The 2017 B.C. Bronze Gloves Championships at 2 Rivers Boxing Club in West Quesnel was a sold-out event, with fighters coming from all over B.C. to compete on Nov. 25-26.
The air was thick with anticipation Saturday night, as crowds gathered to see the fights.
Quesnel’s first three boxers took part in exhibition rounds. Young 2 Rivers boxer Seth West, eight, was first up from Quesnel, fighting Cruz Gordon from Five Star Boxing Academy in Fort St. John in the 21 kg exhibition fight.
The young boxers gave it their all in a clean fight, as the crowd cheered them on.
Next up was Quesnel’s Rylan Maurice, nine, in the 28 kg category, fighting Sarvin Saini of Prince George’s Shaolin Boxing Club. Maurice held his ground against Saini’s punches and managed to remember his training as his coaches supported him from outside the ring.
In the 42 kg fight, 2 Rivers’ Landon Schwartz, 11, boxed Peachland Boxing Club’s Blayne Henneberry, with Schwartz getting in some heavy punches during the match.
All the boys took home medals for their participation in the exhibition rounds, and showed the crowd just how hard they’ve been working leading up to the event.
Crowd favourite Britynn Carter, 11, was 2 Rivers’ next competitor, fighting in the Junior B Novice Female 42 kg class against Gabby Sanderson from Precision Boxing Club in Nanaimo.
The girls both proved their mettle, with Sanderson winning the decision in a tough fight.
And finally Quesnel’s Kelly Gerk, 18, was matched against Avery Strilchuk of Peachland for the Elite Novice Male event on Saturday night. Kelly did his boxing club proud, winning against his opponent in the first round with a technical knockout (TKO).
On Sunday Gerk returned for the main event, winning a unanimous decision against Lion’s Roar Boxing’s Mike Basran, of Kamloops, and winning the Bout of the Day accolade for his Saturday night TKO.
Gerk turned out to be the star of the Bronze Gloves event, as he also took home the Bronze Boy award, as the only competitor in the semi-finals and finals who won both his fights.
Gerk said: “My first fight was only 57 seconds in the first round. They called a TKO. It went well with all the training we’ve been doing here.
“People say I fight with heart, and I get in there to show everyone else that this is what I train for.
“My second fight was against a 6ft 2in fighter; he had five fights to my three. It went really well too.
“This is all the best I’ve had. Saturday was the first fight I’d ever won, so I’m really happy with it.”
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Sunday also saw Carter fighting again, where she lost the decision to Sanderson once more.
2 Rivers’ Emmett Emblau, 12, boxed his Quesnel compadre Schwartz in an exhibition match, and 2 Rivers’ Caleb Tetreault, nine, also fought an exhibition fight against Quesnel’s Maurice.
Schwartz said he was nervous at first.
“As the fights went on, it got better and it was fun,” he said.
The boxers are excited for what comes next, and say they are ready for whatever coach Wally Doern sends their way. They certainly proved they are up to any challenge.
