Have gloves, will travel

Eskasoni boxers to fight in When Nations Collide boxing card in Ontario this weekend

ESKASONI – Eskasoni boxers will have an opportunity to show off their talents in a different province when they step in the ring this weekend.

Red Tribe Boxing will send 10 fighters to Ontario to compete in the When Nations Collide amateur boxing card in Ohsweken, a First Nation community near Brantford.

The event, hosted by the Bell City Boxing Club, will take place Saturday at 9 p.m. Atlantic time at the Gathering Place by the Grand venue in the community.

The fight card will include 10

bouts, including two fun boxing matches for four young participants from both clubs.

The Cape Breton boxers include Xzorion Marshall, Sasheen Regalado, Rein Ryan, Marshall Marshall, Kobe Peck, Eric Morris, Braedon Paul-Levy, Denzel Young, Ethan Marshall and Lennox Marshall.

The official matches were not confirmed at press time.

“These kids that we’re taking, they’ve never been on an airplane, they’ve never been away from home and they’re going to be arriving in the big city of Toronto,” said Red Tribe Boxing head coach Barry Bernard.

Bernard hopes the boxing card, which will feature all Aboriginal boxers, will lead to a bigger event in the near future.

“We’re hoping it will eventually become an annual event where we can also get other Aboriginal boxing clubs across Canada and the United States to come and compete on our boxing cards,” said Bernard.

“If we can network with other Aboriginal boxing organizations, I think it’s 100 per cent possible and we could make it an event or even a tournament down the road.”

Red Tribe Boxing has 14 registered fighters and has been well received in the Eskasoni community.

“We do a lot of fundraising and receive support from chief and council as well,” said Bernard. “We fundraised for all the boxers plane tickets, so they didn’t have to worry about that.”

When the boxers return to Cape Breton, they will begin preparing for another boxing card, hosted by Red Tribe Boxing, June 29 in Wagmatcook.

The June card will feature at least 10 fights and will take place at the Wagmatcook Culture and Heritage Centre.

For more information about the June boxing card, contact Bernard by emailing barrybernard01@gmail.com.

PHOTO SUBMITTED/BARRY BERNARD Members of the Red Tribe Boxing program stand for a picture at the gym on Tuesday. Front row, from left, Bernie McPhee (coach), Cyress Paul, Denzel Young, Eric Morris, Judy McPhee (manager), Sasheen Regalado, Aleigha Paul and Barry Bernard (head coach). Back row, from left, Hunter Bernard (coach), Lennox Marshall, Marshall Marshall, Ethan Marshall, Xzorion Marshall, Braedon Paul-Levy, Rein Ryan and Leon Alex (coach).