Local boxer John Mountain, 17, won gold at the Golden Gloves tournament held in Edmonton March 5 and 6. The fight matched Mountain against a boxer who had recently returned from nationals, and saw the Lac La Biche fighter win all three rounds of the bout.
The weekend before the Golden Gloves match, Mountain, who normally fights in the 60 kg class, stepped in the ring against a 23-year-old boxer to go toe-to-toe in the 75 kg weight class. Despite the difference in both weight and experience, Mountain out-fought his opponent to add another victory to his record.
“I felt pretty good about that,” he said, adding the win helped him in his mental preparation going in to the Golden Gloves.
“It got my confidence up,” he said, adding it also helped to build momentum going into the tournament.
The Golden Gloves is the highest level of amateur boxing, and pits the most experienced boxers against one another. But it’s not a fight Mountain could have done on his own. He credits the coaching of Lac La Biche Boxing Club coach Ken Scullion with teaching him the skills he needed to win, noting that Scullion, who was a team Alberta coach at the recent nationals tournament held in Quebec, is widely respected in the Alberta boxing scene.
Mountain’s friend Jeremy, who trains with and mentors the young boxer, was also a big help, he said, noting that his friend pushes him to work harder. In fact, without his buddy, Mountain isn’t sure he would have won.
“It was all because of him,” Mountain said.
The boxer is now looking forward to a hometown event on April 9 in the Devon Room at the Bold Center, where he will likely be boxing.
Matthew Kruk won bronze at Nationals, where he fought – and lost to – the same boxer he lost to last year in the final round. This year, he said his loss was mainly due to a slow start, and not throwing enough punches.
It was a good experience, he said, even if it was a little odd. The national tournament was held in Quebec, and Kruk, who doesn’t speak French, said it was “pretty weird” being in a place where he couldn’t understand the language.
Kruk plans to keep fighting, and isn’t too discouraged about not winning at nationals.
“You can’t win them all,” he said, adding he’s also looking forward to the hometown fight card planned for April 9.
