Williams Lake Boxing Club members Tristan Meldrum and Harley Mulvahill marched away from Prince George’s Spruce Capital Boxing Club last weekend with a pair of victories under their belts.
Meldrum, 14, took a decision on Prince George’s Dillon Cruickshank in a 112-pound contest, while Mulvahill stopped his opponent, Slave Lake Boxing Club’s Dustin Paulina, in the second round.
This was just Meldrum’s third amateur boxing match.
“I think he actually beat me in the first round, but he tired out and I think I had more stamina towards the end,” Meldrum said, reflecting on the bout. “He threw a lot more punches than me, but I blocked a lot more.”
WLBC coach Gary McLellan said he was extremely happy with Meldrum’s performance in the fight.
“The difference was Tristan’s defence against the other boy’s,” McLellan said. “The game plan was for him to go out there and keep the pressure on and keep moving forward, because it’s hard to fight when you’re moving back all the time.
“The way he listened to instruction and followed through, we’re extremely happy.”
Mulvahill, the WLBC’s top-ranked amateur, said he didn’t quite know what to expect from his opponent heading into the bout.
“We both weighed in at 155 pounds, but he was quite a bit shorter than me, which is what I like,” Mulvahill said. “I didn’t know what to expect, or anything about him, but once I got in there I could see he didn’t have the stamina.
“After the first round you could see him start to cave in, if you put it to him a little bit.”
In round two Mulvahill said he kept the pressure on, putting a couple standing eight counts on Paulina, before his corner threw in the towel.
“I just went out there in the second round ... and tried to stay close to him so he couldn’t get away. I rocked him with a few good rights, and it was my right hand that got to him.”
Coming up for the WLBC are fights scheduled for May 5 in Quesnel, and possibly the provincial Golden Gloves competition in Vernon, later in May.