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Rumble stumbles

The biggest fight in the next Rumble took place before the event got off the ground and it, unfortunately, ended in a TKO.
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Kyle trains for his bout before the Rumble was cancelled.

The biggest fight in the next Rumble took place before the event got off the ground and it, unfortunately, ended in a TKO.

"We're having a hard time getting the support right now," coach Matt Tessier said.

After a series of boxers pulling out due, mostly, to sickness or injury, clubs refusing to make the trip north and a dearth of fighters up here, the Rumble #19 has been cancelled.

This despite support from their association trying to encourage clubs to go north.

This is the second time the event has been cancelled, as Two Rivers has been scrambling for support ever since Wally Doern, with his vast web of connections obtained over years of experience, left the club.

The complaint is one many clubs and teams in the north are familiar with – Tessier has a hard time getting clubs to make the trip northward.

"It's frustrating," he said.

"We don't have any problems travelling south with our kids."

Despite a couple of great bouts in the making, including what promised to be an action-packed brawl between Kyle Tessier and Adam Woods, disparate boxers that wouldn't match and a loss of clubs that made the trip during Doern's days made the logistics of the Rumble too difficult, putting the club once again in the awkward position of cancelling the show.

Two Rivers is one of the few clubs in the north who puts on a show. Both the Williams Lake Club and Shaolin Boxing in Prince George don’t put on shows. The only other show in the north is in Kitimat, which the club put on for the first time last year.

Making it even harder for the club, is the show was to raise money to cover travelling expenses, so they could go to where the bouts are and gain experience that way.

Traditionally, this is Two Rivers’ second final show of the season at home, so they won’t be trying to put on another show until fall.

The club, while currently frustrated, is hopeful that next year they will be able to put on a show.