The Sunshine Coast Boxing Club put on a great show to the delight of a good hometown crowd at War on the Shore 3 at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre Saturday night, April 25.
Boxers from Williams Lake, Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria, Parksville came to fight— and fight they did.
The high-energy event welcomed back Barry Krangle as ring announcer.
The first Coast boxer in the ring was Dorian Connelley of Gibsons against Kelowna’s Payson White. The small boys with big hearts and energy tore into each other with the fast-paced bout ending in a draw.
Next up was Gibsons Joe Carreiro in a senior 175-pound bout against Kelowna’s Jordan Cameron with both fighters making their in-ring debuts.
Both men ignored the feeling-out process landing a number of big punches in the first round. As their initial nerves calmed down, the boxing became more technical setting up big punches and flurries of action.
Cameron was declared the winner by unanimous decision
In a super heavyweight bout, Gibsons’ Graham Porter faced Mission’s Nick Csaszar.
The ring instantly looked small with these two big men. Both boxers’ strategies became evident early in the first round with Csaszar looking to land telling blows and Porters’ fight plan trying to avoid punches and then sharply counterpunch with his own.
Porters’ game plan worked well and it was his speed and power that soon had Csaszar reeling. The fight was so one-sided that Csaszar’s corner stopped the fight after the second round.
In a four-round main event, Gibsons George Vourtsis and Parksville’s Brandon Busby put on a fantastic show.
Busby started the fight by spearing Vourtsis with quick, stinging left jabs.
Vourtsis, who was nearly a head shorter than Busby, slipped inside however, and blasted Busby with thudding punches to his head and body.
Not being able to fight inside, Busby initiated a clinch and the referee had to step in several time to separate the fighters.
This action was typical of the first three rounds with Vourtsis getting the better of the action and landing some huge punches that brought roars of approval from the fight fans.
In the fourth and final round it was obvious that Busby would need a knockout to win. Busby went all out to catch Vourtsis with the finishing punch and had Vourtsis on the defensive for the first half of the round.
In typical Vourtsis fashion he dug deep into his big heart reversing the tide and won the last minute of the fight.
As the boxers had their gloves removed it was noted that Vourtsis was unmarked while Busby’s face was quite bruised.
This was a very important fight for both boxers as a win or loss would influence their position in the boxing rankings and ability to receive a title shot.
Local officials for the evening were Marni Beggs, Kathy Christ and referee Rick Shannon. Thanks also to Dr. Paul Murphy and his assistant Tracy Benner who donated their services for the evening.
