Canadian Boxing: Garside Wins WIBA Featherweight Title; New Promotion Team in New Brunswick; Canadian Amateur Boxing Project

by GM Ross: Last night, Saturday, April 24, Jeannine Garside regained her WIBA featherweight title in her hometown of Duncan, British Columbia, by defeating Lindsay Garbatt of Oshawa, Ontario, via a third round knockout. According to Ashley Gaudreault of the Cowichan News Leader Pictorial, “Garside fans were a bit worried after Garbatt landed a strong punch and cut Garside above her right eye in the first round.” Nonetheless, the more experienced Garside persevered, taking the fight to Garbatt in the second before slipping her a slumber-maker at 1:23 of the third round. With the win Garside joins Olivia Gerula (WBC), Lisa Brown (WBA), Lucien Bute (IBF), Jean Pascal (WBC) and Steve Molitor (IBF) on the list of Canadian world titlists..

It looks like traditional, three minute round professional pugilism will return to New Brunswick in the near future. Victory Promotions, headed by Ulysses Doiron, is in the process of working out the final details of a fight card to be held this summer in Shediac, New Brunswick. Updates will be provided as information becomes available. This announcement comes on the heels of several events – promoted as ‘professional boxing’ – featuring contests consisting of five, two minute rounds, starring men with little or no experience. Rest assured, Victory Promotions will provide real boxers, with real amateur or professional experience for the price of admission.

Amateur boxing in Canada has drifted into the doldrums in recent years. When the sport was in its prime it received significant news coverage, with important fights and fighters being highlighted in newspapers across the country. In the 1920s the country was buzzing about amateurs like George Fifield of Toronto and Roy Chisholm of Halifax, with newspapers from each city carefully arguing the strong points of each man. Eventually, the two were brought together to settle the matter, generating considerable attention in the nation’s sports columns. This kind of hype and fandom has gone by the wayside, but I intend to do everything I can to revive this variety of reporting. Starting next week, I will provide a bi-weekly column on Eastsideboxing.com entitled “The Canadian Amateur Project,” dedicated solely to fighters outside the ‘fight-for-pay’ scene. My hope is that other authors, on other websites, from other countries, will follow my lead and slowly reintroduce the amateur sport back into mainstream boxing coverage.

Send information regarding your Canadian amateurs and/or professionals to GM.Ross.Eastsideboxing@gmail.com.