Thread: UNSUNG HEROES - The foundation of boxing

There are thousands of unsung heroes that have been and involved in amateur boxing as glovers, timekeepers, judges & referees, announcers
and assorted other duties.

Looking back through the history of amateur boxing in British Columbia,
two places to start would be Vancouver and Victoria.

Vancouver: (1940 to 1970)

If we just look at the Golden Gloves activity from 1939 to 1970,
there are many individuals and groups to thank such as the
Vancouver Active Club and the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
Some of the key individuals of those organizations in the 1940's
include W J Finley and C W Goodrich.

From 1939 to 1970, some names to remember in announcing
and timekeeping are Tommy Cruise, Len Robertson, and Gary Wallace.
And what boxer could forget the encouring words of the glovers
such as Tom Flanagan, Tommy Yule and Joe Magri.

Some of those old time referees and judges included the likes of
Billy Oates, Tommy Moore, Tommy Paonessa, Jackie Turner and
Joe Dunn. The competitors and coaches may disagree with the decisions
but we must remember and respect their service to our sport.

Victoria (1954 to 1974)

Looking back, we owe those early pioneers of boxing a lasting tribute
for dedication and service.

A sample of seven include:

Al Duval, Jack O'Hanley, Dusty Mair, Howard Curling,
Len Lightfoot, Tom Crabbe, and Rick Brough.

Beyond these few names and two locations, there are thousands
that have and continue to serve the sport at the ground level.

Then there are the many past and present coaches, trainers
and other volunteers and organizations such as the
Victoria Athletic Association that have been there throught the years.

I'll send a shout out to some gyms
Fraziers-Philadelphia,30 years of training some of the best boxers from Philly
Clairton-If you need an amateur champion in a hurry,I know where you can find one
Mullens-Butch turned out Christy Martin with no money out of his basement
Airtight/House Of Pain-Steve cares about his high end fighters and his low end ones equally,and he does take care of them well
Patrick Ortiz,and his father as well-Good money and good shows
Diana Rodriguez-Very good matchmaker to work with,I mean very good
Valerie Mahfood-sounds weird to put a former champ on this list,but you have no idea how much she works to help the sport behind the scenes as well
There are alot more,but thats what came off the top of my head with 5 hours sleep,so if anyones PO'ed I didnt mention them,Im tired

The Coaches:

From the west coast to New England shores, the lifeblood of boxing are the thousand of amateur boxing coaches such as the late Sarge Johnson.

In British Columbia as we travel back to the Forties and Fifties some names to remember are: Tommy Gann. Tommy Paonessa, Len Gervais,
Nick Lystar, Harry Pollitt, Pat O'Reilly and many more.

As we moved into the Sixties some other names include
Fred Fielding, Pat West, Harry Morris, Elio Ius, Frank Lucas,
and many more.

Here's to the Omaha, Nebraska contingency of the Pelster Bros., LaMont Kirkland, Mouse Strauss, Dicky Ryan, the late Levi Levering, the late Leonard "Hawk" Hawkins, Yano Glatgoskos, Ron Stander and many more!

Nice thread!

From Portland, Oregon to Prince George, BC, we have had our share of coaches from Chuck Lincoln (Portland), Bob Decker (Seattle & Vancouver),and Irving and Harold Mann (Prince George), Mike Sartori (Victoria).
George Nepper (Nanaimo) and the cornerman class of former Chemainus boxer Skimp Williams.

Be good to hear about some from Idaho, Montana and North Dakota.

Some BC names from the Seventies - Coaches

Sam Douglas (Chilliwack). Ralph Robson (Cloverdale),
Mike Moore (Cranbrook), Harry Castle (Cumberland),
Len Barker (Ladner), Walter Austin (Langley),
Terry Cooke (Northwest Eagles & Mount Pleasant).
Elio Ius (Northwest Eagles), Steve Tohill (St Pat's),
Ken Marjoram (Riley Park), Harry Twist (New Westminster)

ALUMNI OF GOLDEN GLOVES by brian zelley

Recently reviewing an old boxing program from 1971 and it included a history of boxers that fought in the BC Golden Gloves in the Forties, Fifties and Sixties and only 57 boxers were mentioned from 29 boxing tournaments. Missing from the story of the Sixties were a number of top ranked boxers from Washington and Oregon including GARY FERRARI, MIKE COLBERT, NEIL KNIGHT, RAY LAMPKIN and WESLEY CRAVEN.

RAY LAMPKIN was the 1968 Golden Boy and NEIL KNIGHT was the 1969 Golden Bo, in a 2010 boxing program all the past Golden Boys were listed except for 1968 and 1969, Lampkin and Knight were nowhere to be seen. Lampkin was from Portland and Knight was from Seattle.

Hello, I just wanted to comment on my Father Chuck Lincoln, thank you for remember him.
He made some great fighters in his day.
Ms. Lincoln

Originally Posted by Zelley

From Portland, Oregon to Prince George, BC, we have had our share of coaches from Chuck Lincoln (Portland), Bob Decker (Seattle & Vancouver),and Irving and Harold Mann (Prince George), Mike Sartori (Victoria).
George Nepper (Nanaimo) and the cornerman class of former Chemainus boxer Skimp Williams.

Be good to hear about some from Idaho, Montana and North Dakota.

Originally Posted by lincoln

Hello, I just wanted to comment on my Father Chuck Lincoln, thank you for remember him.
He made some great fighters in his day.
Ms. Lincoln

Originally Posted by Zelley

From Portland, Oregon to Prince George, BC, we have had our share of coaches from Chuck Lincoln (Portland), Bob Decker (Seattle & Vancouver),and Irving and Harold Mann (Prince George), Mike Sartori (Victoria).
George Nepper (Nanaimo) and the cornerman class of former Chemainus boxer Skimp Williams.

Be good to hear about some from Idaho, Montana and North Dakota.

Most of us that fought in the Tacoma, Oregon and Seattle Golden Gloves in the Sixties form British Columbia have a very high level of respect for CHUCK LINCOLN and his brother and of course the many great boxers from Portland including one that I fought twice RAY LAMPKIN, but there were many other excellent boxers. Ray also fought in the 1967 and 1968 Golden Gloves in Vancouver and was the 1967 Golden Boy runner-up and the 1968 Golden Boy (what class).