Thursday, November 28, 2013

Balaton Youth Boxing Tournament, July 1985

BOXING FLASHBACKS 1985 - By Brian Zelley

As we step back to the summer of '85, some may
remember the Canadian boxers that engaged in
one of those International tournaments which would
the 1984 best junior box Eric Grenier in this youth
tournament July 25 to 28th. Other Canadian boxers
would be Gilles Bisaillon, Frank Mercier, 
Michael Moffa, Ray Downey (aka Garbriel-Downey),
Gary Wood, Sandy Hervieux, Rodney Symonds,
John Walker

Medal Winners:
Gold: Sandy Hervieux and Ray Downey
Silver:  Grenier,  Moffa and Gary Wood
Bronze:  Bisaillon and Mercier

The crowd's special award was earned by
Canadian boxer Rodney Symonds.

WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS *** September 1 - 8th.

Canadian Youth Boxing Team:
GrĂ©nier  *  Bissailon * Mecier * Moffa * 
John Walker, Symonds, Downey, Markwick,
Gary Wood and Sandy Hervieux

Team Manager: Yvon Michel
Coaches: Ray Napperand Dave Campanile
pre tournament training in Canada took 
place in Sherbrooke, Quebec.























Thursday, November 7, 2013

THE BILLY Dynamite DOWNEY boxing story

The Billy Downey Boxing Journey: by Brian Zelley
with much assistance from ROBERT DOWNEY and support from Bill's family and friends

Introduction

This story begins at the end of Billy's life journey, but will take us back to the eighties when Billy was young.

Dynamite Downey dies at age 44 | The Chronicle Herald

Looking back to 1984, I remember the Downey name from Nova Scotia. In the 1984 Junior Nationals, there a Ray Downey competing in Burnaby, BC and then there was
Billy Downey engaged in action at Halifax in the
Intermeiate/Youth Nationalls. At the time I was
on the Board of the British Columbia Amateur Boxing Association.
'

1986 Commonwealth Games
It was a good year for Billy Downey and his Canadian team
Gold medal winners were:
Billy Downey, Scotty Olson, Asif Dar, Howard Grant, Dan Sherry and Lennox Lewis.
Bronze: Steve Beaupre, Brent Kosolofski and Dom. D'Amico.


Billy would face England's Peter English  for the gold medal.
Bronze was earned by ChrisCarleton and Johnny Wallace.
In previous tournaments, Canada's Dale Anderson would win
bronze in the featherweight division. And in later showsCasey Patton would win gold in the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, BC.

Back TO Where It All Began

To Understand, the journey of Billy Downey, we must understand
the role of the Downey family and the boxing club from where it 
all began in Nova Scotia.  The Downey name has long associted 
with boxing long before Billy joined a boxing club as a pre-teen.


T
Golden Memories = family, friends and fans..

Friday, November 1, 2013

THE CANADIAN BOXING SHOWDOWN in Quebec

The Recently crowned Canadian Champions and the A-team: by brian zelley

For the recently crowned champions in the elite male open category, some will not be resting if they hope to earn a place on the A-team if they face the
current A-team members Kenny Lally, Yves Ulysse jr., Custio Clayton'
Brody Blair and Samir El-Mais.

when THE FINAL BELL sounds how will the likes of Francois Pratte, Zsolt Duranyi, Steven Butler and Jan-Michael Poulin stand. Then what happens to Rodolfo Velasquez,
Alex Rynn and others?

There will be November action in Quebec, but who will be left standing.
Then the big question will Ariane Fortin require another win over MARY SPENCER
to cement her standing?


Junior and Youth Nationals

*This site will also follow the action in the Youth and Junior competition.