A COLLECTION OF NANAIMO FACES ON THE WALL

FACES ON THE WALL:  by brian zelley

JULES NEPPER

                                           NANAIMO BOXING CLUB CO-FOUNDERS
                                                             Dan and Brian

ALEN BROWN 0 VIC MURDOCH - BRIAN ZELLEY

Vancouver Connections

Vancouver South Hill and Firefighters

Fuller, Findlay, Wylie

Zelley, Lawson, Walters

Gamble, Scott, Lindmoser

NANAIMO BOXERS - FACES ON THE WALL

Gilles, Chris, Josh, Zack, 

Alan, Bob, Dan, Brian

EIGHT FACES OF THE MANY

Newcastle and Nanaimo

Boxing Clubs

TWO CLUBS WITH TWO DIFFERENT STORIES

By Brian W. Zelley, B. Comm, C A

As the only member of both clubs, it is an interesting story.

Some years back, I did a history of Nanaimo's 

NEWCASTLE BOXING CLUB

(1963 to 1968)

Of the eight boxers listed, three were members of the 

Newcastle Boxing Club - Gilles Nepper, Chris Balatti and Brian Zelley 

Alan had an interesting boxing journey from the late Seventies

to the late Eighties.  His prime club as a junior was the

CAMPBELL RIVER EAGLES BOXING CLUB

and then the GOLD RIVER BOXING CLUB

before joining the NANAIMO BOXING CLUB

in the late Eightiues.  Also, he had trained at 

other clubs such as the SHAMROCK BOXING CLUB

in Vancouver under the direction of Bob Decker.

Bob Pegues has had an interesting boxing journey.

About 1975, Bob fought 1972 Olympic Boxer

LES HAMILTON,  and would later become

a boxing coach in Prince George, and is

the current coach of Canadian Champion 

KENNY LALLY 

DAN "Dynamite" WRIGHT

The Dan Wright journey is likely one of the most

interesting stories with many twist and turns.

It was in the spring of 1967 when I first met

Dan in the library of the Nanaimo District

Secondary School when he came up to me

while I was studying for a history quiz in

my Grade 13 History Class while Dan was

a grade 12 student at the school.  It began 

when he asked me about boxer BUSTER MATHIS.

A year or so passed, and it would be in the fall of 1968

when I was coming from the Vancouver Firefighters gym

on a Friday night and decided to walk from the Cambie and 12th 

area down to Kingsway near Fraser and stop at a hamburger 

drive-in.  When I entered, the first person that I saw was that

fellow named Dan from the library about a year and a half ago.

So, I invited him and his friend Ray Ormandy to come to the gym

next Friday and introduce him to the various folks and if he wanted

to try boxing, I would help him.

Of interest, one evening the Canadian pro light-heavyweight

AL SPARKS happened to visit the gym while in Vancouver.

Dan had no formal fights and no very many days in the gym,

but I asked Mr. Sparks if he would like to spar with Wright.

He agreed, and coach Bert Lowes wasn't so keen, but I said

it would be okay as Al would take it easy on the novice trainee.

Over time, while at UBC in residents, Dan would come and visit

and we would spar in the 4th floor lounge at the Totem Park 

residence, and for many of the kids on the floor it must of 

seemed strange with a big heavyweight and a lightweight 

sparring, but it was all in the name of sport and fun and

a chance for "Dynamite" to learn how to box.

In the summer of 1971, Danny would help me start-up

the Nanaimo Boxing Club 

Later Dan would join the North West Eagles for a year

then join some of us in Victoria in 1974 to start another

boxing revival, but like a revolving door Dan went 

back to Nanaimo in 1975 and rejoined us when we

started the Victoria Athletic Association in August 1976.

MORE NANAIMO  FACES ON THE THE WALL

1964 VANCOUVER ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

2011 Nanaimo  and  1964 Newcastle

   TONY TRAN  and JULES NEPPER

SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THE 

SPORTS REPORTERS AND EDITORS

for the newly created 

Nanaimo Boxing Club

Our first sport editor champion was

MARK KIEMELE of the

"Nanaimo Daily Free Press"

also the "Nanaimo Times"

was great for both clubs

with such reports=writers as

EARLE COUPER

OCTOBER 2011 NEWS

Nanaimo Boxing Club 

early nominated candidate for 

BC AMATEUR BOXING

HALL OF FAME

to be decided starting June 2012

A FEW OF THE MANY

BOXERS THAT FOUGHT ON NANAIMO BOXING CARDS: by brian zelley

From Alan Brown to Zach McKay, they all have a boxing story.  Some even
return to the bright lights of the public years later such as boxer Ed Lee who
along with Dale Walters were responsible for getting 1984 Olympic boxer
Shawn O'Sullivan to take part in the 2010 the running with the Olympic torch.
Shawn from Ontario was overlooked in Ontario, but through the efforts of 
folks like Eddie Lee and Dale Walters, O'Sullivan returned to the bright lights
of the Olympic buzz for a brief moment in time.

Bob Pegues was one of the original members of the Nanaimo Boxing Club.
He had a number of bouts including one with Olympic boxer Les Hamilton.
Chris Ius was a former Olympic boxer when he was matched against 
Nanaimo boxer Mickey Griffin in a special main event held during a
Vancouver Island Bronze Gloves tournament in the mid-Seventies.
Chis would also, be part of the 1976 Olympic team.  But, the bout for
Griffin would be one of a number of bouts that would see Griffin quite
amateur boxing while he was still young and had not reached his potential.

PARADE of BOXERS

THE PARADE OF BOXERS in NANAIMO BOUTS

 - Alex Angelomatis - Alex Bankier - Allen MacLellan
Barry Creswell  -  Barry Neufield -   Bob Pegues - Brett Summers   
Brian Zelley - Chris Ius - Chris Rathy -  Chuck Robinson
Dan Wright - Danes Kent - Darren Lussier - Dave Houliston 
Don Preston - Dwayne Evenson - Ed Lee - Ed McCaffrey 
Ed Williams -  Gary Ivers - Gordie Lawson - Jack Snaith -
John Herbert  - John Hunter -  Kelly Gourlay - Kevin Maughan
Kevin Howard - Lee Ranger - Les Hamilton - Malcolm Elridge 
Mark Hartell  - Mark Barr - Marty Burton - Mickey Griffin
Norm Greenwell - Paul Dodd - Perry Evans - Ron Williams
Ralph Torrie -  Rick Davidson - Rick Evenson - Roman Grimard
Scott Cessford - Scott Sinclair - Shane Amderson - Sheldon Samuels
Stan Murphy - Steve Alexander - Steve Varro - Takeshi Sasagawa
Tim Hunter ********* Stefan Melideo*******Zack McKay.  

Two years after he appeared in Nanaimo in 1978, CHUCK ROBINSON
would die along with other members of the 1980 USA Olympic boxing
team while heading for a tournament in Poland.  The plane crashed
and exploded in Poland.

Of course, there are many others that fought in some of the club
shows and tournaments hosted by Nanaimo over it's 40 plus years.
Since the first action of the club in the early Seventies, many Nanaimo
boxers would compete in various club shows and tournaments 
in British Columbia and other locations.  

THE VANCOUVER ISLAND CHAMPIONS

THE THREE CHAMPIONS

GILLES NEPPER - BRIAN ZELLEY - MIKE MURRAY
Also 1984 Island Champion ALAN BROWN and GARY WOOD would join
 the Nanaimo Boxing Club for a brief period.