Kenny Lally and Jag Seehra hold their fates in their fists.
If they win in the ring this weekend at the Western Canadian boxing championships in Red Deer, Alta., they will book themselves a place in the Canadian finals Oct. 28 to Nov. 1 in Toronto.
If they emerge from the national ring victorious, they'll be fitted for national team uniforms and be cast into the spotlight fighting for Canada at the 2015 Commonwealth Games.
Having just completed a four-day training camp in Kelowna with the rest of Team B.C., Lally and Seehra were within a kilogram of tipping the scales at or below their respective fighting weights and Team B.C. coach Bob Pegues figures both of his Inner City Boxing Club fighters are ready to put some sting into their opponents this weekend.
Lally has two obstacles in the 56-kilogram weight class - Brody Pigeon of Regina, who went with Pegues to the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Isle of Mann, and Roger Dedoble of Edmonton.
Seehra will box in the 60kg division and also has two other fighters standing in his way - Vannen Vadievelu of Winnipeg, who fought in the national golden gloves 64kg class last year, and former Spruce Capital Boxing Club member Robb Cuisine, who now fights out of Edmonton.
Seehra fought Cuisine in Quesnel in April of 2013 and won a unanimous decision.
Unlike the situation in Prince George, Pegues says there's been no shortage of sparring partners in Kelowna for Lally and Seehra. A.J. Bopari of Kelowna and Sasan Haghigat-Joo of Coquitlam, a 69kg B.C. team member, have been whipping the Inner City fighters into tournament shape. Noah Patterson, an impressive 13-year-old from Salmon Arm who fights at 56kg, has also been going toe-to-toe with Lally and Seehra in the sparring ring.
"Everybody started out pretty rusty but I think they were just over-enthusiastic, just trying to take each other's head off," said Pegues.
The route to qualifying for nationals has been revamped. Instead of each provincial/territorial champion being automatically eligible for the national tournament, each qualifier must win a regional tournament or win a weight class at the national golden gloves tournament.
Regional champions from Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec, and Eastern Canada and the national golden gloves champions in each weight class will fight for national titles in Toronto.
Lally won't be going to the national golden gloves tournament in Cornwall, Ont., in early July, but Seehra, the 60kg provincial champion, will be there. Pegues said he'll likely move up a weight class to 64kg to allow Bopari of Kelowna to have Seehra's spot in that tournament, assuming Seehra advances this weekend to the national championships.
Canadian elite national champions in each weight class will automatically qualify for the Pan Am Games in Toronto, July 10-26, 2015.
The B.C. team also includes Jacob Varga (81kg) and Alexandra Strickland (80kg, female) of Victoria, Sara Haghigat-Joo (51kg, female) and Sasan Haghigat-Joo (69kg) of Coquitlam, Jessy Brown (64kg) of Mission, and New Westminster fighters River Tucker (54kg, female), Darcy Hinds (75kg) and Evelyn Calado (48kg female).
"This is a sharp group, we've got four gals and six guys and I'm going to say we'll come out with nine [gold medals]," said Pegues.
The team spent part of the camp Thursday watching videos of their Western Canadian opponents from last year's national championships. They boarded a bus for Red Deer this morning. The fights are set for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.
