Alberta youth boxer wins gold medal at Canada Cup
Posted Mar 24, 2024 2:07 pm.
Last Updated Mar 24, 2024 2:27 pm.
A 17-year-old Alberta boxer “brought the house down” with a gold medal win at the Canada Cup championships.
Randy “Junior” Polines defeated Suriya Kumaresamy of Ontario via stoppage in the third round for the amateur national champion title in the 51-kilogram division on Saturday.
“Congratulations, @rpolinesjr, on achieving such an amazing milestone in your journey to hopefully be in the Summer Olympics [one] day,” a post from Olympus Boxing Club reads.
Polines spoke with CityNews before the cup, and he explained he was always getting into trouble, but boxing helped put his “energy into something better.”
He said he owes everything to his older brother, Kent.
“He is the one who got me into it, so most of my training came from him,” Polines said.
“We trained like twice a day, I learned a lot. I learned everything I know about how to box. How to fight. Everything. Yeah, he’s been my role model.”
His victory was witnessed by some of the six members of Canada’s boxing community who were all being inducted into Boxing Canada’s Hall of Fame that day.
Three-time North American Champion and Commonwealth Games Medalist Ian Clyde, two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist Mike Strange, and official Mike Summer were inducted. Mary Spencer, Ariane Fortin, and Crystelle Samson were unable to attend.
Christopher Lindsey, the executive director of Boxing Canada, says “cultural history was celebrated today.”
“We saw the very newest generation of talent today, filling the stadium with cheering and excitement. These new athletes are inheriting the legacy of the generations that came earlier, and we were so lucky to be celebrating six of Boxing Canada’s very best,” he said in a news release.
“The achievements of our inductees, in and out of the ring, are so inspiring. Boxing Canada is strong because of our people, and our people are the strongest.”
Matches continue on Sunday for the last day of the Canada Cup at the Genesis Centre.
More information, including the results of matches once they become available, can be found online.
