| The setting couldn’t have been further from what you’d see on TV.
You know the scene, the one where boxers and promoters sit next to each other and spend hours insulting and provoking those on the other side.
This boxing promotion featured dim lighting, overhead music and a private corner in a bar. No microphones. No choreographed hype. And no skirmishes or thrown chairs. These people simply wanted to talk professional boxing.
"A lot of boxers here have to go out of province to fight," explains Scott Taylor from Diamond in the Ring Promotions of the lack of opportunities for local boxers looking to advance beyond the amateur ranks. "We’re just trying to increase awareness."
Unlike Edmonton, which has been an established professional boxing city for years, Calgary has been a boxing wasteland. According to Taylor, the last pro boxing card here took place about three years ago. And the last "big" fight staged in Calgary dates back to 1986 when Olympic silver medallist Willie de Wit fought professionally, he says.
Promoters hope their Thursday, April 8 professional boxing card at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, dubbed Return of the Gladiators, will help the local pro boxing scene take hold. Two locals who may benefit from the efforts are Julius Kabriu Odion and Albert Onolunose, who make their professional debuts that night.
Odion is a three-time Nigerian champion with 105 amateur fights to his credit and has been boxing for 15 of his 24 years. Onolunose, 26 and also from Nigeria, has been boxing since he was eight years old.
Boxing coach Doug Harder believes the local pair has a legitimate chance of making names for themselves in the ring. Both have much ring experience, but there will be differences between their amateur and professional bouts.
For instance, pro boxers wear only gloves, while amateurs wear gloves and head protection. Amateur matches have two-minute rounds, while the pro fights for Odion and Onolunose will consist of four three-minute rounds.
"I’m excited and comfortable," says Odion of the match. "I’ve been boxing all my life."
"I’m not nervous," adds Onolunose. "There’s not much difference, only you have to improve on a bunch of things, like your technique."
The other two bouts on the card include a match between Mighty Matt Shrindruk and Massab (The Mad Man) Kabalan, and the feature event with Jason (The Troll) Adams taking on Broderick Harper.
And keeping with the non-TV boxing image the promoters are trying to create, ringside tables, which go anywhere from $750 to $1,500 a table, include meals, champagne and wine. General admission tickets are $35 at the door and the fights begin at 7:30 p.m.
WRESTLING HOLD WAS CONTROVERSIAL
Today, all wrestling fans know about the Sleeper (no connection to the hilarious Woody Allen movie). But on Nov. 18, 1938, few Calgarians understood this highly effective manoeuvre that renders opponents "unconscious." And that night, wrestler Paul Boesch, who used what was then called The Japanese Sleeper Hold, was disqualified for his skullduggery.
The disqualification prompted the wrestler to write the Calgary Boxing and Wrestling Commission in protest.
In the letter Boesch says, "I was forced to reach into my bag of tricks and use a hold that has never before been used in the City of Calgary...." He also offers to demonstrate the move on anyone the commission appoints and have doctors test the "victim." There is, unfortunately, no response from the commission.
This information was part of a display from the City Hall archives, where they apparently record more than political battles. Good on ’em. |
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