Nelson boxers earned three gold and two silver medals at the provincial championships last week in North Vancouver.
Lola Brouilette, Riel Martinez and Marino Raffo each captured gold, with Porter Hansen and Wamuna Fukada taking silver.
Brouilette, 17, won the 52-kilogram Youth Division by walkover, but then moved up in weight to challenge the 54-kg champion Ella Meredith from Chilliwack. Brouilette boxed in her usual fluid, graceful style and won a unanimous decision against her veteran opponent.
Martinez, 17, won his 67-kg Youth Final against Cranbrook’s Jaxon Chisholm. Chisholm had the better of a tactical first round before Martinez picked up the pace down the stretch for the unanimous verdict.
Raffo, 15, won his Junior C 54-kg division by walkover but was unable to find an opponent his own weight.
Hansen, 14, in his first Open competition lost a pitched battle to Coquitlam’s Csongor Basco for the Junior C 63-kg title. Porter showed a huge heart and bloodied the champion’s nose in the second round but had to settle for silver.
Fukada lost a razor-thin split decision to North Vancouver’s Faryar Mohammedi in the Elite 54-kg final. The fight was a great display of technical skill from both athletes with Fukada coming up just short on the cards.
Additionally, Hansen was awarded with Boxing BC’s Jimmy Simms Award for best student athlete of 2022. Fukada, who will move to the elite division in 2023, was voted Best Youth Boxer of 2022.
All five athletes have earned the right to represent B.C. at the national championships in Montreal in early 2023.
Brouilette, Hansen and Fukada will also rep the provincial squad on a trip to Mazatlan, Mexico where they will compete against the Sinaloa state champions along with other members of Team B.C.
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