The Fernie Community Centre was packed with spectators on Saturday night as boxers stepped into the ring for Judgement Night III.
The third annual charity boxing event was off to a bit of a rocky start, according to Coal Valley Boxing Club president Mike Johnson. With city-wide power outages on the day of the fight, both organizers and boxers were worried about what would happen.
Fortunately, the power came back on about an hour and a half before doors were set to open and the fight night could move forward as planned. Johnson credited the “good ole Fernie community spirit” for helping the event come together.
Twenty charity boxers danced around the ring in front of a sold out crowd for the first half of the event. Despite wearing extensive headgear in order to protect themselves, it was easy to spot many different recognizable faces from around the community. Every fighter had supporters sitting in the crowd who jumped to their feet as soon as the gloves went up. The energy was high and the blood was pumping as the charity boxers entered the ring one by one.
After the charity boxers had their moment of glory, it was time for a brief intermission.
“I’m so happy for all my charity boxers,” said Johnson. “They all performed really well and put up some great fights.”
After the intermission, there were seven additional fights between local boxers and out of town fighters from Cranbrook and Nelson.
“For my actual competitive boxers, Lyle Babin in his first ever bout put up a great fun box against the Cranbrook guy [Cohenn Penner],” Johnson added. “Vanessa Smithies went glove to glove in an ‘exhibition’ bout which was more akin to a real fight and did herself and the club proud in her first fight. Dylan Mitchell and Colton Jones both put on a great display of boxing, dominating both fights and bringing two wins to Coal Valley Boxing.”
Although the final tally for money raised at the event aren’t in yet, Johnson estimated that Judgement Night III brought in between $12,000 and $13,000. Just as in past years, the money will be donated to local charities, families or individuals in need.
editor@thefreepress.ca
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