A new boxer from Terrace was the main event in a fight card in Prince George on June 4.
George Spalding is age 27, 6’1’’ and 210 pounds, and started boxing last December, with no prior martial arts experience.
This was his first fight card and he faced Prince George boxer Lyndon Creyke, who has fought six other fights previously.
Spalding lost his fight on a split decision, which means that two of the three judges voted his competitor as dominant, and one judge voted that Spalding was dominant.
Coach Tony Rutledge said Spalding was tracking his opponent for the first two rounds, with spurts of fighting, and the third round came down to who had the most energy left.
“George is a brawler,” Rutledge said of Spalding’s style. “He is an old school boxer… the way he punches is just gangster.”
Attentive in the ring, Spalding is also left handed, or “south paw,” which gives him a slight advantage, Rutledge said.
The Prince George “Comb-sport” event was run by the Spruce Capital Warriors in Prince George and included eight fights with competitors ages 13-28 from as far as Revelstoke, Alta.
Rutledge said that boxing is still a developing sport in the north and there are no official amateur titles in this region yet.
Nicholas Matheson from Terrace also fought June 4, winning what was his first fight against Shalyan Allan from Prince George.
Matheson is age 14, 5’11’’ and 140 pounds and is new to martial arts. He starting boxing last December.
His fight was action packed, with a lot of toe-to-toe punching in the first round and Matheson dominating the third, Rutledge said.
“Nick has got an incredible jab, and he just throws it at will… he is technical, super fast and accurate,” said Rutledge.
Koltyn McDougall from Terrace also trained to fight June 4, but at age 11, 170 pounds and 5’10’’, the club did not have a boxer in the same weight class to match up with him.
Rutledge started the Kermode Boxing Club in Terrace in December because boxing is how he got into martial arts and there was no boxing club in town.
They practice twice a week and most people come for a workout rather than to spar, so Rutledge said they do not enter the cage unless they want to.
There are 10 people in the club so far, mostly under age 16, and the atmosphere is very family-friendly, said Rutledge.
“Mothers and fathers are aloud to sit on the benches, or come and hold the pads for their kids,” he said.
The club hopes to organize its first fight card in Terrace sometime in this fall, likely October, he said.