A broken leg brought Kenny Lally and Jag Seehra into each other's orbit.
"We met in Grade 4 when I switched schools, my leg was broken and I was standing by myself," said Seehra. "He came up to me with a group of guys and asked to borrow my crutches."
Seehra's leg healed and a friendship was born, strengthened by a mutual love for the sweet science and they both joined boxing clubs when they were 13. These days, Lally and Seehra train at the Prince George Inner City Boxing Club and are members of the Canadian national team with a shot at qualifying for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.
"What we did last year was shock the whole country and this year, we're going to take it to another level," said Lally, ranked 19th in the World International Amateur Association in the bantam weight class.
Lally competes on the national A team, while Seehra, ranked 66th on the world amateur list, qualified for the national B team after Canadian nationals last January. Lally won all three of his fights at nationals, while Seehra was 2-1.
Both have already qualified for the 2012 national championship in Cape Breton, N.S., from Jan. 10 to 14, but are both headed to Revelstoke this weekend for the provincial championship. Seehra will battle three other fighters in the lightweight class, while Lally doesn't know if he'll get a fight, but he hopes to find an opponent or two.
"I'm going to try out some new weapons," said Lally. " When I was at the worlds [in the Philippines], I was at a training camp and I learned a lot and got a lot of experience and I want to try the new stuff out and just get back in the ring."
Both Prince George boxers have made many sacrifices to put themselves on the cusp of the Olympic dream.
"When I think about it, I get goose-bumps," said Lally. "Me and Jag have gone through so much stuff together and sacrificed so much, to both be on the national team now and how it's all come together there's no better feeling. I wouldn't want anybody else with me but him."
Boxing has allowed Lally to travel extensively, but it was Seehra's first time to experience the opportunity of travel through boxing, having gone to Ecuador and Panama.
"It's been a life experience," said Seehra. "It just came at the perfect time and I came back with a world of knowledge. This guy's been going around all over the world and I always wondered how it's going to be and he even told me how it is, but going myself and just seeing the best of the best out there and knowing I'm right in the mix has changed my whole game plan about the whole sport. I've got a whole different drive and different goals for it now. It's going to be a very exciting year."
Seehra and Lally, along with coach Bob Pegues, push each other to improve and continue to stay on the path to their ultimate goal - the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"It's driving me to get to the same goals that he has," said Seehra. "We're all just on the same page."
