BIG NORTH C1
BIG NORTH FREE PRESS - MAY 2013
Big North
Classifieds and Careers
C7
C Section
FREE PRESS
A lis ta ir M cINNIS/ Fre e Pre s s
Kenny Lally trains with coach Bob Pegues at the Northern Sport Centre in April. Lally has reached the 100-match mark and will step in the ring for his 101st bout at the Night of the Champions, May 11 at the NSC.
Olympics still goal after 100 bouts ALISTAIR MCINNIS sportss@pgfreepress.com
Kenny Lally wanted to become an Olympian before he even started boxing. The sweet science became his avenue to try and represent Canada at the Summer Games. Ten years after stepping in the ring for his first carded match, the 23-year-old Prince George product has reached the century mark in bouts. “I always knew I wanted to go to the Olympics, but I didn’t know what sport,” Lally says. “I tried soccer, basketball, hockey. I was always good at each sport, but I was never great. Then when I joined boxing, I excelled very quickly, and I had a knack for punching people in the face.” Lally’s 100th fight was in Serbia in April. He lost a
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decision against Ivanov Stefan of Bulgaria to drop to 87-13. His first carded tilt was during the 2003 BC Bronze Gloves in Surrey, a defeat against Darcy Forsythe of Maple Ridge. In between his first and most recent match, all Lally has been doing is a lot of winning. He’s been dominant at the national level, a five-time Canadian champion who’s been a member of Boxing Canada’s elite team since 2010. Still trying to become an Olympic boxer, he’s faced stiffer tests internationally. Asked to point out his proudest moment in the ring, one fight stands above the 99 others. At the 2010 Elite Continental Championships in Quito City, Ecuador, Lally defeated Cuban A team member Marcos Forestal in a 54 kg semifinal match. Although he went on to lose in the final of that event, he can still remember the thrill of pulling out the slim 2-1 victory
over Forestal. “Beating that Cuban, that was the highlight of my career so far,” Lally says. Lally experienced something different the previous year. But it’s been remembered for an entirely different reason. In 2009, Lally suffered a defeat outside of the ring. He and training partner Jag Seehra were beaten by the scales at the Final Team Selection in Edmonton. They each weighed over the maximum requirement to box. Lally fell painfully short, missing the 51 kg class by one tenth of a kilogram. Looking back, Lally calls the disappointment of missing weight the best thing to happen to him. He refers to it as a wake-up call. turn to PAGE C2
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