Fighters with Amherstburg’s Fighting Island Boxing Club travelled to London for a competition late last month and came home with some hardware.
Five boxers from the local club headed to the novice provincial championships and they came home with two gold and three bronze.
Nathan Meloche captured gold at the 71kg level in the Master’s Division.
“I feel great about it,” said Meloche. “I performed really well. I stopped both my opponents.”Meloche said he has been training for 15 years and had his first three fights ten years ago. The 43-year-old returned to boxing in March.
“I just wanted to be more disciplined,” he said of his return to boxing.
Meloche said his mindset going into the most recent tournament was to win and not accept anything less.
“I wasn’t going to accept anything else,” said Meloche.
Jacob Reinkober won bronze in the 57kg weight class.
“I feel pretty good,” said Reinkober.
Reinkober had six fights going into the novice provincial championships and while he had a bronze medal finish, he said it was the best fight he could do. He said he is happy to come home with a bronze medal.
“I’ve done better,” said Reinkober.
Curtis Realba captured the gold medal in the 44kg weight class. Realba said he has been boxing for two years and spent about one month training for the tournament. He felt “pretty good” about his finish in London.
“It’s fun,” he said of why he boxes.
Ben Evola won bronze in the 80+kg weight class.
“I feel good,” said Evola. “I lost, but it’s a learning experience. I didn’t completely lose.”
Evola didn’t spend the time he would have liked to prepare for the tournament and believed he “did OK” for the amount of preparation he was able to put towards getting ready.
“I like the exercise,” he said. “I like the brotherhood. I like the sport.”
Dawson Woltz-Raby, who was unavailable for the interview last Wednesday night, won the bronze medal in the 70kg weight class.
Joe LeBlanc, owner and a coach with the Fighting Island Boxing Club, said there were two rings over three days packed with action at the competition.
LeBlanc was proud of his fighters for coming home with medals.
“I couldn’t have asked any more of them,” he said. “They all did extremely well. There were big crowds. It’s a brand new ballgame for many of them.”
The Fighting Island Boxing Club will return to Shooters Roadhouse Sept. 21 for their next show “Battle in the Burg.” Doors open at 6 p.m. and fights start at 7 p.m. Ticket prices are $25. LeBlanc gave thanks to Jeff Coulter of the Smart Build Group for providing the large tent that houses the ring and the fans for the outdoor show.
Local boxers do well at recent provincial tournament
By Ron Giofu
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