Terris Smith and Braydon Blazina of Victoria came close to making the Canadian team for the 2023 world boxing championships by winning bronze medals this month at the Canadian championships in Brampton, Ont.
But even if they had won their national titles they wouldn’t be going to the worlds next month in Delhi, India, as Boxing sa国际传媒 has decided to boycott the event to protest the inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes and also to protest how the world governing body operates.
“Our plan now, as it has been from the beginning, is about qualifying our athletes for the [2024 Paris] Olympics,” Boxing sa国际传媒 president Ryan O’Shea said in a statement.
“Our focus for both our males and females is the upcoming Pan American Games qualification because the Pan American Games in Chile are the first Olympic qualification.”
That’s fine by Smith and Blazina because they have their eyes firmly focused on the road to Paris. The bronze medallists are each two steps away on the national level.
“I was not satisfied with the bronze at nationals because I wanted the gold,” said Smith, three-time sa国际传媒 champion in the women’s 57-kilo class.
“I thought I had the win in the semifinal [a controversial 3-2 split decision that went the other way]. I was disappointed but I will take it as a learning experience and do better next time. I will keep working hard and going for it and grind really hard to get more international travel. The Olympics are the goal.”
Smith, a CPA in Langford, does all this inside the ropes by balancing her career as an accountant outside the ring.
“It’s tax season and I’m swamped,” she said.
But the 29-year-old has been boxing for seven years and she won’t let her busy civilian career stop her from competing in an all-female tournament this week in San Francisco.
Blazina, meanwhile, boxes with the big boys in the 92-kilo male category. “I’m constantly adapting but I like to swing [for the knockout punch]. Hey, it’s super-heavyweight,” said the 23-year-old sa国际传媒 champion.
Blazina said he was ready to uncoil at nationals after the pandemic.
“There was lack of activity during COVID and I missed sports,” said the former Juan de Fuca hockey player and Belmont Secondary rugby player, who first got into the ring at the Westshore Boxing Club.
“I was on the podium at nationals this year and would like to win next year,” he said.
He knows what that would mean.
“The Olympics are the dream for anybody in amateur boxing. We’ll see where it leads to.”
Smith and Blazina are coached by veteran mentor and former national-team boxer Jason Heit at Island Boxing. Heit knows the road well as he guides Smith and Blazina as well as Alex Tribe, the third sa国际传媒 champion from Island Boxing who was at nationals. Heit was a volunteer at the 1994 Commonwealth Games boxing practice venue at Oak Bay High when he thought to himself I can reach that level. He did and just one year later he made the Canadian team to the 1995 Pan Am Games in Argentina. Heit went 26-4 as an amateur but lost in the Canadian final bout to make the 1996 Atlanta Olympics before turning pro and moving to Los Angeles and finishing with a combined boxing, kick-boxing and MMA record of 42-5 with 34 knockouts. Heit has worked as a body guard for actors Nicholas Cage, David Duchoveny and Drew Barrymore.
