Kenny Lally's dream of winning a fight at the International Boxing Association world championships turned into a nightmare Thursday in Almaty, Kazahkstan.
Lally was defeated in a 3-0 decision by Nicolae Andreianna of Romania in the opening round Thursday at the IABA world tournament. With the loss, Lally, a 24-year-old Inner City Boxing Club member from Prince George, was eliminated from the tournament.
Lally's opponent fought for the Berlin team in the World Series of Boxing and it became clear by the second round of their 56-kilogram bout that Andreianna meant business.
"The first round was really close, we were going back and back and forth and without the headgear you feel more," said Lally. "In the second round, probably 30 seconds in, I got caught on the chin really bad with an overhead right and I was rocked. It took me a whole minute to recover and I couldn't feel my legs and my vision went away and that's when he poured it on.
"Fighting without the headgear I have to take the game somewhere else. I have to do a lot more head movement now."
Inner City coach Bob Pegues predicts Lally will be better off if he can add five or six pounds of muscle before his next international tournament and will discuss that with Canadian team head coach Daniel Trepanier. Pegues said it wouldn't be out of the question for Lally to eventually move up to 60 kg.
"We were hoping to win a couple fights to get into the top-10 and we're going to have to go back to the drawing board now," said Pegues. "We knew this was kind of a testing ground and he hasn't had a great international year. He's only got three years to the next Olympics and we have to make some changes."
Lally is part of a five-member senior men's Canadian team in Kazakhstan. He fought in the world championships two years ago in Baku, Azerbaijan in the 52 kg weight class and was also eliminated in the first round. The event is held every two years.
"I have to get bigger, I have to get on the weights," said Lally. "The weight program I was on is not to get bigger, it's just for explosive training and so I wasn't gaining any big muscle. If I can get to 60 [kg] and then cut down to 56 that would be better."
Lally will remain in Kazahkstan for the next eight days with the Canadian team. He'll now turn his attention to keeping his spot on Team Canada at the final team selections, Nov. 19 in Quebec City.
Pegues and 60 kg fighter Jag Seehra of Prince George will be in Regina next week for the senior national championships. Pegues is head coach of the B.C. team.
