In Canmore Fight Club’s first official night of amateur pugilism, Neal Greenly convincingly defeated Banff’s Stephane Novel during the second round in the main event of the inaugural Pieter Grobler Memorial Boxing tournament at the Canmore Miners’ Union Hall Saturday (May 13).
The Canmore powerhouse launched a flurry of right hooks, shaking up his opponent in the first round.
“I wanted to make him feel my right. I started with a little jab and that was going through his guard, so that gave me confidence,” said Greenly, fighting in his first event.
Both fighters came out swinging, with Greenly holding a definite power advantage over the Banff fighter. While Novel showed some nerves, he grew stronger as the match went on, improving his defence instead of trying to match Greenly blow for blow. However, Greenly was happy to go toe-to-toe with his opponent, landing punishing hooks and connecting frequently with his jab.
“At first it was just a fight, but then I thought screw it, let’s put on a fireworks show,” Greenly said.
The frenzied attack resulted in a standing eight count for Novel, who calmed down after the flurry.
By the second round, Novel did a better job picking up the jab and countering with a solid jab of his own. However, Greenly quickly switched his strategy, going to a basic feint-jab approach, again penetrating Novel’s defence, softening him up for the final push.
“I stopped trying to fight like a crazy S.O.B,” Greenly said.
A thunderous hook forced the referee to stop the fight, as amateur boxing rules dictate two standing eight counts stops the fight. Greenly, who had been training since last August when he participated in the K.O. for Cancer, said he’s definitely hungry for another fight.
Canmore’s Jamie Buhler squared off in the undercard with Dale ‘The Bonecracker’ Belcher, a veteran fighter from Red Deer. The local pastor gave up some reach and power to his Red Deer opponent and started tentatively in the match against his more experienced opposition. Belcher scored early and often with his jab, stalking Buhler around the ring before winning a convincing decision.
Canmore’s Craig Wilson was also victorious in his match over Jeremy Kaliel. Wilson used a series of body blows to soften up Kaliel, forcing him to the ropes early on. In the second round, Wilson landed a powerful right hook followed by a flurry of uppercuts to stun Kaliel, setting him up for the third, where he scored a standing eight count early on. Kaliel tried to hold on for the rest of the round, however, Wilson’s unrelenting attack resulted in a second standing eight, giving Wilson the win.
In the most explosive first round of the night, Canmore Fight Club’s Rob Macbasa ran rampant over Mario Dominguez-Rovanet of Banff.
Macbasa exploded, knocking down his opponent in the first 30 seconds and appeared to be on his way to a decisive victory.
However, the first round flurry used the bulk of his energy, and the second round saw both fighters take a methodical approach. Dominguez-Rovanet methodically piled up points to make it close and he began reading punches much better. However, Macbasa released another flurry to close the round.
“To be honest, I was tired,” said Macbasa.
He used the same strategy in the third round, showing excellent power, and was given the split decision win.
Happy with the win, he wasn’t as impressed with the split decision.
“I really didn’t think it was a split decision. I felt I dominated the exchanges and power,” Macbasa said.
Going in with a game plan, the Canmore boxer wanted to establish himself early.
“My strategy was to shake him up and hit him with big power and then lower the hammer,” Macbasa said.
On the women’s card, Sarah Michaluk dropped the first fight of her career to Kendra Mogck of Red Deer.
The Canmore fighter tried to keep her more experienced opponent at bay by working the jab, but gave up power. Mogck landed several combinations to take the round.
Michaluk thought she was up in points by the second round, however, the judges thought otherwise. By the third round, blood dripping from her nose, Michaluk settled down and found her groove, landing several solid jabs, breaking Mogck’s guard.
“By then it seemed more like sparring,” Michaluk said.
Michaluk walked into the Canmore Fight Club about a year ago with no intentions of throwing a punch in an amateur fight. Having recovered from a horrific snowboarding accident that left her with a broken back, she was looking for a way to get in shape.
“I’ve never been in a fight and I started boxing a year ago just for fitness,” she said. “I was not feeling 100 per cent going in and was nervous all day. But when I stepped in the ring, the nerves went away and I didn’t hear the crowd. I was in the zone.”
Nick Martin, who organized the event, trained the Canmore fighters and built the ring, was thrilled with the event. He’d like to host fights in Canmore on a more regular basis, and has several more events planned for this summer.
