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Boxers return with silver medals

Ray Beaulieu and Rob McGregor jabbed for gold but were hooked with silver at the provincial boxing championships in Revelstoke, B.C.
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Ray Beaulieu snagged a silver medal and a broken nose at the provincial boxing championships in Revelstoke

Ray Beaulieu and Rob McGregor jabbed for gold but were hooked with silver at the provincial boxing championships in Revelstoke, B.C. earlier this month.

Following a semi-final win that left him with a broken nose, Beaulieu, fighting in the 75 kg senior open division, stepped into the ring against Rob Taylor, the current provincial champion, for the provincial title.

“We knew we were in tough, he [Taylor] wins it every year,” coach of the 2 Rivers Boxing Club, Wally Doern said.

Although it was his first appearance at the provincial championships, Beaulieu, a technical boxer, felt confident with the strategy he and Doern had drawn up, feed Taylor a steady diet of jabs and follow up with combinations.

The plan did work however briefly in the first round, but Taylor had seen Beaulieu’s bout the previous day and made adjustments to his strategy.

Rather than step backwards to avoid punches, Taylor, a very experienced boxer, shifted gears and began to step and weave from side to side to slip away from most of Beaulieu’s heavy punches and countered with clean, crisp punches, the type of punch favoured under the computer-scoring system.

“It seemed he was a lot cleaner with his punches and I was doing a lot of chasing,” Beaulieu said.

Taylor won the fight by a wide margin.

Although Beaulieu’s gold-medal bout did not turn out as expected, Doern was pleased with the overall results and optimistic about the future.

“He’s second in a very strong division,” Doern said.

“Taylor is beatable, but now we have to wait a year to do it.”

Beaulieu earned a shot at the provincial title by taking a tough decision against Shawn Roberts earlier in the competition.

With the score tied at 3-3 in the second round, Beaulieu had established his jab and had Roberts backing up, but then the unexpected happened.

Roberts introduced a counter-punch to Beaulieu’s nose.

“I’m sure it broke the cartilage and I began to bleed a lot,” Beaulieu said of the punch.

Following some attention from coach Wally Doern, the ring doctor allowed Beaulieu to continue.

Beaulieu knew he had to turn it up a notch at the risk of the bout being stopped.

“I came out like a man on fire,” Beaulieu said of the third round.

The determination paid off as Beaulieu managed to eke out a three-point advantage and the decision.

“It was a bloody war,” he said.

Like Doern, Beaulieu was pleased with his overall performance and remained focused on his goal.

“I have two more years to make the national team, that’s probably my ultimate goal in boxing,” he said.

“I need it and the club needs it.”

For his part, McGregor stepped into the ring to face Ken Huber of the Kamloops Boxing Club in the Saturday evening main event bout.

Although, both he and Doern were optimistic the gold medal was within reach, McGregor had difficulty putting his game plan into effect.

“Rob just wasn’t landing clean punches,” Doern said.

“He was just flat, he couldn’t get the game plan to work.”

Given the size of Quesnel, having two boxers compete in the provincial gold-medal finals is no small feat and a testament to Doern, Beaulieu said.

Doern, in addition to teaching club members how to box, also teaches them control, sportsmanship and dedication.

The boxing club is a family, Beaulieu said and Doern teaches members to look out for each other and treat each other with respect.

“He is a good friend and is like a father to myself and the other club members,” Beaulieu said.

“He is a hero in our community and deserves recognition for his efforts.

“Without Wally, boxing in Quesnel would be but a dream.”

For those interested in boxing as a sport or simply for fitness, the club runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Friendship Centre, 319 North Fraser Drive.

For information call, 250-991-5061.