Thursday, September 22, 2011

THE SIXTIES

BC GOLDEN GLOVES BOXERS , SIXTIES; by brian zelley


                                                    JACK MEDA - HEAVYWEIGHT




JACK MEDA, was one of many boxers of the Sixties that was overlooked,
but despite these setback, he shined in the Seventies as Heavyweight 
Amateur Champion of Canada.  Also, the other Canadian heavyweight
champions from the Sixties that were overlooked were BILL TAYLOR
and EARL MCLEAY. 


Another overlooked boxer was MARIJAN KOLAR, a light-heavyweight 
champion.  Then there was bantamweight star JIMMY MACMILLAN.



LOOKING BACK TO THE SIXTIES


Some of the boxers in the Sixties fought in the Fifties and some fought in the
Seventies, and some followed up the active boxing with coaching and/or
officiating.  But, the main issue still is that far too many are forgotten,
overlooked or ignored.  Of the above list only 24 were remembered in a
piece that appeared in the 1971 BC Golden Gloves program hosted and
sponsored by the BRITISH COLUMBIA AMATEUR BOXING 
ASSOCIATION and the producer of the program was the Vancouver
based Murray Cameron Enterprises.


Now the problem with publications about amateur boxing in BC
that restricts the memory page to a select few often overlooks some
top quality boxers and adds names of  some local heroes that may 
or may not have been first class with high levels of skill and 
achievements and further divides the Provincial amateur boxing
into  groups of have and have not.


THE USA CONNECTION
From the early days of Golden Gloves action in 1939 to many 
decades of action in Vancouver, Tacoma, Seattle and 
Portland there have been many top quality boxers from the 
USA compete in BC Golden Gloves and Diamond Belt Tournaments
Some key ones in the Sixties were  Gary Ferrari, Michael Colbert,
Neil Knight, Ray Lampkin and Wesley Craven.  Another name was
George Perez.  A regular from California was Larry Houseman.
Then throughout the decades, BC boxers would compete in 
USA tournaments such as EARL MCLEAY, a heavyweight 
that was overlooked in the highlights of the Sixties in 1971.


                                   NEIL KNIGHT - GOLDEN BOY

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