many unsung heroes: BC BOXING COACHES and OFFICIALS, Seventies

BACKBONE OF BC BOXING:  By Brian Zelley

Going back to the Seventies will provide many names of
coaches and official.  By 2012, some are remembered and
some are not.  One of the moist known names of that time
period was former boxing coach and official BERT LOWES.
Some may remember him as a boxing coach in the Fifties
at Vancouver's South Hill Boxing Club or in the Sixties
as one of coaches of the Firefighters Boxing Club.


(photo of Fred Fuller and Bert Lowes)


  Fred Fuller is another
person that is well known in local and national circles
and was a coach with the East Vancouver Optimists
boxing club and would later beome a ring official and
the President of BOXING BC.


As we wind out path through the Seventies there are
some family groups that have been involved in 
coaching and officiating.


Some names to remember include:
Jim and Maureen Airey, Alex and George Angelomatis,
Joe and Terry Cooke.  Terry is still coaching but his 
coaching days go back to the Sixties.  Joe was a 
champion boxer and also refereed in the Seventies.

(Joe Cooke referee of the Bob Pegues vs Les Hamilton bout  nid-Seventies)


Some other family names include Jim and Sylvia Gallagher and the Ius 
brothers Sid and Shirley Knopp, Harold and Irving Mann, Marg and Pat
O'Reilly, Art and George Shiels, Jeff and Tommy Yule.


But there were also many individuals that were involved as builders 
in amateur boxing.  Some would begin new clubs in the Seventie
such as Jim Howie who would be one of the founders of the 
Campbell River Eagles boxing club that became an official
club in 1970 or in the late Seventies there was Art Smith and
Brian Sacho of the Parksville Boxing Club and many others
on Vancouver island and elsewhere throughout BC.

Others would come from other Provinces with desire and
experience to make a difference such as Alan Tummon,
Rick Brough and Dave Coventry.  From far and wide in
British Columbia there were many names that added a
touch of class to boxing such as Leif Albrechtsen in
Williams Lake, Mike Moore in Cranbrook, and the 
many officials such as Ian Gibson, Vic Murdoch, 
Ron Whalley, Bob Perry, Howard Curling and
Thorky Larsen.  Some would serve as coaches and
officials such as Joe Preston in Nanaimo.
(photo of the late Ron Whalley, a top ring official).


Many an ex-boxer would contribute to the sport

by assisting in a gym, being a full time coach and/or
officiating in some capacity such as Lou Bujdoso, 
Mike Caird, Dick Findlay, Freddy Fuller, Bob Ginetti,
Lindy Lindmoser, Mickey McMillan, Gary Oakden, 
Buddy Palmer, Len Walters, Billy Watson, 
Dan Wright, Dave Wylie and Brian Zelley.


(photo of Lindy Lindmoser) who would
become a coach at Vancouver's 
Firefighters boxing club and would
also become a ring official and serve
in a variety of roles for boxing 
tournamenbts in British Columbia.  


*The boxing school where it all begins "The Gym"*

(photo: shadow boxing
at the Victoria Athletic
Association gym ion the
late Seventies(


the VAA replaced the 
London Boxing Club
in 1976 and the coaches
would be Mike Caird,
Brian Zelley and 
Lou Bujdoso.
Lou would move on to form his own club in the late
Seventies "the Victoria Jaycees Boxing Club" and 
would be the key Victoria club in the Eighties kicking-off
with the revival of the Diamond Belt tournament in 1980.
Aside from Lou there would be other coaches and trainers
such as Mike Sartori and Paul DeLuca to name a couple.

As we complete our trip down "memory lane" of 
Seventies boxing coaches and officials let's not forget
many others such as:
* Uto Arnold * Walter Austin * Len Barker * Rudy Bianco  *
" Bernie Brisch * Gerald Burton * Ian Douglas * Bob Eedy  *
* Earl Elgie * Darrel Elmore * Ed Gilmore * Wally Hill  *
* John Kovak * Paul LeMay * Arnold McEwen * Ken Marjoram *
* Bram Mellis * jack Mellor * Peter Murray-Driver * John O'Shea *
* jack Pidgeon * Stan Smith * Joe Swift * Dave Thompson  *
* Larry Montgomery * Denny Ross * Bill Walker * 

1970 BOXING's "New Beginning" in B C

THE SEVENTIES in AMATEUR BOXING - New Beginnings:  By Brian Zelley

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,

Wayne Crowe, Gary Robinson and "Dynamite" Dan Wright. and msny more.

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.