Local official honoured by Boxing Canada
Some people, you can’t keep out of the ring.
Count Wade Peterson among them.
The Medicine Hat Boxing Club coach was named Boxing Canada’s official of the year this past weekend in Edmonton, and it seems he’s setting up to have an international career if he keeps at it.
“I can retire in 12 months,” said the 52-year-old, who works at the local Goodyear plant. “Once they know you’re retired, they’ll send you anywhere.”
It seems those sort of assignments have already begun. He was in Romania in December for a clinic where he tested at the top of his class.
He indicated last year’s nationals in Quebec were where things started going in a new direction.
“I had to get recertified, they had people testing me from Ireland and the U.S.,” said Peterson, pointing out that referees get judged at clinics the same way boxers do. “I ended up first (among 12-14 officials), the guy from Ireland asked why I hadn’t travelled.
“He said it’s going to change.”
Peterson started as a referee in 1987 after he’d hung up the gloves full-time, though it should be noted he won an Alberta title in the 40-plus age group last year.
He didn’t work the ring for about a decade as he focused on raising a family, but now it’s full steam ahead. He officiated senior national bouts this past weekend and got to see local club boxer Janick Lacroix win a junior title as well.
At the awards banquet, he said some of the hall of fame inductees included 1984 Olympian Willie de Wit, who he remembers fighting against, and Calgary’s Dale Brown.
There’s no doubt he’s enjoying being a referee. “I love it, the coaches respect me,” said Peterson, whose wife Laurie describes him as being passionate about what he does. “I don’t need a microphone, I talk very loud. I treat them with utmost respect and I get respect back, too.”
One time he did need a mic was the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, where fans packed the area for a memorable championship match involving a kid from Prince Edward Island.
“It was sold out, 5,000 people for the final... and the crowd was going nuts,” he said. “You couldn’t hear yourself talk in the ring. I had to touch them to get them to break.
“I gave the guy an eightcount and the crowd went nuts.”
As for the future he’d love an assignment at a Commonwealth Games and eventually the Olympics, though a 2016 scandal at the Rio Games resulted in every single judge and official being suspended — he considers the Olympic goal a longer-term one since he doesn’t want to get involved in the scandal’s fallout.