BC AMATEUR BOXING HALL of FAME - 2010

[Zelley]

ROUND TWO

Selection & Elimination process - 31 of 50 remain in the contest.

In the first ever selection process for a British Columbia Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame,
there are 14 boxers and 17 builders that have advanced from the 50 potential choices.
The builders' list is expect to decrease by July 30th.

[Zelley]

THE 14 BOXERS - Round Two

As we blast through the decades of amateur boxing and review all past boxers,
a select few standout in each decade and some of those are still in the running for a
spot in the newly created BRITISH COLUMBIA AMATEUR BOXING HALL OF FAME.

Chris Ius, Dale Walters, Dick Findlay, Donnie Orr, Eddie Haddad, Frank Scott, Fred Desrosiers,
Freddy Fuller, Harold Mann, Jimmy Walters, Les Hamilton, Manny Sobral, Roger Adolph and
Sid McKnight.

[Zelley]

-BUILDERS MOVING FORWARD

With a couple of days to go, at least nine of the 17 builders will be moving forward.
Dave Brown, Elio Ius, Fred Fuller, George Shiels, Howard Curling, Pat O'Reilly,
Rick Brough, Stanley F. Smith and Tommy Paonessa.

[Zelley]

TWENTY FOUR NOW REMAIN TO COMPETE FOR A SPOT

BUILDERS:
Dave Brown, Elio Ius, Fred Fuller, George Shiels, Herbert (Bert) Lowes,
Howard Curling, Pat OReilly, Rick Brough, Stan Smith, & Tommy Paonessa.

BOXERS

Eddie Haddad, Harold Mann, James (Jimmy) Walters, Dick Findlay,
Frank Scott, Fred Desrosiers, Freddy Fuller, Roger Adolph, Chris Ius,
Les Hamilton, Sid McKnight, Dale Walters, Manny Sobral & Donnie Orr

There are no sure winners in this race to the finish bell.

[Zelley]

WHY A BRITISH COLUMBIA AMATEUR BOXING HALL OF FAME: By Brian W. Zelley

Background - BC AMATEUR BOXING NEWS (1983 to 1986)

During my term as editor for the BC Amateur Boxing News in the Eighties,
I came to the conclusion that there was very little discussion of past events
or those Golden Memories of past boxing happenings.

The logical step was to add past events in a Flashbacks section or as an introduction to report on various tournaments such as the 1085 Diamond Belt tournament in Victoria, BC there was some flashbacks to 1967, 1968 and 1980.

In a buil-up to the Vancouver Island Amateur Boxing Championships
in 1984, a summary of the highlights of amateur boxing from 1954 to the Seventies was produced.

However, it appears in 2009 and 2010, that many folks now involved ii in amateur boxing are lost when it comes to the past as they were in the Eighties.
One example was the case of the early history of the Nanaimo Boxing Club
which was started in 1971 by Dan Wright and Brian Zelley. Active boxers in Nanaimo did not know much of the history and were unaware of who started the club and the connection to the old Newcastle Boxing Club of the Sixties.

Another recent concern was at least two former boxers from a club in Greater Vancouver did not understand the history and one disputed that Dan Wright
was a founder.

A Tarnished Golden Gloves Program

In the 2010 BC Golden Gloves program, the only significant reference
was a list of past Golden Boys from 1939 to 2009. It was a nice list but
the Golden Boys for 1968 and 1969 were incorrect. The 1968 BC Golden Boy
was Portland boxer RAY LAMPKIN and the 1969 Golden Boy was Seattle boxer
NEIL KNIGHT.

HALLS OF FAME IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

There is a BC Sports Hall of Fame, but amateur boxing has not been high on the inductee list with only seven names. Since the beginning of the Golden Gloves
in 1939, that works out to slightly less than one individual per decade not to mention the total history of the sport in BC.

MUNICIPAL SPORTS halls of fame - very few of the towns have many boxing folk inducted, but at least Prince George has seven as of 2010.

THE BC AMATEUR BOXING HALL OF FAME

Began recently with a call for names, and it did not take long to gather 50 names to start the selection and elimination rounds. aS of July 30, 2010 there are now 24 names of folks that are still in the competition, and at the end of August it is expected the list will be reduced to about 12 names, but of the 50 that are eliminated along the way, they wiill be remembered for future years along with others.

[Zelley]

EDDIE HADDAD - By Brian Zelley
Of the 14 remaining boxers, the one that fought in the Forties was EDDIE HADDAD.

For many current folks connected with amateur boxing, the name EDDIE HADDAD
is not likely a name that they remember, but if one was to take a trip into the dsitant past, then it is likely they would understand why HADDAD should be high in the selection process and considered one of the best lightweight boxers of Canada.

Today, Eddie Haddad is remembered as an inductee of the Canadian Forces
SPORTS HALL OF FAME, the Greater Victoria SPORTS HALL OF FAME and the Manitoba
SPORTS HALL OF FAME. In the book ISLAND OF CHAMPIONS, Eddie is the only person to be recognized in the boxing category. Tha main focus of the story by writer Cleeve Dheensaw was HADDAD in the 1948 Olympic Games.

Following Eddie, the next two in the list of 14 are HAROLD MANN and JIMMY WALTERS
whose main period in amateur boxing was the Fifties.And, what a decade that was.