KELOWNA BOXING

THE KELOWNA BOXING STORY - past & present: by brian zelley

THE HERE AND NOW

We can spread our wings and fly to the past days of amateiur boxing in
the Kelowna region, but looking at the here and now is an important starting point.

In KELOWNA there are primarily three clubs involved in amateur boxing.
The clubs and the key contact folks are:
THISTLETOWN, MADKATZ and KELOWNA BOXING CLUBS.

The main coaches are:
Graham McIntosh - Thistletown
Geoff Lawrence - Madkatz
David Habib - Kelowna.


KELOWNA BOXING CLUB  - THE EIGHTIES


The Kelowna Boxing Club was under the direction of coach
RON REITER who was selected as an area rep. in the
mid-Eighties.


The Kelowna boxers competed in many tournaments and 
club show.  One such club show took place on January 14, 1984.
The event was held at the Elks Hall and the chief official was
IAN GIBSON and the host coach was RON REITER.


Some of the boxers in action from Kelowna were:
Mike Cleary, Dale Habib, Wayne Welsh, and John Ritchey.
Wayne Welsh was a Canadian Champion in the senior open.   


Boxers such as MIKE CLEARY would start like many other 
BC juniors.  His first major tournament was the 1983 Bronze
Gloves.  In that tournament, Cleary would defeat an Astoria boxer
in the finals.  His teammate DALE HABIB would be eliminated
 in prelim action.