Local boxers shine at annual event

By Mo Cranker on January 22, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

Medicine Hat’s boxing scene was on display this weekend for the 14th annual Nieman-Page Memorial event.

The shows ran Saturday evening and Sunday morning, showcasing more than 40 fights over the two shows.

“It went really great,” said Medicine Hat Boxing Club head coach Kerry Fahlman. “We’ve had a really great response of clubs coming from far away and we’ve seen some great teams coming out this year. We’ve heard nothing but good things from the coaches, spectators and fighters on the quality of fights.”

The event saw fighters from British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta travel to the Hat to take part in the event, and Fahlman says the local fighters had a solid weekend in the ring.

“We did really good,” he said. “We had a really good day Saturday, winning around 75 per cent of our fights, and again today (Sunday) we’ll be around there. We lost some split decisions and some really close matches, but overall I thought we did a really good job.”

Medicine Hat’s Janick Lacroix had a big match Sunday, a rematch against Elias Martinez out of Nelson B.C.

After the two fighters exchanged punches through two rounds, Lacroix had an extra step during the third and final frame, taking down Martinez by a split decision Sunday afternoon in front of many friends, family members and supporters.

“I feel good after that one,” Lacroix said after the fight. “It was a tough fight. I fought him a couple weeks ago and won by unanimous. This time I won by split. I definitely could have done some things to make the fight not so close, but he fought really well and came out hard.”

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