SUBMITTED PHOTO Medicine Hat Boxing Club coach Kerry Fahlman (left) and Janick Lacroix pose in Barbados this past weekend.
If Janick Lacroix ever wants to join the British Navy, he’s now got an in.
The 17-year-old Medicine Hat Boxing Club member took on two Navy men during an invitational tournament in Barbados this past weekend, even winning one of the fights against boxers much older than him.
“Much respect from Navy coaches and dignitaries after,” wrote Hat coach Kerry Fahlman. “They couldn’t believe Janick was only 17, the head of sport for Great Britain Navy actually asked Janick if he would be interested in joining their Navy and then he came to me to discuss it.
“I told him the only way is if they hired us both.”
Lacroix lost a Friday night bout by a split decision to Navy’s Adam Howe, but earned a 4-1 decision over Robert Forest on Saturday.
Between the far-away location, the international opponents and one other key factor, it’s already up there on Lacroix’s most memorable boxing experiences.
“Royal Navy in Barbados, a senior tournament so there was no headgear, there were a lot of things I’d never done before,” Lacroix said of the weekend. “I thought it was a pretty big deal to go and do that.”
Fighting without headgear left Lacroix a little more vulnerable but he liked it nonetheless. With Golden Gloves coming up in Calgary in two weeks, and junior nationals in Montreal in May, the trip was a great chance to find tough competition and be ready for the bigger tournaments to come.
“Great experience working with a disciplined group like that,” wrote Fahlman, adding that Lacroix’s been invited to England in June for another card.
There was one aspect of the event Lacroix didn’t expect. The stands were mostly empty for the fights, to the point where he had and Fahlman had to whisper in the corner between rounds so that the opposing corner couldn’t hear them.
“I’d never fought somewhere so quiet,” said Lacroix, a former national champion who a year ago was in the Canada Winter Games final in Red Deer. “They really didn’t advertise the tournament, it was not what I was expecting. There were so many seats, just a few locals came to watch.”
Too bad, because Lacroix said the win over Forest was a crowd-pleasing brawl.
