That Kenny Lally won his bout to lock a spot on Canada's national A team came as no surprise.
But Jag Seehra's decisive win over Ayez Hussain of Montreal Wednesday at the final team selection box-offs in St. Hyacinthe, Que., was positively earth-shattering for the Inner City Boxing Club of Prince George.
With that win, the 21-year-old Seehra has secured himself at least a spot on the national B team and a trip to the Pan-Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico later this summer.
It could get sweeter for Seehra today if he can find a way to defeat Alex Rynn of Calgary at the 60-kilogram box-offs. If that happens, Seehra and Lally, 21, will be travelling together with the A team to the elite world boxing championships in Baku, Azerbaijan in September.
The world tournament is an Olympic-team qualifier and a top-eight finish for Lally or Seehra (if he gets that far) would put a Prince George athlete into the ring at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
"Jag whooped Hussain, it was a phenomenal win," said national team coach Bob Pegues of Prince George. "Now Jag and Rynn face off (today) for the A-team spot and Jag is guaranteed B team, so what that means for him is the Pan American Games.
"If he wins against Rynn -- and if he fights the way he did [Wednesday] -- he could go to worlds with Kenny and possibly qualify for 2012. It's unbelievable."
Seehra is one of six boxers in the 60kg competition and was a heavy underdog against Hussain, who defeated Rynn in the senior final a month ago. Rynn is a former Canadian champion who won three of his lightweight bouts at the Commonwealth Games in October in New Delhi, India.
Both Inner City fighters, regardless of whether they're on the A team or B team, are eligible for international trips to help prepare them for the world or Pan-Am competitions. Lally thinks it is entirely possible Seehra will pull off another upset today at the box-offs and snag that A team spot.
"The big story is Jag -- either way he's on the national team and people are saying, 'Who is this guy?'" said Lally. "He beat Hussain 9-3, it wasn't a close fight."
Neither was Lally's bout. He scored a technical knockout over Frederic Laquerre of Montreal, a fight stopped midway through the second round when Laquerre's corner conceded defeat with Lally leading 11-3. Just three fighters entered Lally's 54-kilogram weight class. Lally stopped Laquerre, the Canadian junior champion, a month ago at the senior national championships.
"I've been working a lot on my power so I wanted to go out and stop him and right away after the first combination his nose was leaking," Lally said. "So I kept hitting him with hard shots and the next thing I knew they threw the towel in."
Lally and Seehra lost their chances to fight for the A team two years ago in Edmonton, when they were both too heavy for their respective weight classes at the box-offs.
"It's been a long two years from when I hit rock-bottom when I didn't make my weight and I had to work my way up and now that I'm finally here I have to keep going," said Lally.
"It's like a movie to have the three of us (including Pegues, their Inner City coach) on the national team."
