Thunder Innis and Ben Ruttan of Inner City Boxing PG punched their way to titles at the Alberta Sub-Novice Tournament in Calgary on the weekend.
The 15-year-old Innis won both his fights in the 80-kilogram-and-over division. He started with a unanimous decision against Morris Crow of Red Deer’s Black Rock Boxing Club and then beat Carter Martin, who was representing Humble Boxing of Airdrie.
Ruttan, 17, had one bout in the 90kg weight class and defeated Deshawn Flavel-Howse of the Lac La Biche Boxing Club.
Sixteen-year-old Trayton Ruttan of Inner City fought in the 70kg division but lost to Thakur Jaswal of the Olympus Chestermere Boxing Club.
The Ruttan brothers got their first taste of Inner City last June as part of a school program.Seventeen-year-old Ben and 16-year-old brother Trayton have been training at the Inner City gym for about five months. They had long been interested in boxing, and liked the atmosphere at the club right away. When coaches Kenny Lally and Jag Seehra invited them to come back and train, they jumped at the opportunity.
And they’ve taken advantage of it.
“I’ve learned a lot,” Ben said. “Keeping your hands up, staying disciplined, and proper technique. I’ve been to two other boxing gyms and I’ve never learned as much as I’ve been learning here. This has changed me a lot. It’s really made me more mature.”
Trayton puts it more simply.
“I work my butt off and it’s been paying off,” he said.
Since they started boxing, Ben and Trayton have been training six days per week – five at Inner City and one on their own. And while it’s always one against one in a boxing ring, they’ve been a team in all of the work that goes in ahead of time.
“Doing it with my brother makes it even better,” Trayton said. “I’ve got a training partner always by my side. We train together, run together, it’s been good. We’ve always been really close, since we were younger.”
From Lally’s perspective, the Ruttan brothers have been great additions to Inner City’s fight team, which currently stands at 12 boxers.
“I love those kids,” Lally said. “We call them our Diaz brothers. So if anybody’s familiar with UFC, Nate and Nick Diaz, they remind us of them. They’ve got a very tough exterior and they’re very talented at the same time. And it’s really cool when you see them now, the role models they are in the gym, especially for the younger kids – helping them out, encouraging them on the bag.”
During his own boxing career, Lally was a seven-time national champion, and he sees bright futures for the Ruttan brothers in the sport.
“They’re here to learn,” Lally said. “That’s what Jag and I dream for: for kids to come up here that ask questions, that are waiting at the door to come in, that are running on their off-time. That’s what it’s all about.”
Seehra is equally impressed with the Ruttan boys. When he sees them supporting each other and giving everything they’ve got during training sessions, he says he’s reminded of the partnership he and Lally had for so many years as Inner City boxers.
“They’re something else,” Seehra said. “They feed off each other’s energy and it’s just cool to see two brothers close like that. They both kind of hold each other accountable. That’s what you need in this game.”
Members of Inner City Boxing PG will now prepare for a home fight card, Champions of the North on Nov. 23 at the Roll-A-Dome.
