If we just focus on amateur boxing in BC, the Seventies was an interesting decade of activity
due to the formation of the Canadian Amateur Boxing Association in 1969
and the many changes effecting the sport.
For active boxers in the open senior class, they are all products of the Sixties, but in
the early years of the Seventies there would be many new clubs, coaches and competitions
with new stars to carry the torch forward. From Vancouver Island to the Rocky Mountains,
"TIMES THEY WERE A CHANGING'.
To begin the story, the 1969/1970 boxing year was a bonus for British Columbia boxing,
and likely started with the 1970 Golden Gloves in Vancouver and reached
the Commonwealth Games with some boxers from British Columbia on the team
and Jack Meda from Prince George winning a bronze medal.
Then there were "old friends" that had been touching gloves and shadow boxing
from before the Sixties in the form of FRANK SCOTT and FREDDY FULLER
Back to Vancouver Island, there would be growth and expansion with the formation of the
Nanaimo Boxing Club in 1971 and a major increase in activity in Victoria in 1974. Clubs in Campbell River and Parksville would join the party for another round of "fistic happenings". Some of the names
include Howard Curling, Mike Caird, Brian Zelley, Dan Wright, Jim Howie Bill Walker, Art Smith,
Lou Bujdoso and gyms full of boxers such as Mickey Griffin, Jack Snaith, Bob Pegues, Barry Creswell,
There would be fight cards in Nanaimo, Campbell River, and Victoria and tournaments and club shows in Greater Vancouver and many clubs such as Cloverale, Richmond, North West Eagles, Astoria, Cranbrook and the Spruce Capital Warriors of Prince George, and many more such as Langley and the last years of the old Firefighters and boxers like DAVE WYLIE taking another shot at ring glory.
