Tuesday, December 24, 2013

2014 Inductees BC Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame

Preliminary Results of Inductees
British Columbia Amateur Boxing 
Hall of Fame and BC Boxing History


By Brian Zelley

* It has been a four month 
process to nominate the 
potential nominees and 
then make the selections.



* subject to the final approval of those selected, there are ten
recently selected and one selected in advance.

Pioneers: Billy Townsend and William Finlay
Junior/Youth boxer:   Jamey Ballard
All-rounder:  boxer/coach Jimmy McMillan

Boxers:  Jack Meda and Kitt Munro

Builders - Bert Wilkinson, Bob Pegues,
Harry Twist and Jeff Yule

Events:  
1994 Commonwealth Games, boxing


                                 Jack Meda, boxer


                                Jimmy McMillan, all-rounder 


                         
                                 Bob Pegues, builder

                                                    Billy Townsend, pioneer


                                                             Harry Twist, boxing coach



William J. Finlay, pioneer, is best known for
his early involvement with the Sun Golden Gloves
beginning in 1939, and in 1946 he supported 
the idea of a Canadian Golden Gloves tournament
which became a reality 67 years later with the
first ever Canadian Golden Gloves in Ontario 2013/

Golden Memories - A walk down memory lane:

*WE all have a story to tell about some or all of
the 2014 and for some of us we have met most of the
the inductees face to face.  For me, I have met
all of the inductees a number of times except
William J. Finlay.  However, I have mentiuoned
him many times in past stories and his role in
the BC Golden Gloves.

On a time travel, I first remember Bert Wilkinson
as the Island Commissioner in the Sixties when I
started to box and had my first bout in January '64/
Years later I would join with Bert and many others
as part of the volunteers for the 1994 Victoria
Commonwealth Games. 


I would first meet Jimmy McMillan in 1966
when he was one of the best boxers of
Canada.  I would fight him in a good bout
which would be a split decision. 

During 1967 and 1968, I would meet others
including Jack Meda, Jeff Yule, and Harry Twist
while a member of the Newcastle Boxing Club
and the Vancouver Firefighters boxing club.
In 1967/1968 while boxing for the Firefighters
I would also train with two boxers that began
at Harry's Burnaby club when Freddy Fuller
and Frankie Scott both would join the
Firefighters. I would also meet the great
Billy Townsend when he was introduced
into the ring before my finals in the
1967 BC Golden Gloves 

It was 1969, and I would meet a young teenager
by the name of Bob Pegues who told me that he
was interested in boxing, but it would take two
years before the Nanaimo Boxing Club was formed
and we would become early club mates for a few
years.

Then there was Kit Munro who I would help
train during my years with the Victoria
Jaycees Boxing club.  Later, in the mid eighties
I would be an official in some of his fights on
Vancouver Island.  I would also officiate at some
of the bouts of Jamie Ballard.  In 1984, Jamey
would serve as one of the coaches and I would
be one of the officials at the BC Winter Games
in Fort St. John.

Public Participation:
For potential nominees, there were 47 persons 
involved in ranking the  suggested nominees, 
and for the nominees, there were 116
folks involved.

Candidate Bob Pegues received the highest
combined ranking on both lists and was 
nominated by two of his boxers including
multi-term Canadian champion Kenny Lally
and club mate Jag Seehra,  Bob also received
direct support from Boxing BC president 
Mickey Sims and 2013 junior/youth inductee
Mickey Griffin and others listed on the 
nomination. For Mr. Pegues, there is a 
Bob Pegues Tribute site on facebook


Other nominees had various levels of support 
such as the late Harry Twist  who was 
nominated by former boxer and 2010 inductee
Frederick Steven Fuller.  Mr. Twist is also
mentioned on Fuller's wikipedia site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddy_Stephen_Fuller

Pro records of Billy Townsend and Kit Munro
are available on Box Rec:
http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Billy_Townsend
Billy was born in England and his hometown  was
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.  Billy began
boxing as an amateur in an interesting named
boxing club: "Hopes and Has-Beens  Boxing Club".

Other Links
Dreams Never Die re. William J. Finlay
and the Golden Gloves story "Billy's Dream"
http://zelleyonboxing.blogspot.ca/2013/07/canadian-golden-gloves-dreams-never-die.html

The above link takes us from 1946 to 2013, a 67 year old dream that became
a reality, and was mentioned by Boxing Canada journalist Raquel Ruiz

BC Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame
http://bcabhof.blogspot.ca
the above look is the official blog for the 
BC Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame

The Harry Twist Boxing Story
with view from inductee Freddy Fuller
http://zelleyonboxing.blogspot.ca/2013/08/the-harry-twist-boxing-story.html
the above link takes us back to the South Burnaby Boxing club with the
likes of Johnny Phillips, Des Archer, Fuller
Frank and Keith Scott. and Ron Wilson.
Harry Twist is an inductee of the
Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame and
an inductee for the BCABHOF for 2014/

The Bob Pegues Boxing Story
http://zelleyonboxing.blogspot.ca/2013/08/the-bob-pegues-boxing-story.html
the above link takes us down the boxing highway
of boxer/coach Bob Pegues 1969 to 2013
some of the names of folks in the story include
Brian Zelley, George Nepper, Dan Wright,
John Ormandy, Jack Snaith, Mickey Griffin,
Les Hamilton. Kenny Lally, Jag Seehra and
2013 BC Boxing president Mickey Sims




Inductees 2010 - 2013


RALPH GALLOWAY, builder 2013











 Updated Ranker
11 New Additions

BEYOND TOMORROW

As the months roll by, there will be
many new stories to tell,
and many more names to add

Special thanks to all that have
participated during our 
five year boxing journey
























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