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Seehra and Hume KOd at boxing nationals

Thomas Speirs was not at his pugilistic best Wednesday in his opening bout at the Canadian senior national boxing championships.

Thomas Speirs was not at his pugilistic best Wednesday in his opening bout at the Canadian senior national boxing championships.

But he had enough to win, and that guarantees he will have at least one more chance to show the stuff that landed him a B.C. provincial title.

The same cannot be said for Marcus Hume, his Spruce Capital Warriors teammate or Jag Seehra of the Inner City Boxing Club. They've both been eliminated from the tournament after suffering opening-round losses Wednesday.

Hume lost an 11-9 decision to Shawn Alphonso of Newfoundland in a 64-kilogram bout Wednesday in Ste. Hyacinthe, Que.

"Everybody here said what a horrible decision it was -- even the president of the Canadian Amateur Boxing Association, John O'Shea, said it wasn't right," said Spruce Capital coach Wayne Sponagle.

"Marcus beat him from one post to the other in the third round. He won the fight, no doubt. Marcus gave him an eight-count in the third round and in order to do that you have to hit him with a punch, but when Marcus hit him for the eight-count, they didn't score one punch on the computer.

"He landed numerous body shots but didn't get a point for his body shots. It's the way the judging goes. Unbelievable, but that's amateur boxing."

Inner City coach Bob Pegues agreed with Sponagle's assessment.

"Hume outworked and outfought his opponent," said Pegues. "Hume's boxing style was not rewarded on the computer scoring."

Hume was bumped up a weight class from 60kg to 64kg because he was overweight when he arrived in Quebec on Sunday. Hume was originally slated to box in Seehra's 60-kg weight class. Seehra took on Cam O'Connell of Alberta and lost an 18-3 decision in what Pegues described as "a tactical battle."

Speirs defeated Ryan Walkowski of Manitoba with an 9-7 decision in the 75kg class, the first win of the tournament for the B.C. team.

"Thomas didn't look half as good as he can fight," said Sponagle.

"Although he won, it didn't look like Thomas in there. He wasn't as strong as he normally is and he wasn't punching as hard as he normally does. He kind of got tired in the third round.

"The kid from Manitoba ended up being a lot tougher fighter than I expected. Thomas is in a very tough class. This is a whole new experience for them and it's a big step up for them, no matter who they're fighting."

Speirs will face Cedric Langlois of Quebec tonight Langlois was a bronze medalist at the Quebec provincial championships.