1975 - CHRIS CLARKE arrives

CHRIS CLRKE JOURNERY: by brian zelley


1975 was the year of the Pan Am Games and one of the stars was Canadian boxer CHRIS CLARKE.

CHRIS was one of eleven Canadian champions. Chris joined returning champions Ian Clyde, Cleveland Denny,
Michael Briere, Michael Prevost, and Bryan Gibson. Another interesting new champion was CARMEN RINKE.

When all is said and done, 1975 belongs to Nova Scotia boxer CHRIS CLARKE. In the Pan Am Games he defeated
AARON PRYOR to win Gold to join the likes of USA boxers DAVEY ARMSTRONG and RAY LEONARD, and Cuban sensation
TEFILIO STEVENSON. Some other names were LEON SPINKS and TREVOR BERBICK.

The Chris Clarke story would continue into 1976 when he moved from lightweight to light-welterweight where he defeated Victoria, BC boxer WAYNE CROWE and joined the 1976 Canadian Olympic Team. Later he would turn pro, and fight various boxers from CLYDE GRAY to SHAWN O'SULLIVAN, Lawrence Hafey and Dick Ekland.

1974 -Canadian Boxing Champions & Contenders

1974 - West vs East Canadian Boxing: By Brian W. Zelley

In 1974, it was an interesting East vs West match-up for the Canadian
Amateur Boxing titles. DON ORR was expected to face JULES BOSSE, but
the actual match was Victoria boxer WAYNE CROWE vs JULES BOSSE. Once again,
Quebec's IAN CLYDE won the National senior championships with a victory over
BC boxer Rick Eady, but not all reigning champions were victorious.
Three time champion DALE ANDERSON was replaced by CAMILLE HUARD.

Richmond's BILL GARIEPY was expected to win a title, but it was
STAN WILLIAMSON that had his arm raised.

In pre-fight publicity, some of the other line-ups were:
GUY BOUTIN vs TONY SALVATORE - CLEVELAND DENNY vs LORNE DAIGNEAULT
- MICHAEL PREVOST vs STEVE TOHILL,

Back in the early part of the 1967-1968 boxing season, my first fight as a member of the Firefighters was
against Richmond's BILL GARIEPY of which I won the decision, so it was nice to see Gariepy move into Canadian National competition. WAYNE CROWE was fighting at the Victoria Boy's Club in 1974, and he would return to the National stage in 1976.