Five members of the 2 Rivers Boxing Club of Quesnel returned from a weekend competition in Prince George with a combined record of 2-2-1.
First up for Quesnel was Kelly McKerricher who marked his debut as an amateur boxer Friday evening when he stepped into the ring to face Patrick Thornhill from New Westminster.
McKerricher, 16, a student at Correlieu senior secondary school, did not look out of place in the early going, landing several jabs as well as combination flurries.
“He did pretty good for his first bout,” 2 Rivers Boxing Club coach Wally Doern said.
But inexperience showed itself halfway through the second round and then through the third round as McKerricher ran out of gas in his sub-novice 69 kg bout.
“He started coming in with his left hand too low,” Doern said.
Unfortunately that allowed Thornhill to score with his jab often enough to take the bout on points.
“The technical side was OK, I don’t think he got more jabs in than me,” McKerricher said as he tried to catch his breath after the bout.
“It’s a lot more tiring than practice,” McKerricher said after the bout, still breathing heavily.
McKerricher, barely minutes after his first amateur bout, knew exactly what he had to focus on before he stepped into the ring again.
“More running,” he said with a sheepish smile.
Sunday proved to be a better day for the 2 Rivers Boxing Club as both Greg Petsul and Haven Gillmaier left the ring with victories under their belt.
Petsul, 13, pushed his record to 3-2 with a split decision over Saq’a Kage Thevarge of Lillooet.
The order of the day for Petsul was to throw 3-4 punch combinations, Doern said.
But Petsul came up with a plan of his own.
It wasn’t until the second round that Petsul realized he had a reach advantage over Thevarge, at which point he decided to capitalize on that advantage and began to use
his jab more frequently.
“It’s probably how he won the match,” Doern conceded.
Gillmaier, 14, earned his first victory as an amateur boxer Sunday afternoon with a decision over Oaks Harrison from Williams Lake.
Although there is never anything easy about going three rounds of boxing, Gillmaier followed the plan to earn a unanimous decision over Harrison.
The plan included multiple punch combinations and the obvious keeping the hands up to protect the head.
“He followed the plan well,” Doern said.
With all going well, Gillmaier knew he was ahead on points going into the third round and had only one thought.
“I just needed to keep working hard and keep my hands up so he didn’t get any good scoring chances,” he said.
For Matt O’Flynn Sunday proved to be a tough learning experience.
“It was so frustrating,” he said.
In preparation for the bout, Doern and O’Flynn had worked on a strategy that involved a lot of movement, both side to side, in and out and throwing straight left and right hook combinations.
Unfortunately the best laid plans do not always work out.
In this case neither O’Flynn nor Doern had anticipated Danny Sherbank of Edmonton would be a left-handed boxer.
“I’m not used to facing southpaws,” O’Flynn said.
“I knew five seconds into the bout the plan was not going to work.
“It’s like trying to use the left side of your brain after using the right side all of your life.”
Despite the frustrating loss, O’Flynn whose record is now 3-2, said he was already looking forward to getting back into the ring.
For Daryl Petsul, 39, the trip to Prince George was a disappointment.
Daryl, who took up boxing less than two years ago, was looking forward to his first amateur bout.
“I really enjoy the competition aspect of the sport,” he said.
Unfortunately, Daryl was the only boxer that signed up in the heavyweight division.
“What can you do,” he said, resigned to the fact his first bout would have to come another day.
Boxers from the 2 Rivers Boxing Club are now preparing for the Golden Gloves championships in Richmond, B.C. in April.
“I’m chomping on the bit,” O’Flynn said in true cowboy fashion.