Putting some punch into Canada Day

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One Mississauga youngster who was so excited about being part of the country’s national day of celebration yesterday that he ended up getting in a fight.
Fortunately, the pint-size pugilist was participating in an amateur boxing card held at the Canadian Exhibition Place in Toronto as part of the CHIN picnic’s Canada Day celebration, where Mississauga boxing club Chris Johnson’s Fighting Alliance (CJFA) set up shop in the Better Living Centre and showcased their stuff for an enthusiastic crowd.
“It felt awesome,” said thrilled Mike McWilliams, 13, who won a split decision in his action-packed three-round match against Jorge Puebla of Brampton’s Champion Club. “That was the first (real) scrap I’ve been in. Usually I just box, stay back and counter them, but this time I was just inside and punching and it was a lot of fun.”
At84.2 pounds and already a seasoned vet of 20 bouts despite his young age, McWilliams was featured in the first match of the event.
“It was very, very nerve-wracking, because I thought it was going to be a room. Instead it was a big plaza, and there was a lot of people watching, and I was the first bout,” he said.
Nine of Mississauga gym’s amateur boxers donned the gloves to do battle with competitors from other regional clubs.
In the main event, a 144-pound affair, Logan Cotton won a decision over Fighting Island’s Tyler Dunlop in an intense four-round bout.
Mississauga’s Joyce Findlay was stopped in the second round of an entertaining brawl with Leta May Button of the Bel Boxing Club.
In a 156-pound match-up, Sam Vargas from CJFA and his foe Chris Hall of Sully’s were both disqualified in a rough and tumble bout.
Dwayne Dallas of CJFA used his sharp right cross to win a decision over Mike Loguriniuk of Sully’s in a 153-pound fight.
Meanwhile, 193-pounder Sam Matysiak, 121-pounder Jacob Rhule and heavyweight Shavar Henry all participated in hard-fought exhibition matches.
Head coach Chris Johnson, currently in the process of training local world title holding pro Steve Molitor for his July 14 title defence at Casino Rama, did double duty as the card’s gregarious emcee -- when not working his boxers’ corner.
“We put some smiles on the people’s faces, so it was great,” he exclaimed. “There were people there who didn’t want to leave. There were no seats and people stood the whole two and half hours.”
Johnson is also proud that his club’s makeup is representative of our country’s multicultural collective face.
“I have Filipinos, I have blacks, I have whites, I have Africans, I have Brazilians, all in the gym,” he said. “These kids, a lot of them are not from here, so they’re celebrating that (they are now a) part of Canada.”

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