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.
