KEN GOFF CLASSIC
Canada faces U.S. in boxing card.
Samir El-Mais isn’t pulling any punches.
Canada’s top heavyweight is determined to continue his upward trajectory after winning a gold medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
El-Mais’s next target is the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto as he builds momentum toward the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“It looks like I’m peaking (at the right time),” offered the 34-year-old Windsor product, a member of the Canadian contingent which faced the United States on Friday at the Ken Goff Memorial Boxing Classic in Regina.
“(Winning Commonwealth gold) puts a target on your back. I was always looking for a higher standard for myself to see if I’m improving and if I should continue or not. I had to see for myself where I stand ... and I did very well. Every year you have to perform better and better. I’m pushing the pace and I’m looking forward to bigger competitions, bigger fights and trying to qualify for the Olympics.”
El-Mais started boxing when he was 12 but decided to hang up the gloves at age 15.
A few years later, he got the itch to return.
“I finished high school, I started working and so on but I always wanted to come back,” he said. “So I came back just to train and smell the gym again. It was three blocks from my house so I couldn’t not go. A month in, my coach is like, ‘OK you’re fighting.’ ” His response? “No, I’m not,” continued El-Mais. “He was like, ‘Yeah you are. (Provincials) are coming up in a month.’ I said, ‘All right, we’ll go for it.’ I ended up winning gold, went to nationals, beat the national champ twice to take the gold away and I’ve been cruising since then. It has been a good ride.” And it’s not over. “Right now at 34 he’s at his prime physically, mentally — everything is merging together,” said Daniel Trepanier, Boxing Canada’s high performance director. “He’s in a really good position for the Olympics. He has a spot for the Pan Am Games, he will be one of the contenders at the Pan Am Games. Right now he’s at the top of his game.”
El-Mais has been one of Canada’s brightest prospects since joining the national program in 2010.
His long-awaited breakthrough came last year.
“The gold medal at the Commonwealth Games made Samir a contender,” said Trepanier.
“People are not taking him lightly anymore. That’s something he has to deal with. Before, going into a tournament, he never had anything to lose. He was always the guy under the radar. Now people have video on him, they’re analyzing him and people are expecting him to win medals everywhere he goes. It’s a different pressure.” El-Mais is embracing it. After several away from the sport, he’s hungry to reach his potential.
“I had about a 14-year hiatus,” he said. “I think that’s kind of a good thing, from all the punishment I could have received. I see a lot of people who are my age who quit boxing five or six years ago and can’t even spell their names. I’m glad I’m doing it now.”
El-Mais is motivated for a big summer highlighted by the Pan Am Games, with the Olympics on the not-too-distant horizon. He narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2012 Games in London, a fact which “destroyed me for like six months” but eventually made him stronger.
“I’ve always had high expectations,” he added. “I hate to lose. Fight after fight I want to make sure I’m guaranteeing a medal — not just a medal, I want a top medal.
“Our eyes are on the Olympics, but you can’t look so far away. It’s moving in the right direction for me and I’m just going to keep it that way. We’re going to take it a fight at a time and put Canada on the map. That will lead us to the medals.”
In Friday’s bouts at the Credit Union EventPlex (some results were unavailable at press time): Virginia Fuchs (USA) defeated Tavenna Kum (CAN) 3-0 (51kg); Luis Feliciano (USA) def. Kdee Warner (CAN) 2-1 (64kg); Caroline Veyre (CAN) def. Lisa Porter (USA) 3-0 (60kg); Sasan Haghighat-Joo (CAN) def. Andreal Holmes (USA) 2-1 (69kg); Ariane Fortin (CAN) def. Raquel Miller (USA) 3-0 (75kg); and, Anthony Campbell (USA) def. Kinsley Alexander (CAN) 3-0 (75kg).
Rematches are slated to take place at the Brandt Cup, which goes Sunday, 1 p.m., at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre.