For the past couple of years, Brantford native Owen Paquette, son of former local hockey product Darryl Paquette, has garnered much of the media spotlight devoted to the Top Glove Boxing Academy.
What with cracking the national team roster and competing around the globe, it only stands to reason.
Come Saturday, the 17 year old senior at St Charles College will be more than happy to step aside and let the bright lights shine upon ten year old teammate and up and coming pugilist Darryl Savoie.
“When you go out of the country, it’s great,” said Paquette. “You’re fighting all of these different opponents - but when you’re fighting on a home card, that’s something special, in front of all of the people that you know. The atmosphere is just incredible.”
“I’m so happy for little Darryl. I’ll be cheering him on proudly.”
Such is the dearth of youth boxers in the province and more critically, the challenge of bringing them north that Savoie will be the sole representative of Top Glove who will step in the ring started at 8:00 p.m. at the Kevin Houle Memorial Boxing Auditorium (147 Lorne Street), with the balance of the fighters coming largely from Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor.
Not that local organizer Gord Apolloni believes these events can solely be predicated on local participation. “Sudbury boxers have to be exposed to that level of competition, whether they are in the ring or not,” he said. “It’s so important. They are going to be simulating getting in the ring.”
For Savoie, this will mark his third bout, facing an opponent from Collingwood after capturing the Brampton Cup with two victories back in 2021.
The hope, clearly, is that with steady guidance and gradual experience, Savoie might be able to emulate the pathway that Paquette has travelled, one that saw him compete at the Bornemissza Youth & Junior Memorial Tournament in Hungary in the summer, then the Brandenburg Cup 2022 – 27th International Youth Boxing Tournament in Germany in October and now just back from the IBA Youth Men’s and Women’s World Boxing Championships in Spain.
“Just from watching, you realize that there are so many different styles, so many different things that you can do to make yourself better,” said Paquette. “The biggest thing is being unpredictable and adaptable to everything. That way, if one style isn’t working, you can always change it up.”
The words of advice that Paquette will have to offer are many, hopeful that the trend of boxers from these parts who can rise to the challenge of trading blows, punch for punch, will start to bring back the memories of the time when Apolloni was rising through the ranks, right alongside the entire Renelli clan and so many others from these parts.
“It’s nice to show them the opportunities that you might get, the cool things you can accomplish and see just by competing and trying your best,” said Paquette. “I’ve learned so much. This whole year, I’ve been getting better and better; have seen so many more opponents.”
Of course, it’s always nice when your own self-assessment falls well in line with the feedback that the likes of Boxing Canada are providing, the national governing body obviously deeply interested in the continued progression of all of their elite talent. “The biggest thing that they are looking for is that you performed and are getting better every single time,” said Paquette.
“It’s taking what they are saying and actually applying it. You go back and work on things and the next tournament, you do those things and they’re really happy, win or lose.”
With his 18th birthday set for April of 2023, Owen Paquette will not have to compete at the Elite Open bracket until 2024. In the meantime, the Canada W inter Games (February of 2023 in Prince Edward Island) and the nationals next spring are top of mind, events that could open the doors to the Youth Pan Am Games or Youth Commonwealth Games.
“This is a development year for me,” said Paquette, able to compete in the same age grouping still for another year or so. He fully expects to remain pencilled in at 63.5 kg, until the end of his youth career.
It has certainly been an eventful stretch of youth boxing for Owen Paquette, one that he hopes Darryl Savoie can dream of and pursue, with the next step for the next generation coming just two days from now.
(Doors open at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 10th – with bouts beginning at 8:00 p.m. – tickets are available by visiting the club website at www.topglove.ca, or by calling (705) 561-7215)
