2010 BC GOLDEN GLOVES

GEORGE CHUVALO - Expected special guest of the event, is best known for his two bouts with MUHAMMAD ALI.  The first was a 15 round title fight in the mid-Sixties and the "Clouting Canuck" took the "Louisville Lip" the distance, and the second fight  took place in Vancouver in 1972 in Ali' great comeback from exile.  In the semi-main event was Canada's CLYDE GRAY vs Texan MANUEL GONZALES.

Before the first Muhammad Ali/Cassius Clay fight, George was involved in an exciting  12-round bout with former heavyweight two-time champion FLOYD PATTERSON. 

OBJECTIVES - Now I don't know what the prime objectives behind the staging of the 2010 BC Golden Gloves on Vancouver Island in the community of Langford near Victoria is, but the possibilities are endless as to the impact that this tournament can have on the future of amateur boxing in British Columbia.

What I would like to see for this 70th tournament in it's 71st year from 1939 would be for  a convincing show of solidarity by former Golden Gloves boxers of at least 70 to be part of the opening of the show in a march into the ring to put the sizzle into the show and glitter into the "Golden Gloves" to start a fresh new beginning for the sport of amateur boxing in British Columbia, Canada.  The ideal leader of this exciting moment should be none other that the 1960 "BC Golden Boy" ALAN CURTIS that fought for the Esquimalt Boxing Club 50 years ago.  To have him followed by other boxers from the Sixties an the following decades would add a real "golden touch" and trigger a flood of golden memories to begin this event.  The real ace in the hole or the magic touch would then be for Canada's own GEORGE CHUVALO to join the boxers  in the ring to welcome all the boxers, coaches, officials volunteers and fans before the opening bell.

Opening event - The plans are still being worked out for the opening ceremony of the 2010 tournament by the coach of the Capital City Boxing Club.  Some former Golden Gloves boxer are expect to be in attendance, but no decision has been made concerning their role in any special events.

Golden Gloves souvenir program - It is expected that some historical data will be added to the souvenir program that may include all or some of the past "Golden Boys" from               1939 to 2009.   For interests sake, the first Golden Boy was PHIL VICKERY.  Sadly, during WW II, Phil became a casualty of war.

Not all of the past Golden Boys were from British Columbia, for instance                           in 1969 and 1968 they were USA boxer NEIL KNIGHT and RAY LAMPKIN.  In International boxing, Portland's RAY LAMPKIN is best known for his world lightweight championship with champion ROBERTO  DURAN in the Seventies.  Ray is also a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1978,in a special International tournament called the "Bathtub Capital Golden Gloves" tournament in Nanaimo, BC, one of the boxers was Washington States' CHUCK ROBINSON who would be a member of the ill-fated 1980 USA boxing team that would  be on the plane that crashed in Poland. 

After Vickery, the next four boxers to earn the highest special award included:                     TERRY DOYLE, BOB HICKEY, JACK HAMILTON and HARRY SMITH/ 

COMPETITION So far various boxing clubs have expressed an interest in the tournament including clubs in Prince George, Cranbrook, Greater Vancouver & Lower Mainland .

A local Langford boxer that will be in competition will be JORDAN BAIRD.

More details and names  will be added at a future time.

According to Boxing BC President CHRIS JONES there are expected to be some coaches and officials' clinics during the non-boxing time periods.

Also, attempts are being made to have the BC Golden Boy of 1960 in attendance to celebrate his "Golden Anniversary"

hey brian. just one fast question. do u know how many rings are avaiblable in that tournement in langford? jsut 1 ring? or more.?

Note - to better enable sharing  - shortened the title as place and date contained in the body of the story.

LIGHT-WELTERWEIGHT division expected to be hot with at least six competitors.

Throughout the history of the BC Golden Gloves, the light-welterweight division has always been one to watch for action, activity and achievement.  If all six boxers show-up, the 2010 tournament should be able to match the past with excellence.  If the number for each division could be raised to eight that would make for some very interesting matches.

With six boxers in a division, then part of the process will be to determine which two  receive a bye to get the semi-finals down to four and the finals to the last two standing. 

Three of the boxers in the light-welterweight division are Dylan Bishop, Jag Seehra and Jordan Baird. 

GOLDEN GLOVES - First night of action was filled with some interesting matches

for the junior and novice boxers with more senior open boxers expected to rock on Saturday.

A major highlight was the intermission when former  Canadian heavyweight champion GEORGE CHUVALO climbed into the ring with some of the BC Golden Gloves Alumni that had competed in various Golden Gloves tournaments from 1960 onward including boxers from the 1960 Golden Gloves - ALAN CURTIS & TOMMY BLACK and other Sixties boxers LES VEGAS and BRIAN ZELLEY, and Seventies boxers including IAN JOHNSTONE,  DON ORR, BARRY CRESWELL and BOB PEGUES.

For the second night show past boxers to be introduced during the intermission were Don Orr, Ian Johnstone, Brian Zelley, Bob Pegues, Derrick Hoyt, and Tommy Black.

The two day event was an interesting event sharing the "Golden Dreams" of the boxers and the "Golden Memories" of the Golden Gloves Alumni and other past boxers from past decades including former Golden Gloves boxers Danny O'Sullivan, Mike Caird, and Gary Robinson.

We attended Golden Gloves on the Saturday, and I have to say I was utterly disappointed. The show was completely devastating for me. There was no ring lights, food was the quality of that at the P.N.E. on a good day and the crowd seemed to be limited to families. Who organized this? The lack of detail was very disappointing.Watching the fight amongst Abul Hamin and Sean O'leary was the kicker for me. The ref called this fight for what definetly seemed like no good reason, O'leary had a bleeding nose but no sign of any injury and in a split second was called. The fight seemed to belong to O'leary and then a ref just called it at the sign of blood. The interesting thing is that prior to that fight two small kids (12 years) were not called as one boy was bleeding like I have never seem a child bleed. The Golden Boy was a fantastic boxer which saved the show but I think in future the clubs hosting should realize it is Golden Gloves and "the show" requires attention. You can't just depend on the boxers.

I liked the venue, it was great to have past Golden Gloves participants and George Chuvalo in attendance.  It would have been nice to have a larger crowd for the boxers to experience that 'feeling'.  It would have also been nice to have more participation, but in reality it is difficult to keep high levels of participation amongst competitors. Who was crowned the 'Golden Boy'?

GOLDEN BOY for 2010 - DYLAN BISHOP

In action at the Golden Gloves, it was Dylan Bishop in the elite light-welterweight division that was named Golden Boy due to his victory over  Jordan Baird.

I believe, sadly, that Boxing is dead in BC. Much has to do with the problems associated with running a tournament over two days, given that boxers are now only permitted to box once per day, and the fees charged to boxers wanting to joing a club anywhere near the city. Gone are the days when the boxing gym was sponsored by a service club or pulp mill. I remember paying something like $75 per yr for club dues, and $25 for registration. Today monthly club dues are ofthen north of $100 per month.  When I was activly boxing (late 1980s), the old timers would speak of the golden gloves running two days straight, dawn til dusk, with multiple fights on one day or evening. Even when I participated, it was a day long event, normally with more than one fight per day if you advanced, with only Open class fighters, and lots of participation from US clubs. Today, there are only a hand full of Open fighters. Now with Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate Fighting, without all the regulation of boxing, the lack of SHOW that many seem to demand when paying out huge admittance fees, you can just about say boxing is finished.