Kenny Lally went the distance with the reigning Olympic boxing champion a month ago in Santiago, Chile.
It wasn't a win for Lally, but it was the next best thing.
Because he lasted three full rounds with the five-ring champ, Robeisy Ramirez, and wasn't outclassed in their 56-kilogram bout on Aug. 29, Lally earned himself a chance to fight the Cuban again at the elite world championships this month in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
"My goal is to win two fights, that would be huge," said Lally, who flew to Henneff, Germany on Sunday for a 10-day training camp. "I've been around the sport long enough, it's time to make a big splash on the international stage. I'll bring back something shiny."
The world tournament is set for Oct. 11-27. Lally will need five wins to advance to the medal round. Six other countries are attending the training camp in Germany and Lally knows he's got a tough next two weeks ahead of him.
"These sparring sessions are fights, they use 12-ounce gloves and they have three different rings and they do it just like a fight," Lally said. "It hurts a lot. It will be the guys I'm facing in the tournament, so before I even go to the worlds I'll probably have four fights."
Canadian team selections were based on the performances of each national team member at the Elite Continental tournament in Santiago. Also a factor in Lally making the team was his fitness rating in testing just before the team left for Chile. His scores were off the charts.
"I killed the fitness testing in Montreal and it was blessing in disguise drawing the Olympic champ first," said Lally. "My [fight] book says I took him to a split decision. It was a hard fight, he's an Olympic champion."
Lally didn't let his huge underdog status get to him before the fight against Ramirez and Lally said that helped him go the full three rounds.
"My confidence in getting ready for any fight now is the most crucial part," said Lally. "Before the fight, warming up, if I do fall apart, that's where I'll fall apart because I overthink stuff. So to keep composed at that time before I step into the ring, I'm not worried about anything anymore, especially in the kind of shape I'm in now."
The Canadian team for the world championships also includes Yves Ulysse of Montreal (64 kg), Custio Clayton of Halifax (60 kg), Brody Blair of Pictou County, N.S. (75 kg) and Samir El-mais of Windsor, Ont. (91 kg).
Lally fought at the 2011 world championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he lost a 21-20 decision to Rey Saludar of the Philippines in the opening round. Lally was fighting at 52 kg then and says his efforts to make the cut for the lighter weight class took away from his performance that day. He won't have that worry when he's in Kazahkstan.
"I feel way better at 56 kg," said Lally. "I'm walking around at 57 or 58 [kgs] at the most. When I was at 52, before I'd start my weight cut for the day I'd be three kilos over. When you cut weight and dehydrate it messes up your brain. Your thinking is off and your timing is off. In a tournament like this, when you have to fight each day, you start accumulating fatigue."
n Lally and his 23-year-old Inner City Boxing clubmate Jag Seehra both came home with titles from the Alberta Golden Gloves a week ago in Edmonton. Lally defeated Eric Taylor of Edmonton in a unanimous decision in the 60-kg class. The eight-member B.C. team, headed by Lally's Inner City coach Bob Pegues, wrapped up seven titles. The only B.C. loss was when two female boxers, Sara Haghighat-Joo of Maple Ridge and River Tucker of East Vancouver clashed in the final, eventually won by Haghighat-Joo.
"It was one of those teams that comes along once in a guy's lifetime," said Pegues. "Kenny was very sharp in Alberta. He's been working very hard, so we're hoping."
Seehra and Pegues will rejoin the B.C. team in Regina Oct. 21 for the start of the elite national championships. Pegues was picked as Boxing BC's coach of the year and was selected as provincial junior and elite team head coach.
