BOXING CHAMPIONS INVADE CANADA

TITLE FIGHTS to EXHIBITION in CANADA:    by brian zelley

In 1966 and 1972, boxing great MUHAMMAD ALI made a couple
of appearances in Canada to engage in a title fight and another bout
with GEORGE CHUVALO.  Before the 1972 bout with Chuvalo
in Vancouver, Ali appeared in an exhibition with one time sparring
partners as part of the George Chuvalo vx Charlie Chase show.

In the fight with Chuvalo in Vancouver, both boxers trained in
North Vancouver along with welterweight boxers CLYDE GRAY
and MANNY GONZALEZ.  Ali would stay at the Georgia Hotel
in downtown Vancouver.

  BEFORE AND AFTER MUHAMMAD ALI
Beyond Ali,  many one time champions have  engaged in activity in 
boxing rings from Vancouver Island to the Maritimes including some 
of the Canadians to win world titles or partial titles by one of the many 
boxing organizations.  


ARCHIE MOORE vx YVON DURELLE


The light-heavyweight title fight between champion Archie Moore
and Canadian Yvon Durelle  in Canada in 1958 must be rated as
one of the best fights of all time, and likely Moore's greatest
achievement, and in the space of that one fight the Canadian
boxer would turn into a Canadian legend.


1900 to 1969


1901 -  JOE WALCOTT vs RUBE FERNS
.Walcott wins welterweight title with a KO victory over
Rube Ferns in Fort Erie, Ontario.


1903 - GEORGE GARDNER vs JACK ROOT
.Gardner wins light-heavyweight title with a KO victory 
over champion Jack Root in Ontario action.

1928 - TONY CANZONERI vs VIC FOLEY
.Canzoneri decisions Foley in Montreal.


1929 - TOD MORGAN vs BILLY TOWNSEND
.Motgan and Nanaimo's Billy (the Blond Tiger) Townsend
fight to a ten round draw in Vancouver.

1935 - FREDDY MILLER W10 ROGER BERNARD - Toronto.

1938 - BARNEY ROSS W10 GORDON WALLACE - Vancouver.


1949 - DADO MARINO bouts in Vancouver
.In 1949, Dado Marino defeated STAN ALMOND
and JACKIE TURNER in a pair of bouts at
Vancouver's Denman Auditorium. 


1966 - MUHAMMAD ALI vs GEORGE CHUVALO
.Ali wins a 15 round decision over the Canadian warrior
George Chuvalo at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens.


THE SEVENTIES


1973 - JOSE NAPOLES vs CLYDE GRAY
.Champion Jose Napoles defeats Canadian challenger
Clyde Gray in Toronto for the welterweight title.


1974 - EMILE GRIFFITH vs DONATO PADUANO
.Former welterweight and middleweight champion Emile
Griffith earns a decision over Canada's Donato Paduano
at Montral's Forum.

                 DONATO PADUANO - 1968 Canadian Olympic boxer

EIGHTIES ACTION

1980 - ROBERTO DURAN vs SUGAR RAY LEONARD
.Duran won a 15 round decision over Leonard in Montreal
in  a WBC Welterweight title fight.




BEYOND THE EIGHTIES


1995 - SCOTTY OLSON vs JESUS JIMINEZ
.Home town boy Scotty (the Bulldog) Olson earns a
victory over Jesus at Edmonton's Convention Centre.

                                     THE EDMONTON BULLDOG


2000 - ARTURO GATI vs JOE HUTCHISON
.Gati by Decision over Joe at the Molson's Centre in Montreal.

THE CLOUTING CANUCKS

FIGHTING CANADIANS:  by brian zelley

                              An Olympic Team from past decades


Some of the best Canadian boxers were born in Nova Scotia.  
Two of the best were GEORGE DIXON  and SAM LANGFORD.
Some of the Canadians have won world titles such as 
JIMMY MCLARNIN and LOU BROUILLARD, and others
have won Olympic medals such as LENNOX LEWIS, 
DALE WALTERS.  SHAWN O'SULLIVAN et al. 

Some of the current elite senior amateurs are hoping to
make the cut for the 2012 Canadian Olympic team such 
as KENNY LALLY, ALEX RYNN and JOEY LAVIOLETTE.

                                 National Elite Champions - 2011


Some of the professional boxers, never won world titles, but they
are still considered legends in Canada or parts of Canada.  Some
names of interest include George Chuvalo, Clyde Gray, Sammy
Luftspring, Al Sparks, Billy Townsend, Harold Mann  and many more.


Take any given decade for any specific province and there were many
boxers that made the headlines or the front page of the sports section 
of the daily newspaper.  Some were local heroes and others National 
stars.  

                                      Victoria, BC, Canada
               Caird, Orr, O'Sullivan, Robinson, Orr, Zelley, Wright
                              (photo by Dorothy Zelley,  November 2010)

                 THE BEST OF  BRITISH COLUMBIA 1948 to 1984
                         Freddy Fuller - Eddie Haddad - Frank Scott 
                        Dale Walters - Dick Findlay - Fred Desrosiers

BOXING, THE ITALIAN CONNECTION

THE BOXERS WITH ITALIAN ROOTS:  by brian zelley

Throughout the history of boxing, those with an Italian heritage
have produced countless numbers of top boxers and champions
from ROCKY MARCIANO to WILLIE PEP.  From ROCKY
GRAZIANO to JAKE LAMOTTA and countless more.

                Rocky Maricano - undefeated heavyweight champion

A Long Line of Champions and great Challengers of Italian Heritage:

*A sample of names of the boxers:
Lou Anbers, Sammy Angott, Vito Antuofermo, Fred Apostoli,
Carmen Basilio, Tony Canzoneri, Nick Furlano,  Joey Giardello, 
Rocky Graziano, Jake LaMotta, Rocky Marciano, Willie Pastrano, 
Willie Pep, and many others such as Tony Galento.

FRED APOSTOLI
One of man boxer 
with Italian heritage
to hold a middleweight
title.

Canadian Italian:
Donato Paduano.

NICKY FURLANO
Canadian boxer.

THE IRISH BOXERS

BOXERS WITH IRISH ROOTS:  by brian zelley

                                  (courtesy of John Paonessa)

From the days of  JOHN L. SULLIVAN to the current boxing scene
the sport of boxing has produced countless numbers of boxers with
an Irish heritage with some greats ranging from JIMMY MCLARNIN,
and MICKEY WALKER to the likes of MICKEY WARD.

JEWISH BOXING CHAMPIONS

JEWISH BOXERS - THE CHAMPIONS: by brian zelley

Throughout the history of boxing, the boxers with Jewish roots
have produced a number of good to excellent champions.

Jewish Boxers
Some names to remember from past decades:
Abe Attell, Benny Bass, Ben Jeby, Kid Kaplan, Solly Krieger,
Benny Leonard, Ted Kid Lewis, Sammy Luftspring,
Maxie Rosenbloom, Barney Ross, and Al Singer