1980 - 1989 Canadian Boxing

A GOLDEN DECADE OF CANADIAN AMATEUR BOXING - 1980 - 1989: By Brian W. Zelley

The Eighties gave us many interesting stories in Canadian Amateur Boxing, on a provincial level,
a dawning of a new age would begin for British Columbia and regions like Vancouver Island
with the revival of the BC Diamond Belt tournament at Victoria in 1980.

In Olympic Games history, it started off on the wrong side with the boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games.
But, in 1984 at Los Angeles, Canadian boxers WILLIE DEWIT, SHAWN O'SULLIVAN and DALE WALTERS would win medals
and set the stage for various medals in subsequent Commonwealth Games and the 1988 Olympic Games and the
additional medal victories. Some of the Canadian boxers in 1988 Olympic Games were alumni of the 1984
Junior Nationals that took place in Burnaby, BC such as SCOTTY OLSON and MANNY SOBRAL.

Looking back there were many talented Canadian boxers with various terms as a Canadian Champion and high level performance on the International stage - a sample of names to remember:

Lennox Lewis, Ray Downey, Scott Olson, Asif Dar, Steve Beaupre, Steve and Jaime Pagendam, Dan Sherry,
Eggerton Marcus, Howard and Otis Grant, Gregory Gayle and many more.

BOXING BC - 1980 to 1989

Attempting to highlight the Boxing BC story in the Eighties is an interesting case study from 1980 Diamond Boy
GARY ROBINSON, to Canadian senior champions Champions such as DALE WALTERS, WAYNE WELSH, JOE PENDRY,
MANNY SOBRAL and GERONIMO BIE. Then there were the many boxers that performed on a regular basis from
Vancouver Island to the Alberta border:
Who could forget AL HARPER, ALAN BROWN, ALEX BANKIER, CLIFF BALLENDINE, CLINT DUMAIS, DEEP BUTTER,
GARY WOOD, GORDON JONES, KIT MUNRO, MIKE WOOD, SCOTT and TIM CESSFORD, TONY DUFFY, and WILLY CURRY.

Then there were the many officials and coaches such as officials - AL YOUNG, BERT LOWES, FRED FULLER, RICK BROUGH,
RON WHALLEY, VIC MURDOCH, and many others.