By Tim Pattyson
The Gale Kerwin Boxing Club is planning a trip to Syracuse, New York to avenge a beating it took in late January.
During an exhibition held last month at the Coliseum on Bank Street, the home team managed to win only two of eight fights against the Syracuse Boxing Club in front of 400 fans .
Win or lose, the event has started a boxing revolution for the club run out of the Centretown chapters of the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club.
“Just by the number of calls that we’ve had to the club there are so many people who are interested in the sport,” says Nancy Maxwell, of the Boys and Girls Club.
While there are no dates set for future Ottawa fights, Maxwell says the future looks bright. The Syracuse team has also promised to return to Ottawa down the road.
The man behind the Ottawa boxing revival is Gale Kerwin, a former amateur and professional fighter who runs the club.
Kerwin was born and raised in Centretown and even served as an alderman for a Centretown ward during the 1970s. He also owns of Kerwin Realties Ltd.
During last month’s exhibition, he could be seen sporting a navy blue sweat suit with the name of his club on the back, running shoes and prepping his fighters for their matches.
His full head of hair made it look like he could still go 12 rounds easily.
Maxwell says that Kerwin’s goal to bring amateur boxing back to Ottawa started about four years ago.
Before Kerwin started his club, local fighters had few options and no place to chase their dreams.
“One of their (Ottawa Boys and Girls Club) employees got a hold of me and said ‘Listen Gale, you bring a boxing ring down here’ and that’s how it all started,” says Kerwin.
“I decided, what the heck, devote a bit of time to the community again and I started to bring the boxing to the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club.”
He has since built a full service gym at the Boys and Girls Club facility through public donations and his own money.
“You’d walk into it and think you were on the set of Rocky,” says Maxwell.
The gym has a ring, punching bags, mirrors and memorabilia from Kerwin’s 20 years of boxing as an amateur and professional.
“He is a very big-hearted man. He has a love of the sport,” she says. “He has a genuine interest and caring for all of the young people that participate in his organization.”
Not only is Kerwin interested in bringing boxing back, but he is dedicating himself to making a difference in the life of each of his fighters.
One of those fighters is 29-year-old Alex Rodriguez, a former professional dancer in Cuba. Rodriguez moved to Canada four years ago and took up boxing just last year.
“I’m pretty new in this game, but what I can see is that he really encourages you,” says Rodriguez. “I will follow him wherever he goes. We start together, we finish together.”
Ray Rinaldi, the promoter and coach of the Syracuse team agrees that with amateur fighters the actual boxing should take a backseat to everyday human values. He says that Kerwin is doing a great job with his fighters. “It gives a chance for the kids to eliminate frustration under a very controlled environment. It gives them self-esteem and confidence,” says Rinaldi. “The kids are friendly, the atmosphere is nice, you can see the way the kids are happy.”
Maxwell says Kerwin is a special person. “He sort of embodies what the club promotes,” she says.
The Boys and Girls Club promotes active living, personal health, social behaviour and high moral standards.
They also pride themselves on providing role models for the kids that use the clubs.
Kerwin prefers to re-direct the praise he gets to his boxers. “I’m proud to show these kids off to the fans in Ottawa,” he says.