On Saturday November 3, 26 fighters faced off against each other in the ring, raising money for a good cause in Judgement Night 2.
Much like the previous Judgement Night in 2015, the event was very successful; not one seat in the Fernie Community Centre was left unused. All money raised at the event will be donated back into the community, either to local charities, not for profits, or families in need in the Elk Valley.
Half of those fighting had no previous experience in the sport – and trained with Fernie Old School Boxing especially for this night. The first eight fights of the evening featured amateur boxers, who fought representing their business.
“I’m truly humbled from the support of Fernie, to see the town support this event,” said Fernie Old School Boxing president Mike Johnson. “The guys and girls that have been training with us for those 12 weeks just put on an awesome show for everyone.
“There was no holding back as I’m sure everyone saw,” he added.
After months of training, it came down to three rounds.
The first two to face off were Emilie Brien and Jessica Koehler. Brien, representing Fernie Old School Boxing, beat Koehler, who was representing Teck.
Bout 2 featured Denise Hutchinson and Jennifer McGillivray, fighting for Westland Insurance and Legacy Ford, respectively. Hutchinson came out on top, taking the victory over McGillivray.
Rebecca Taylor, representing Yamagoya, took on Amie Bradsell, who fought for Nevados. This high intensity fight ended with Taylor coming out on top.
Next, in bout four, Bailey Peterson, fighting for The Kodiak Lounge, went gloves up against CJ Moogk, representing The Brickhouse. Moogk was deemed to be the winner.
James Joinson, representing SMS, beat Glenn Finlay who was fighting for Fernie Old School boxing.
In bout six, Josh Gallinger of Clarkson Contracting took on Justin Boehm of Elk Valley Snow. Gallinger ended up coming out on top.
In a decision that left spectators scratching their heads, Legacy Ford’s Mike Lento beat SMS’s Chris Rolufs. The fight had initially gone to Rolufs, but the head official overruled this decision due to too many slap punches. Lento was deemed the winner.
“Chris pretty much dominated that fight, but unfortunately it was overruled by the chief official … (he) decided there was too many slap punches,” said Johnson.
“Bit of a surprise to everyone, but that’s boxing,” he said. “The technicalities of boxing.”
The last amateur fight of the evening triggered huge support from the crowd when Luther McClure, representing the Elk Valley Rugby Club, took on Caleb Bate, representing The Fernie Hotel. Although he led the first round with intensity, Bate was eventually overpowered in the fight, causing the decision in favour of McClure.
Six more fights followed the intermission, which featured fights with two Fernie fighters.
Colton Jones of the Fernie Old School Boxing Club squared up against Southpaw Calgary’s Jacob Edwards in an exhibition match. Jones, six years younger, and smaller in size, did well despite the difference and the fight ended with Edwards congratulating him on a job well done.
“He really took him too the wire, he fought really hard,” said Johnson, praising the 18-year-old Fernie fighter for his efforts.
Fernie’s Dylan Mitchell, a senior novice light welter weight, fought against Lethbridge’s Carlos Marquira in the main card event, in what would be an extremely close match. Many viewers were undecided who won. Although it appeared as though Mitchell dominated the first round, he visibly lost steam by the third round and the decision ruled in favour of Marquira.
“I had Dylan down on two rounds, I thought he’d done enough to get that win,” said Johnson.
The boxing club president admitted Mitchell worked hard in the first two rounds but agreed he lost steam, come the third.
The boxing club is averaging 20-25 seniors in on every practice night, with an additional 24 kids from the age of 7-13 coming in on Tuesdays. Johnson hopes, with the increase in enrollment, he will start to see more boxers from Fernie traveling abroad to fight.
Additionally, Sparwood will be seeing it’s own boxing club open up, underneath a partnership with Fernie Old School Boxing. The new club, located in the basement of the Sparwood Golf Club, will give Sparwood residents a chance to train during the winter without traveling. The club is set to open later this month.
“Kids, shift workers, all shapes sizes, ages … the door is always open at both clubs,” said Johnson. “Super stoked to get that Sparwood club open.”
