Canadian Boxiana: Halifax Card for Jan 21; 35th Anniversary of Sponagle-Summerhayes III
By: GM Ross
TheBoxingExaminer.com
Fight Night in Halifax: Caveman Promotions has assembled an interesting fight night for Halifax on January 21. Headlining the card at the Halifax Forum Multi-Purpose Centre is WBC Continental Americas bantamweight champion Tyson ‘Prince of Hali’ Cave (15-2-0). His opponent will be his old foe Saturnino Nava (9-12-1) in a bantamweight eight rounder. In middleweight action, Marcel Maillet (0-2-0) of Shediac, New Brunswick, takes on the debuting Ryan Burgess of Truro, Nova Scotia, over four rounds. At super featherweight, Kyle McNeil (1-0-0) of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, takes on Gerard Audate (0-3-1) of Longueuil, Quebec, in a four stanza affair. Last but not least, as mentioned last week, Norman Peters (1-7-0) of Moncton is slated to face Stephan Landry (1-1-0) of Jonquiere, Quebec, at cruiserweight over four rounds.
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Rumor Mill: Banter in the boxing world suggests a fight between Marcel Maillet (0-2-0) of Shediac, New Brunswick, and Harrison McBain (3-4-1) of Hamilton, Ontario, is in the works for March in Moncton. A show is coming together for Edmonton on March 23. Announcements via social media indicate Paul MacKenzie (1-0-0), Rory Coveney (7-1-0) and Anthony Lessard (8-7-2) will all be in action.
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Sponagle-Summerhayes III – This week in Canadian boxing history, Barry Sponagle of Stellarton, Nova Scotia, defended his Canadian lightweight title against Johnny Summerhayes of Brantford, Ontario. Sponagle and Summerhayes had already fought twice – in 1975 and 1976 – each taking a decision victory. Summerhayes (20-2-2) won the Canadian crown in Toronto against Danny Stokes (4-0-0) in 1974, making his first defense against Sponagle (19-15-0) the following year in Calgary. Although Summerhayes (21-4-2) retained his laurels, the Calgary Herald reported that disgruntled fans booed the champion for “clutching” the “hard trying” Sponagle with regularity. Summerhayes (24-5-2) and Sponagle (24-19-0) were rematched in 1976 at the Halifax Forum, seeing Sponagle snatch the champion’s title in controversial fashion. According to the Globe and Mail, Summerhayes lost his title “in a split decision last night in Halifax after he was heavily penalized for continually fouling during a 12-rounder.” An immediate rematch was ordered by the Canadian Boxing Federation, and Sponagle obliged on January 9, 1977, in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. After twelve rounds of action, Sponagle (28-21-0) retained his title with a draw – a result his opponent disputed. Following the fight, Summerhayes (25-7-2) told the Canadian Press: “I thought I won nine of the twelve rounds, I just can’t believe that decision.” Sponagle lost the title to Jean Lapointe (9-0-0) two months later, fought twice more, retiring following a loss to Canadian legend Gaetan Hart later in 1977. Summerhayes went on to reclaim the title in 1982, defeating Gaetan Hart via split decision. Join me in saluting these two Canadian greats and use our comment section to share your memories of each man’s career!
