Kenny Lally realized on Wednesday night one of the hazards of amateur boxing's decision to scrap the wearing of protective headgear.
For the first time in a career that spans 110 fights, Lally suffered a cut over his eye when he banged heads with Marc Andre Gauthier of Trois-Rivieres, Que., his first opponent at the senior elite national boxing championships in Mississauga, Ont.
It happened in the first minute of the first round of the fight and once the bleeding was stopped, Lally went right back to work, scoring a unanimous decision over Gauthier to advance to the 56-kilogram quarterfinal round today against Rodolfo Valasquez of Hamilton, Ont..
Lally dropped Gauthier with a left-right combination in the second round and was in control for the duration of what Bob Pegues, his Inner City Boxing Club coach, figured was one of the best fights of Lally's career.
"He opened up a huge gash over my right eye and that just pissed me off and I put him down in the second round," said Lally. "I hit him with a left hook and he did the chicken dance and I nailed him with a right hand and put him on his bum.
"My cornerman stopped the bleeding and of course it kept bleeding but it never phased me."
The doctor who worked on Lally in a Mississauga hospital repaired the wound internally with seven stitches and glue, which will enable Lally to continue fighting. Had he received external stitches he would not be allowed to fight.
"They were going to put in external stitches but my national team coach, Daniel Trepanier, stopped them and I went to the hospital and got it down," said Lally. "I'm good to go. I'm definitely on my game."
Pegues, head coach of Team West at the national tournament, said Trepanier told him after the fight that Lally will be invited to the selection camp for Canada's Pan Am Games team.
"Other than when he fought the Cuban in Ecuador [when he won silver at the elite continental championships in 2010], I've never seen Kenny look this good," said Pegues. "He's so motivated and on his game, this was probably better than that. The rest was good for Kenny."
