LAC LAC BICHE - A quartet of Lac La Biche boxers recently came away with gold and silver medals at the Alberta Silver Gloves event that took place Jan. 20-21 in Medicine Hat.
Andy Cardinal, Cameron Laviolette, Keelan Madill and Zander Lavallee train out of the Lac La Biche Boxing Club. The four young boxers faced competition not only from other Alberta-based clubs, but from B.C., Saskatchewan, and Ontario clus as well.
While his fellow Lac La Biche boxers won gold medals, Lavallee, who recently completed his tenth amateur bout, lost in the finals, going home with silver.
The young boxer described it as a “tough loss”, saying his opponent is a provincial champion from Calgary who has fought twice as many bouts as he has.
“My opponent is a very experienced boxer and gets a lot sparring being in Calgary and is exposed to a lot of sparring from other clubs,” Lavalee said, explaining that despite coming into the gold-medal match strong, confident, and determined, his opponent got in a shot that turned the tables. “He caught me with a mean body shot and dropped me…I couldn’t get my breath back before the eight-count.”
Lavallee’s silver medal in the 50kg junior class still earns him a place at the Alberta Junior Nationals that take place in Calgary from March 20 to 24. Joining him will be club-mate Cam Laviolette who won the youth 50kg open class.
Laviolette said it felt good to battle through the bouts to win his first gold.
“The fights that I fought were difficult as I cut weight for them…physically I felt very ready, but my mental training needs some work as I feel that still held me back,” he explained.
From here, Laviolette says, he plans to continue working harder in his sport. In March, he will be competing in the Golden Gloves tournament before heading to the nationals.
“It feels like a great undertaking, but I chose this path, and I won't stray from it,” said the committed youngster.
Jeremy Trimble, the Lac La Biche Boxing Club’s assistant coach, said in preparation for the Silver Gloves tournament, the local boxers trained daily by doing running, sparing, calisthenics, as well as some strength training.
Trimble said events such as this are a good experience for young boxers and it them look forward and plan for their next bout.
“It’s good for our guys to get exposure and box against guys their own age and weight,” he said. “You always learn something in the ring for your next bout.”
Spring Break Up in Lac La Biche
One of those next bouts will be on home turf, says the club’s head coach Ken Scullion. He’s putting the final touches on a Spring Break Up boxing card that is set to be held at the Bold Centre in Lac La Biche on Saturday, April 27.
Scullion says this will be the first time the club has hosted a fight card in quite a while. Interest in a Lac La Biche venue has been received from clubs across the Prairie provinces and BC. The local boxing event would raise some awareness and some dollars for the local club.
“We would like to showcase some of our boxers and use the fight card as a fundraiser to help with travel costs to tournaments,” Scullion told Lakeland This Week.
The last Spring Break Up event in Lac La Biche was held about ten years ago. The revival will likely include an evening meal served at ring-side tables, raffles and corporate sponsorships.
Scullion said the four young boxers from the club who recently competed at the Silver Gloves will also be fighting in this card, which he hopes will have anywhere from 12-15 bouts. He would also like to get a few more local boxers signed up as well.
Scullion, Trimble and the local boxers hope the new plans will lead to more boxing events in the community.
“If we are successful with this fight card, we will try to bring the provincials tournament or the Golden Gloves back to Lac La Biche,” he said.
General admission tickets for the Spring Break Up fight card will be $20 while ringside tables of eight with supper are $1,000. To purchase a ringside table or tickets, tickets are available through the boxing club at 780 623 1481. Doors open for dinner guests at 5 p.m. and for the general public at 5:30 p.m. The fights start at 6 p.m.
