The Decline In Canadian Boxing

At the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, there was a parade of athletes from the different countries. They stood together, walking side by side.

In the Canadian delegation however, there was one man that walked alone. Adam Trupish walked among his countrymen and he saluted the crowd with enthusiasm, but this man walked alone. You see, Adam Trupish is the only Canadian boxer to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

On Sunday, August 9, he was defeated by an opponent from Kazakhstan and that was the end for the Canadian dream of a medal in the boxing discipline.

For Trupish, this was his second Olympic appearance and after it was all over, he spoke to reporters. In his comments, Turpish talked about the sorry state that the Canadian Amateur Boxing Association was in.

He spoke about how he had to put himself in debt in order to compete in these games. He even went as far as saying that if the problem with Canadian boxing isnʼt assessed soon, there might be no boxing athletes from Canada in the London Olympics.

In the past six Olympics, Canada has sent 53 boxers to compete in the games. Athletes such as Raymond Downey, David Defiagbon and we canʼt forget Lennox Lewis, have all brought home medals in this discipline.

So why did Canada only send one boxer to Beijing?

The answer is not so simple. In the first place, the new qualifying criteria makes it more difficult for Canadian boxers to qualify for the Olympics. There are more regional competitions with Cuba and the United States which make the task of qualifying difficult for the boxers in Canada.

There has also been a huge slash in the government funding of the sport. Even at the grassroots level, the interest is fading as is the bulk of funding.

In Canada, funding is distributed among the sports that produce the most international success. In the last Olympics, Canada did not do so well and now with one athlete sent to fix the problem, it seems like boxing is going to have a difficult time to get back under the new Canadian criteria for funding.

The state of boxing in Canada is in decline. There is hope however and it is in the young athletes and in the sponsorship from private companies.

It is ironic that in a time when professional boxing is doing well in Canada, the amateur level is in decline.

With optimism, I look into the future and I hope that in London, there will be more than just one man from Canada walking.