectly.”
Gillmaier controlled the entire first round, knocking Valrukh down in the first. Valrukh took a standing eight count in the second round as well, but the fight continued for the duration, resulting in a unanimous decision in favour of Gillmaier.
Now that he’s back in it, starting with a bang, Gillmaier is focusing once again on competitive boxing.
Kyle Tessier faced Oozman Shaharu in a rubber match, his third match against Shaharu with each carrying a win and a loss.
Kyle Tessier came into the match focused on winning the match, but it all went sideways in the first round when Tessier got called for hitting too far back three times, losing two points in the process and sitting on the edge of disqualification.
“When I got that threat of disqualification, that really messed with me. It screwed with my game plan a little bit,” he said.
Despite the slip up, the match continued through the second and third with both boxers throwing to win.
“It was a good fight; they fought hard,” Matt Tessier said.
Kyle controlled the middle of the ring, pushing Shaharu to the ropes in the second, but by the third, Tessier started to flag.
Despite the lost points, the fight was called as a split decision, with Shaharu edging out Tessier for the win.
“It was really disheartening for Kyle,” Matt Tessier said.
But the loss hasn’t kept him down – he’s already ready to do it again.
“I’m looking forward to a rematch, that is what I want,” he said.
The club is hoping to host a rumble sometime in spring and perhaps Quesnel residents can cheer Kyle on to a win against Shaharu.