BOXING in British Columbia

Amateur and Professional Boxing in British Columbia has an interesting past.

One of the big events to take place in Professional Boxing was the 1972 bouts between Muhammed Ali vs George Chuvalo and the
Clyde Gray vs Manuel Gonzalez welterweight fight.

Amateur boxing has had a rich history with the big two events being the 1954 British Empire Games in Greater Vancouver and the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria and related communities such as Saanich and Esquimalt.

It is hoped that those interested in the sport will pull together
to see positive growth and action in 2009 and beyond.

A review of the various Sports Hall of Fame such as
the B C Sports Hall of Fame, the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame and the newly created one in Nanaimo indicates that they do not have many individuals that were involved in boxing .Despite being overlooked, many good folks have created an interesting history in amateur and professional boxing..

For folks in Vancouver, who could forget the Inner City Gym
located on the poor side of town on Hastings Street. In the early
eighties, what fight fans could forget the likes of Gordie Racette,
Dave Simmonds and others that fought in some Eighties pro boxing cards in places like Nanaimo and Vancouver. Both
Racette and Simmonds were two of the pros that trained at the
Inner City Gym

On the amateur side of boxing, the tournament of tournaments
for B C boxers would be the B C Golden Gloves. Over the years,
there have some American boxers competring in the Golden Gloves tournaments that have gone onto high ranking in professional boxing such as Portland's Ray Lampkin,
Lampkin turned pro and would face lightweight champion
Roberto Duran. Some B C boxers would win medals in International competition such as Harold Mann, Frankie Scott
and Dale Walters.

Other amateur tournaments would include the Bronze, Silver and
Emerald Gloves, and from time-to-time the Diamond Belt
Championships such as two in Vancouver in 1967 and 1968
and one in Victoria in 1980.

Controls in Professional Boxing

An important level of control would be the various commissions such as the Nanaimo or Victoria Athletic Commissions.

The Nanaimo Athletic Commission was organized in 1980
in preparation of a professional fight card at the Frank Crane arena.