Boxers from the 2 Rivers Boxing Club held their own, in front of a packed Bouchie Lake Hall crowd Saturday, against competition from across B.C. as they boxed in memory of Kelly Mooney, a former member of the club who passed away 10 years ago almost to the day.
“I was very, very happy with the evening,” 2 Rivers Boxing Club coach Wally Doern said with a big smile.
“I was overwhelmed by the attendance.”
Doern was also pleased with the performance of his boxers, although a couple of them were a little unfortunate.
One of the less fortunate was Haven Gillmaire.
Gillmaire started his 55 kg sub-novice bout on the right foot, landing several good combination punches against Curtis Albertson of the Williams Lake Boxing Club.
Unfortunately for Gillmaire, he has a habit of dropping his hands just before throwing a combination and that proved to be his downfall.
“He stepped into a straight right,” Doern said of the punch that dropped Gillmaire to the canvas.
Although he has been coaching boxing for many years, Doern admitted watching one of his boxers being knocked out is still very difficult.
“I thought I was going to be sick,” Doern said.
As for Gillmaire, he said his only memory of the bout is the referee counting him out.
Sporting a broken nose, Gillmaire admitted the knockout taught him an important lesson.
“Keep your hands up,” he said, acknowledging it was a lesson that should have been learned a long time ago.
Things turned around for the 2 Rivers Boxing Club when Dan Mott stepped into the ring to face Andrii Zhebrouski of the Queensborough Boxing Club in New Westminster, in a 75 kg senior novice bout.
Mott went to work quickly moving Zhebrouski into a corner and administered several body punches before the midway point of the first round.
With Zhebrouski distracted by the heavy body punches, Mott landed a quick right hand that sent his opponent reeling.
The referee called in the attending physician who, after examining Zhebrouski’s face, put an end to the bout.
“I was impressed with Dan,” Doern said.
“He has a wicked right hand.”
Devin Mooney was next in the ring for Quesnel as he faced Louis Capangan of the Queensborough Boxing Club.
Despite a strong start to the first round, Mooney found himself in trouble halfway through the round as Capangan caught him off guard several times to land hard punches.
Mooney received two eight counts in the first round alone.
“I thought Devon was finished in the first round,” Doern said.
“He looked extremely tired.
“I thought we were done.”
Mooney, survived the round and caught his second wind, which Doern attributed to Mooney’s superior conditioning.
Mooney took control of the bout in the second round and outpunched his opponent.
Both boxers were punch-tired in the third round, arms simply dangling at times, but Mooney’s conditioning gave him the obvious edge as the judges gave him the victory in a unanimous decision, much to the delight of the hometown crowd.
Jake Stromquist did not fare as well when he stepped into the ring for 2 Rivers Boxing Club.
Stromquist, fighting in the 75 kg novice division, became ill early in the first round and threw up.
The referee called the bout and gave the win to Bjorn Green of the Shaolin Boxing Club in Prince George.
Daryl Petsul, 39, finally got his first bout under his belt as he faced Chad Alexander of the Shaolin Boxing Club in the 91+ kg senior novice division.
“He did very well in the first round,” Doern said.
Alexander, a more experienced boxer, used his experience in the final two rounds to keep his distance from the charging Petsul.
Coming off a bout of the flu earlier in the week, Petsul ran out of gas in the third round and had difficulty cornering Alexander.
The judges awarded the bout to Alexander with a 4-1 decision.
The main event featured Ray Beaulieu of Quesnel against Harley Mulvahill of the Williams Lake Boxing Club.
The bout was a display of boxing skill and tactics as both boxers scored with good punches, with Beaulieu holding a slight advantage, Doern said.
Sensing the bout slip away, Mulvahill stepped up his attack in the latter part of the third round to earn a 3-2 split decision.
“It was very close,” Doern said.
“You couldn’t see a better match on TV.”
The gang at 2 Rivers Boxing Club have now turned their attention to the Bronze Gloves competition slated for May 27 – 28 in Parskville, B.C.