Ready for her debut
Nictaux’s Kristina Giovannetti looking forward to her first fun box in Cape Breton
Kristina Giovannetti fell in loving with boxing immediately.
The 10-year-old daughter of Michael and Katherine Giovannetti of Nictaux was introduced to the sport by a friend about two years ago.
“I was pretty excited and I started to come every single day and I really loved it,” she said during a recent training session. “I love boxing.”
Kristina will get a chance to step into the ring for her first fun box Saturday, April 22, at the Reserve Mines Fire Hall in Cape Breton. The New Waterford Boxing Club is hosting the card that begins at 7 p.m.
Kristina will compete against local boxer Morgan Newell, also 10, in three oneminute rounds. Afterwards both boxers’ arms will be raised and each will be declared winners.
“Kristina is very keen and (an) eager learner,” said Pegasus Amateur Boxing Club coach Bruce Harkness.
Michael said Kristina’s inclusion on the upcoming card shows all of her hard work is paying off.
“We’re really excited to see her in her first boxing bout this weekend,” he said. “Her mother and I are very proud of her.”
Jesse Frazee, 15, is also on the upcoming card. He puts his 6-2 record on the line against Ontario’s Kaylan Holland.
“Come forward and be relentless,” Jesse said of his game plan.
He has been boxing since he was about 11.
“I loved it right from the start. I just felt at home,” the Aylesford resident said.
TRAINING
Kristina is one about 20 boxers working with Harkness.
“I like to see other people’s skills,” she said. “It’s really exciting to spar with other boxers.”
Michael said the sport helps instill life lessons.
“She learns self-discipline, she learns good sportsmanship. Bruce is a great coach. He doesn’t let any harm come to the kids,” he said. “He knows when the younger kids can spar with the older kids, which
helps push them. It helps build their self-confidence.”
A handful of other boxers were at the April 16 training session. They included Erin Tardif-Woolgar and her six-year-old daughter Lily.
Tardif-Woolgar is a veteran of 10 bouts and has fought two of the top women in her division from across Canada.
Matthew Briner, 15, of Middleton, has seven matches on his resumé while 13-year-old
Dominic Davidson has two. They are both training for upcoming bouts.
Leah Asbury, a 15-yearold from Middleton, has her first match on June 3 while Harkness said 14-year-old
Ayla Tagg, of Greenwood, is progressing very well in her training.
CLUB
Harkness has been involved in boxing his whole life. His father boxed in the army and got him involved with the sport at a young age.
“It did a lot of good things (for) me, kept me on a straight path,” he said.
Harkness later joined the army and started coaching in 1987. He has worked with boxers in the Annapolis Valley for years and recently turned a chicken coop and horse stable in the backyard of his South Farmington home into a training facility with a 13-by-13foot ring.
“This is really my dream,” he said proudly. “I wanted to build a boxing club on my property.”
He looked at building new, but the rising material prices made him pause. He then realized he had a “perfectly good building here” and started to renovate it for its new use.
Two years later and the new facility is busy most days with kids and adults training. There’s no admission fee, but a donation box is on the shelf. Harkness estimated he has invested about $8,000 into the project but says it’s a labour of love.
“This is what I do. … I don’t tinker with old engines or do carpentry work,” the retired Harkness said.
“I love the sport and I love all of the athletes.”
Harkness doesn’t hesitate when asked what he enjoys most about the sport.
“The camaraderie. I love the people.”
Posters of previous cards and pictures of some of the many boxers Harkness has trained over the years adorn the club’s walls.
One of them is Middleton’s Cyrus Taylor, who won a silver medal at the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax and a national gold medal in 2012 in Montreal. Taylor went on to compete in two tournaments in Germany and the world youth championships in Armenia with Canada’s national team. He had more than 100 amateur fights.
Harkness said he enjoys watching the athletes grow.
“They work hard,” he said. “They get in the ring and they let the leather fly.”