Thomas Speirs was fighting for a Canadian title on the other side of the continent, 4,400 kilometres away from his home in Prince George, but felt like he had the boxing crowd in Membertou, N.S. in the palm of his fist.
After scoring a 26-23 win over Stephen MacGillvary of Peace River, Alta., a transplanted Nova Scotian, in his first bout at the senior elite boxing championships, with every ensuing fight, Speirs felt more and more like the hometown boy.
That's partly because his Spruce Capital Warriors coach, B.C. head coach Wayne Sponagle, a born-and-bred Bluenoser from New Glasgow, N.S., was back in his old stomping grounds where he used to coach and promote pro boxing fight cards. Surrounded by his old boxing buddies, Sponagle used that opportunity to spread the word on Speirs.
But the real reason the fans took a shine to Speirs was for what he did in the national ring.
All three of Speirs's bouts in the days leading up to the championship round were crowd-pleasers, earning him shared honours for bout of the day. He rode that vocal support all the way to the gold-medal bout against Jonathan Savard of Quebec.
"Everyone was cheering for me there, telling me I had the fight of the night and that made me feel great," said Speirs. "I was way more ready for it this time. I went 3-1. I'm just happy about my performance."
The 21-year-old roofer's boxer-puncher style was too much for MacGillvary to handle and that advanced Speirs to the second round against Dana Hassan, a natural leftie from Ontario. Speirs landed an uppercut to Hassan's ribcage in the second round to take the lead in points and after a frenzied brawl moved on to the semifinal round against Andrew Gardiner of Manitoba, an aggressive national B-team member who came at Speirs with a vengeance.
Speirs won that one on points, 22-18, to advance to the 81-kilogram championship bout two Saturdays ago against Savard, a 24-year-old with a long international resume. Savard, another southpaw, stuck to a defensive style and Speirs was no match for him, losing by an undisclosed count.
"He was leaning back and didn't want to engage," said Speirs. "I felt really good, I just didn't punch well in my last fight. He threw a lot of big punches that hit my arms and they just got tired. He's last year's champ, he's been there."
Still, Speirs won a silver medal in one of the more hotly-contested weight classes, finishing second among a field of 12 fighters, by far the best tournament of his nearly five-year boxing career.
"Thomas had to fight the B-team champion, two southpaws, and - of the guys he had to fight - three of them were the hardest punchers in his weight division," said Sponagle. "It was almost asking the impossible for him to peak four times in a row. I think it was
amazing he peaked three times in a row.
"Unfortunately he drew the champion in the gold medal round. Going into his fourth fight, they had Thomas picked as the boxer of the tournament. This year he was ready and I was very impressed with what he did."
Sponagle brought the three-time B.C. champion along slowly, waiting for him to develop a array of boxing styles that allow him to adapt to any opponent. Against Sponagle's wishes, Speirs went to the 75kg national championships in 2010 in St. Hyacinthe, Que., where he was eliminated in the second round. He also qualified for the elite national finals in 2011, but that trip to Quebec City fell through when B.C. team funding was insufficient to get him there.
Now 33-7 as an amateur, Speirs is thinking about turning pro. He's trying to line up his next fight Feb. 17 in Calgary against Dwayne Orubar of Calgary, who beat Speirs in a
decision last October.
In other senior national results, Warrior fighter Robbie Cusine, 20, the 64kg B.C. champion, was eliminated in the first round, losing 28-25 to Steve Lalancette of Nova Scotia in a controversial decision that Sponagle said Cusine did not deserve.
Inner City Boxing Club member Kenny Lally won two bouts to defend his 52kg national title. His clubmate Jag Seehra captured bronze in the 60kg. Dylan Bishop of Vancouver (bronze, 60kg) and Jamie Ward of Vancouver (bronze, women's 60kg) added to the team B.C. medal haul.
