Bob Rennie
Ross Milne
Nicole Phillips
Calen Knauf
Daily Flickr Pickr – Day 141
POSTED March 12, 2010 BY Bob Kronbauer
Share
Every day we share a single photo from our Flickr Pool with you, shot by one of our faithful and talented readers (that’s you!).
Today’s image is courtesy of Grant Harder, it’s entitled “Astoria Boxing Trophies” and it’s a bit of a mystery to me. Did the Astoria Hotel used to house a boxing ring? What’s the story here, Grant?
Join our Flickr Group and submit one photo per day to be considered as a post on the Daily Flickr Pickr.
March 14th, 2010 at 9:52 am
The Astoria Boxing Club was founded in 1977. Its home was in the basement of the historic Astoria Hotel at 769 East Hastings Street, when the pub owner, Louis Valente Sr., allowed the club to use the basement space as a gym.
Boxers from the Northwest Eagles Boxing Club joined the gym shortly after it began, with top-level amateurs, such as the Angelomatis brothers and the English champ Kevin Howard, leading the way. George Angelomatis and Jack Duke managed the gym. Duke, a probation officer, recruited troubled and underprivileged youth to join the club, some from the nearby Raymur Housing Projects, which were only two blocks from the gym. Many young men from the projects came eager to box, and from the very beginning the gym had several national champions.
Longtime club members, such as the Mitchell brothers, the Galler brothers (Randy Galler won the Championship in his first year at Nationals), Dale Walters, Manny Sobral, Jimmy Warral, and Geronimo Bie kept the gym in the spotlight for many years. Bie was a silver medalist in the Commonwealth Games, and during one year, the club had five National Champions at the same time.
In 1998, the club left the Hastings Street location and moved to the North Burnaby Inn, where it stayed until 2002, when renovations to the Inn forced a move. From there, the famous club moved to its current location at the Fraser Arms Hotel. To this day, a core group of young, hungry, and talented boxers are joined by George Angelomatis, Mike Vukelic, and Jason Noel, who together are building on the illustrious legacy of the Astoria Boxing Club.
taken from
http://www.astoriaboxing.ca/history.html
March 16th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
reminds me of that classic eggleston photograph
March 17th, 2010 at 11:51 am
Boxing is alive and well in the basement of the Astoria. Coach, Terry Cooke keeps an eye on things three days a week- Monday, Wednesday and Friday 5-7 PM.
The gym is classic…smelling of beer (bar upstairs) and sweat.
March 17th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Whoa, Alysse, thanks for the Eggleston comment!