It was a show of appreciation from the crowd of close to 200.
They rose to their feet for the final 30 seconds of the main event bout between Oliver McLuskie of Marshall Boxing Club in St. Albert, Alta., and Dante Ortiz of Kelowna's Los Gatos Locos Club, and gave both fighters a standing ovation as they wailed away at each other in the final round.
The applause was also an indication of how appreciative the crowd was for the 10 previous fights on the card of the third annual Ian Gibson Tribute Boxing Show, hosted by the Vernon Boxing Club Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Vernon Recreation Complex.
McLuskie scored a unanimous decision over Ortiz in the Youth Open 132 pounds main event.
Minutes earlier, Duncan McLellan of Williams Lake won a unanimous decision over Landon Beazley of Salmon Arm's Whizbang Boxing Club in an Elite Novice 165 pound scrap. And just prior to that, Tyler Collins of the host club brought the crowd to its feet with a unanimous decision over Landon Fester of Los Gatos Locos in an Elite Novice 190 pound matchup.
"It was Tylers fourth fight, with both men teeing off on each other," said Vernon club head coach Brian Jones. "Tyler easily out-boxed his opponent by slipping, bobbing and weaving to out-land him.
All 11 fights were scheduled for three rounds, three minutes each.
Aidenn (Paddy) Mullins from Vernon made his ring debut, taking on Bobinder Billing from Surrey's Bisla Martial Arts in a Youth Novice 170lbs battle.
"Paddy's first fight was a very tough bout at 16 years young," said Jones. "His opponent had the edge by counter punching and holding and punching to the back of the head, but Paddy kept pushing him back as Paddy91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s style is to keep going forward.
"He lost a decision to Bobinder, which was a disappointment."
Four other Vernon club fighters took part in a pair of exhibition bouts, which saw no scoring and no decisions given.
Tyler Krowchuck fought Parker Stadnyk in the heavyweight division. It was the first fight for both men, with Jones calling the bout "very close, evenly matched."
Mackenzie Henry fought Roland Ingra in the Elite 160lb division.
"Both men have several fights under their belt and they fought hard and fast as they always do, really too close to call," said Jones. "They are pretty evenly matched."
Fighters from the Bulldogs Fitness and Boxing Centre in Salmon Arm, Port Kells Boxing in Surrey, Griffins Boxing and Fitness in North Vancouver, and the 2 Rivers Boxing Club in Quesnel also competed.
The card is held in memory of longtime Vernon boxing and soccer coach, and provincial and national boxing referee Ian Gibson, who died in December 2020.
