FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Local boxers Eddie Scarfo and Nick Young will be headed back to the gym to continue honing their craft, especially after the YYC Cup in Calgary last weekend.
Scarfo earned his way to the finals in the lightweight division, which ended in a narrow loss due to a split decision.
It was a loss that upset Scarfo, who believes he won. Even his coach, Justin Donnally, had his phone at the ready, thinking Scarfo was about to have his hand raised.
“It was a weird one to me, and it was kind of a sloppy fight. The kid kept grabbing onto him,” Donnally said.
“As far as I could see, everybody else around there told him they thought he won too.”
Five Star Boxing owner Donnally says for amateur boxing, it is rare to get a decisive finish, such as a knockout. Mainly, the results are left to the judges.
The 17-year-old left Calgary with a silver medal in hand, and some fuel for his future bouts.
“With a kid like Eddie who’s so competitive, he was super upset, and I’m just trying to keep him calm and get him out of the building,” Donnally said.
“With that said, I respect that about Eddie. I love the kid. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was young. He hates losing, he’s so competitive, and he put in so much work, and he thought he won.”
Donnally says they’ll train harder and work all summer to prepare for next year, hoping the boxing season will be more structured, following the restrictive mandates in place over the past two years.
The boxing coach is eyeing a chance for his fighters to head to the national and provincial championships as well.
As for the other Five Star boxer who competed at the YYC Cup, Nick Young, he had his work cut out for him in the stacked light middleweight division.
“They had a guy that’s a Commonwealth Games champion that was up from Mexico, like a 200-plus fight guy. They had the two-time current Candian champion in that division, that’s a member of Team Canada, whose got over 120 fights, and has fought internationally,” Donnally explains, “Alberta and B.C. provincial champs were both in there.”
“The division was tough, no doubt about it.”
Young got the original draw, the Alberta provincial champ, who they hoped to fight.
“The day before the fights, he pulled out for reasons unknown,” Donnally says, so they had to redo the draw.
Young then drew the Canadian champion in the first draft.
“We go there knowing that we’re going to have to beat the best guys. So it doesn’t matter. When you draw them, you’re going to have to fight them to win,” Donnally explains.
“That’s a tough one in the first round, and Nick went out.”
Donnally says Young fought pretty good but “felt like the nerves got him a little bit.”
“You’re fighting a guy with five times the experience Nick has and been around the block.”
Donnally did say that Young fought well, despite not getting the win over the veteran boxer.
“He was a half step behind him, but he took no damage. He landed his shots. He stayed in there. He worked really well.”
Donnally says that it was a good learning experience and that he was proud of Young, who will get to work on his skills over the summer.
However, Donnally explains that the problem for Young is finding a sparring partner that can help him evolve and get better.
“There’s really nobody in the Peace region, not just Fort St. John, but in the entire Peace region that’s really on at the next level, or anywhere close to his weight, for him to spar with.”
Donnally says the two will talk over the summer to figure out the next move to build on Young’s career.
